Salem CC board of trustees OK bringing football to campus for first time, inaugural game expected in Fall 2026; Accorsi named interim head coach
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT — The Salem Community College board of trustee Thursday approved the president’s recommendation to bring junior college football to the campus, an initiative the college president says will “change lives.”
The athletic department isn’t expected to formally launch the program until January, but Thursday’s vote gives the administrative green light to proceed with hiring coaches, recruiting players, buying equipment and building a schedule for the Fall of 2026.
“And the adventure begins,” president Mike Gorman said after the unanimous vote.
On Friday, the Mighty Oaks are expected to classify the sport with the National Junior College Athletic Association (Division III) and interim head coach Jay Accorsi will hit the road recruiting while a national search gets underway for a permanent leader of the program.
Accorsi, the retired Rowan University head coach, has long been intrigued with the idea of having junior college football in New Jersey. He pitched it to Gorman in the spring and has been a paid consultant on the project since August. His favorite saying throughout the process was “to make it hard for them to say no.”
“That’s kind of what I thought my job was all through the process, to help Bob (Hughes, Salem’s athletics director)) present the material with Dr. Gorman and make it really hard for them not to make the decision to do it,” Accorsi said. “That’s really what my goal was and so far we’ve done that. We’ve got a ways to go, but so far we’ve done that.”
Supporters of the initiative said adding football would, among other things, raise the visibility of the college locally and regionally and increase enrollment not just through the 80-100 student-athletes the program would attract but through the ancillary programs that go with it such as cheer, band and support groups.
To maintain Title IX balance the school will be starting women’s volleyball in the fall. The board approved the appointment of Delaware club coach Andrea Bartlett as that program’s first head coach Thursday.
With the addition of the two newest sports, Salem now offers cross country in the fall, men’s and women’s basketball in the winter, and softball and baseball in the spring.
“We’re thrilled to have the board’s support; it’s a big day for Salem athletics,” Hughes said. “We couldn’t be more excited to bring football to Salem County at the collegiate level and we’re looking forward to getting to work. The best times are ahead.”
With the board approval and Accorsi’s interim head coaching tag, the school can now begin to recruit players for spring practice, build a schedule and enter formal discussions for a permanent practice site. Among the sites being considered are the preferred Carneys Point Recreation Complex, which could become home to all the Mighty Oaks’ outdoor sports; the local YMCA fields, the Walnut Street Field in Salem City, and the middle school fields adjacent to the Carneys Point/Penns Grove School District offices.
Home games are expected to be played in the Pennsville and Penns Grove High School stadiums.
The Mighty Oaks now join Sussex CC as the only two-year colleges in New Jersey that offer NJCAA-sanctioned football, a void proponents say will help the program attract players. Additionally, two other JUCOs in the region, Lackawanna (Pa) and Monroe (N.Y.), will be reclassifying to NCAA Division II, further opening the door for players.
The team is expected to play initially as an NJCAA Division III independent with a modified seven- or eight-game first-year schedule drawn from regional NJCAA Division I and III programs, four-year junior varsities and two-year technical colleges in the area. They must play a minimum of six games against NJCAA programs to qualify for the playoffs.
The college examined the feasibility of starting a football program five years ago, but decided not to pursue it at that time. This latest exploration was a “much deeper dive.” It was anticipated the board would vote on the proposal last month, but policymakers wanted more time to digest all the information laid out in a detailed report researched by Accorsi and presented Hughes.
The success of the vote was said to hinge on the amount of risk the board was willing to take to launch a program said to have start-up costs of nearly $500,000. Gorman said the college’s budget is aligned in a manner that leaves him confident they could afford it, adding if they couldn’t afford it he wouldn’t have proposed it in the first place. Athletic department officials have said those costs could be recouped within the first two years of operation.
The result of the vote seemed to indicate the risk was acceptable.
“I think once the board realized the commitment we had made on students, not just the game and the expenses, the finances surrounding it, but the commitment we were making to young people who currently don’t have this option and are not necessarily purusing higher education, once they grasped that I really think it turned the tide on everything and they realized everything else will fall into place,” Gorman said.
“If we’re doing this for the right reasons, and I firmly believe that we are, I really look at it that it’s going to change lives and that’s what we’re in the business of doing, changing lives. The whole idea is let’s make sure we are giving as many people an opportunity to pursue their dreams as they possibly can. This is a way we can do it that can change the lives of 100 people tomorrow we couldn’t do any other way.”
Top photo: Salem CC president Mike Gorman (L) talks football with athletics director Bob Hughes (R) and interim head coach Jay Accorsi after the school’s board of trustees approved starting a program for play in the Fall of 2026.
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