Dorsey has been named the new head coach of the St. Joseph Academy football program

Ron Dorsey has been named the new head football coach at St. Joseph’s Academy, the school announced in a statement Monday.

Dorsey replaces Paul Sack, who coached his last game on Wednesday night after 41 years, accumulating a 378-75-5 record with the program. Dorsey has been an assistant under Sacco for the past three seasons, including as defensive coordinator this fall.

Dorsey becomes the ninth coach in St. Joseph’s history, a program that began under Joe Mazzone in 1965. Mike DeLaurentis (1962-64, 1966-67), Bill McComb (1968), Fred Brown (1969-70), Jim Gallagher (1971-73), Chuck Donahue (1974-1980) and Bob Loftis (1981) continued Sacco is on the Wildcats’ coaching roster.

“I am honored to be named the head coach of St. Joseph’s Academy,” Dorsey said in a news release. “I am eternally grateful to SJA President Stephen Cappuccio and the SJA Board of Trustees for trusting me to lead this program. St. Joseph’s Academy is a special place and I look forward to continuing the tradition of excellence that Coach Sacco has established with this amazing group of student-athletes, coaches and staff.”

Dorsey is a graduate of Hammonton High School, where he was part of three sectional championship football teams in 1993, 1994 and 1996 and a member of the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame. Also a great baseball player, Dorsey was drafted by the Florida Marlins in 33^rd round of the 1997 MLB draft.

Dorsey now takes over a traditional football powerhouse that has won 20 state championships.

“Replacing a legend like Coach Sacco will be no easy task, but Ron’s ability to connect with youth and the way he coaches young people made him stand out when we went through the search,” said athletic director St. Joseph Tim Fingerhut. “I cannot wait to see how the culture created by these outstanding student-athletes continues to grow under the leadership of Coach Dorsey and his staff.”

Sacco is South Jersey’s all-time football coaching wins leader with 358, which ranks third in New Jersey history.

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