Sal Marchese will not be on the sideline for the St. Joseph Academy's season opener because of a medical condition, athletic director Chuck Donohue Jr. announced on Sunday night. The Wildcats are scheduled to kick off their season at home against Conwell-Egan Catholic on Friday, Aug_ABBR. 28. Assistant coach Ronn Flaim has been named acting head coach and acting offensive coordinator during Marchese's absence, according to Donohue. " Coach Marchese is dealing with a medical issue and will return to his teaching and head coaching duties when he is able," Donohue said in press release about the situation. "
We ask our SJA community to respect his privacy and keep Coach Marchese in your thoughts and prayers as he focuses on his health and recovery. " We are confident in the leadership of Coach Flaim and our football coaching staff as they prepare our student-athletes for the upcoming season. We encourage our entire SJA community to continue supporting our players, team and coaching staff as they begin their 2026 campaign. Marchese was scheduled to make his return to the sidelines later this week.
He was announced as the St. Joseph Academy's new head coach in October, his first head coaching job since he stepped down from Delsea in 2023. Marchese won 249 games with 11 sectional titles and Delsea's first state championship, winning the crown in his final game with the Crusaders. in 2024, he accepted a volunteer coaching job at Delsea midway through the season. Last fall, he was an assistant coach at Williamstown. Tom McGurk is a regional sports editor for the Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and Burlington County Times, covering South Jersey sports for over 40 years.
If you have a sports story that needs to be told, contact him by email tmcgurk@usatodayco.com. Follow him on Twitter at @McGurkSports. Help support local journalism with a digital subscription. This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: St. Joseph's Sal Marchese will miss season opener with medical issue
