Sal Marchese steps down as Delsea football head coach after 31 years

Sal Marchese finished his coaching career atop the New Jersey football mountain.

One of the most successful coaches in South Jersey football history, Marchese led the Delsea Regional High School football program to 11 sectional titles and captured the first state championship last month with a 28-3 win over West Essex in the Group 3 final at Rutgers University.

Marchese, one of only two head coaches in Delsea’s six-plus decades of football history, finished his 31-year career with a 249-83-1 record. He was the third-longest tenured coach in South Jersey heading into this season. Four of the top six have stepped down following 2023 season with Marchese joining Florence's Joe Frappolli (50 years), Burlington Township's Tom Maderia (21) and Seneca's Bill Fisher (20).

The school announced Marchese’s decision on social media.

"I guess it's like they always say, you'll know when it time to retire. For me, it's time," Marchese said Wednesday night.

"If anyone deserves to relax a little, it's Sal Marchese," Delsea athletic director Ken Schoudt said. "He's been Delsea football his entire life. It's a grind doing what's he's done for the last 31 years.

"The landscape will certainly change, not only for Delsea football but South Jersey football, too."

Marchese has been around the Delsea football program since 1974 when he started as a statistician for the John Oberg-led Crusaders. He would later play for Oberg before graduating in 1985.

He was hired as the top boss in 1993, taking over for his mentor and next-door neighbor Oberg, who won 230 games in his career. Marchese passed Oberg on Delsea's all-time win list last season. According to South Jersey football historian Chuck Langerman, Delsea is the only program in state history to have two coaches with 200 or more wins at the same school.

"When I was a young coach, when I first got the job, Coach Oberg sat down with me," Marchese said. "He never said one thing about Xs and Os. His main advice was to surround yourself with No. 1, great people, No. 2, loyal people and No. 3, hard-working people. I’ve been very fortunate to be surrounded by such great people here, people who sacrificed a lot for this program. That's how we built our whole culture here.

"Delsea is a special place when it comes to mentors and great coaches because there are so many here. Coaches like (former athletic director and wrestling head coach) Steve Iles, who taught me about hard work and that it's the process, not the final result and my sister (and girls track head coach) Linda, who was always there for me."

Replacing a legend wasn't an easy job. The team went 18-17-1 over his first four years and there was some doubt that crept into Marchese's mind.

"I remember having so many conversations with (then-superintendent) Frank Borelli in his office and I was maybe teetering on not coaching anymore," Marchese said. "He'd said you're doing things the right way, hang in there and things are going to turn around."

Marchese eventually found his footing and guided Delsea to become one of the most successful and consistent programs in the region over the last three decades.

"Sal took over a great program and made it even better while never losing sight of the tradition that Coach Oberg and his father built before him," Ronn Flaim, a football assistant and head track and field coach, said on a social media post. "He built a program that was based on hard work, accountability, toughness and most importantly, loyalty. ... He built a legacy that is unmatched."

And the coaching staff stayed loyal to Marchese, too. Tom Maxwell, Flaim and Rob Briles each worked alongside Marchese for 25 or more years while Dave Slates (23 years), Darryl Price (13) and Jim Procopio (13) were also veterans on the staff.

Marchese and Co. stayed true to Delsea's roots over the years, sharpening the Wing-T offense when other teams were going for more flashy options.

"He has had to flex with the times a little bit, but he never changed his core values," Briles said. "Everything he does is for these kids. He never, ever sought out any credit for himself. ... He's the backbone of this school, the backbone of the community."

Rumors had swirled throughout the season that this might be Marchese's last.

After the state final, Marchese said that his staff had been talking about retiring from coaching over the last couple of years and said, "We're getting old."

"Right now, it's about the kids," Marchese said at the time. "It's not about me, that's for sure."

After a 28-13 loss to Winslow on Sept. 8, Delsea rattled off 11 straight wins en route to sectional and state titles. He was named the Courier-Post's South Jersey Coach of the Year earlier this month.

"I think it's one of their of best jobs ever," Briles said about the coaching job of Marchese, Maxwell and Flaim this fall. "This team improved from that Winslow loss and got better each and every week."

Marchese, who will continue to work at the school as a physical education teacher, guided Delsea to a combined 40-4 mark over the last four seasons.

"Student-athletes can really set the tone of a building, and Coach Marchese really understood that," Schoudt said. "Our student-athletes are held to a very high regard around here. They represent our school and our community. That was a daily preach by Coach Marchese and his staff."

Marchese said he hadn't given much thought about what he might do with his Friday nights free.

"I know Friday afternoons I'll be on the golf course," he said with a laugh. "Friday nights? I'm sure I'll be at the Delsea games rooting them on."

Tom McGurk is a regional sports reporter for the Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and Burlington County Times, covering South Jersey sports for over 30 years. If you have a sports story that needs to be told, contact him at (856) 486-2420 or email tmcgurk@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @McGurkSports. Help support local journalism with a digital subscription.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Delsea's Sal Marchese steps down as football coach after 31 years.