Moravian College Introduces New Head Coach Chris Sapp Ahead of their 100th Season
Tagged under: New Coaches, News, Pennsylvania Colleges, pfn
John Fox, Dan Di Edwardo | June 26, 2026
Moravian College brought in an experienced veteran coach of the D-III level ahead of their milestone 100th season. Former University of Rochester DC Chris Sapp will now take the reigns after his predecessor, Jeff Long Jr, who compiled a 13-18 record over 3 seasons at Moravian and became the new DC of Bucknell University. Sapp will bring defensive intensity to Moravian, as Rochester’s defense ranked #13 in 2025 in the D-III conference, with 4 defensive TDs. With that intensity comes his acronym FIRE which stands for Family, Intensity, Relentless, and Enthusiasm, which his players already have bought into and the new culture he hopes to create at Moravian.
Sapp has had many stops in his coaching career including administrative football assistant at Clemson in 2005-06, WR coach at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute from 2006-10, a defensive grad assistant at Middle Tennessee from 2010-12, many defensive roles at Bowdin from 2012-18, DB, RB, QB and DL coach, and special teams/recruiting coordinator, while guest coaching the Calgary Stampeders Canadian Football League team in 2014, and becoming Rochester DC from 2018-25.
His wife Jessica has ties to the Lehigh Valley because her grandparents live there, making Sapp’s transition to the new place much smoother. Not only is it a new environment for Sapp, but a new role that he always wanted, becoming a head coach for the first time in his 2 decade long coaching career. Sapp and Moravian College hope that the new FIRE culture he instilled brings students from all over the Atlantic Coast and the country to their football team, while valuing both their educational and football experiences on the way in.
Speaking at a meet and greet that featured many Moravian alumni, family, and their friends, Coach Sapp stressed the importance of taking care of the little things, such as mental toughness on the way to becoming a successful football program. He also values the coaching staff he brought in to help the kids learn his base offensive and defensive schemes, as well as to be supporters for their ambitions and effort on and off the field during their time at Moravian. Coach Sapp also stressed recruiting the next wave of Moravian football players, with scouts going to high schools all over the East Coast, such as in Philadelphia, Atlanta and the Carolinas. Lastly, he preached about the brotherhood of the current players and that togetherness will help set his culture and help the team achieve their ultimate goal.
However, Sapp will have his work cut out for him because Moravian, as they only had one winning season since they went 8-3 in 2015 with a playoff appearance, which came in 2024, when they went 6-4. Moravian will put that new culture to the test on Sep 5 with their season and home opener against their hated rivals, Muhlenberg, whom they have lost 14 straight games to. For Sapp and Moravian, there is no better team for them to light that FIRE against than a team that has had their number for the past 14 years and a monkey that they will look to finally get off their backs.
Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews
