Tenured coach excited to be coaching where his family resides 

by Jeff Garrett

MENDHAM –   There’s a new face on the West Morris Mendham High School varsity football sidelines this season, one that’s familiar with football and became more familiar at West Mendham High School since signing on as the head coach in February 2026.

John Hack has lived with his family in West Morris for some time. After winning seasons at Voorhees High School since 2023 where his team racked up an 8-2 season in 2025, Hack moved on to West Morris Mendham when Ethan Jeros went over to Manville School District.

Hack brings a lot of experience and game calling know-how to the team.

One of his core beliefs is to keep defenses guessing.  At Voorhees, he used a combination run game and air attack to foil defenses. It was so successful that the Voorhees Vikings set records for rushing and passing.

Hack’s preparation started months before the Aug. 28th opener with the team. 

“We need to continue to get physically and mentally tough,” said the first-year coach at WMMHS. “They’ve (the players) grown a lot in the last four or five months,” he told media outlets in July.

While the experienced coach is delighted to be coaching quite close to home, he should get the opportunity to coach his son, a young football player in elementary school, in four to five years.

Hack, once a football player at Immaculata and head coach there for the 2012 and 2013 seasons, coached at Morris Catholic from 2015-23.

He transformed a struggling program into a winner, which by 2019, won its first division title in 2019 in the SFC United Blue division.  While Hack registered several seven-win campaigns, the turnaround of the Morris catholic program which was accustomed to winning only two games a year, occurred in 2015, when he led the team to a 5-5 finish.  

Hack was availed the opportunity to come to West Morris Mendham since former head coach Ethan Jeros’ contract was not renewed earlier in the year.

Jeros compiled a 26-25 record in four seasons coaching the Minutemen, including a streak of eight wins en route to becoming the second-seed in the Group 3 sectional tournament in 2024.

West Morris-Mendham’s new coach is excited to be at the school.  He wants to see his student-players develop with character and heart to turn into productive adults. On the field, he wants a winner, and he knows his kids can achieve great things provided they are physical and work together for the wins.