Chris Sapp\u2019s first season as Moravian University\u2019s head football coach will be historic regardless of the results.<\/p>\n
Sapp is taking the reins of the Greyhounds ahead of the program\u2019s 100th campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a special landmark that really enticed me to have that honor and that privilege to be the head coach entering the 100th season of football,\u201d said Sapp after being introduced as Moravian\u2019s new gridiron boss last week.<\/p>\n
Sapp is replacing Jeff Long Jr.<\/a>, who went 13-18 in three seasons before leaving to become the defensive coordinator at Bucknell University.<\/p>\n \u201cWe did a national search to find the next head coach. It was a lengthy process,\u201d Moravian senior associate athletic director Rebecca May said. \u201cWe wanted to make sure that we were finding the right coach that understands Moravian University\u2019s ethics and the way that we operate. And we also wanted to make sure that we were … going to get a fierce competitor.\u201d<\/p>\n Sapp, who played football at Division II North Greenville University in South Carolina, was the associate head coach and defensive coordinator at Division III University of Rochester for the last eight years. Prior to that, he was at Bowdoin College, where his roles included special teams coordinator, recruiting coordinator, co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s going to be a great leader,\u201d said Greyhounds offensive lineman Mason Ludlow, a Notre Dame-Green Pond graduate who will be a senior in the fall. \u201cI think that\u2019s what we\u2019ve kind of lacked. We need somebody to really lead us and keep us on the right track. His enthusiasm is great. He came in ready with a plan; he came in ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n Sapp is a newcomer to the Lehigh Valley. His wife, Jessica, however, used to visit the area often because her grandparents lived in Allentown.<\/p>\n The Greyhounds leader believes his experience on offense and defense has positioned him for his first head coaching opportunity.<\/p>\n \u201cFor probably the last eight years of my career, I knew that I was waiting and building myself up to be a head football coach,\u201d said Sapp, who also coached at Middle Tennessee State and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. \u201cThroughout my career, I\u2019ve positioned myself to be on both sides of the football, be a special teams coordinator, be a recruiting coordinator. So, when I did have the opportunity to be a head football coach, I knew I could put my fingerprints on every aspect of the program.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe biggest thing is creating a game plan and a scheme around the guys that we have,\u201d Ludlow added. \u201cI think in the past years, we\u2019ve kind of had a scheme that fit the coach\u2019s ideals and what he wanted to do. But now moving into a team where we\u2019re going to be fit to a game plan that fits our guys, I think it\u2019s going to be a huge improvement for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Sapp, who has a wealth of experience coaching at the D-III level, knows that succeeding at a school like Moravian involves finding players who are the right fit and selling the university beyond just the football program.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to take care of a three-hour radius of campus, but we\u2019re also going to target other areas of the Mid-Atlantic, the south and things like that to get student-athletes that understand and value the education they\u2019re going to get at Moravian but are also coming to win football games,\u201d Sapp said. \u201c\u2026 If they\u2019re a good athlete, they fit our culture and they see what the university has to offer, that\u2019s naturally going to be able to draw them to come here.\u201d<\/p>\n Sapp emerged from a large field of candidates, according to football alum and Blue & Grey Club president David Givler.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving been involved in this search process with over 100 candidates and applicants, I can tell you that we were looking for a very specific set of qualities in our new head coach,\u201d Givler said. \u201cWe wanted someone who is not only going to be a tactical mind on the field [but] also has a proven track record of developing student-athletes and the character to represent this university with the distinction that it deserves. In Chris Sapp, we found all of those things.\u201d<\/p>\n Since going 8-3 in 2015, Moravian has had one winning season. The Greyhounds will open their campaign Sept. 5 at home against rival Muhlenberg. Moravian has lost 14 straight against the Mules.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to be a tough, physical, disciplined football team. We\u2019re going to run the football on offense; we\u2019re going to stop the run on defense, but we\u2019re going to play complementary football within that,\u201d Sapp said. \u201cThen, the other third of the game is special teams, and I\u2019m going to take a big aspect, as the head coach, in coaching special teams.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEverything is going to be different, things are going to change, and we have to adapt to that,\u201d Ludlow said.<\/p>\n \u00a92026 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit lehighvalleylive.com<\/a>. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.<\/a><\/p>\n \n Success! 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