Jeff Papcun St. John Vianney High School Football Head Coach

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St. John Vianney has named Jeff Papcun as its head football coach following the resignation of Mike Alberque, the school announced on Tuesday afternoon.

Alberque, who is also St. John Vianney's athletic director, was the Lancers' football coach for two seasons. He stepped down to focus more of his time on his position as AD, according to the press release issued by the school.

Papcun was St. John Vianney's defensive coordinator last season and was the team's offensive coordinator in 2020.

"It is an honor and privilege to take over this fantastic program," Papcun said via the press release. "I always knew that I wanted to be a head coach. It has been my dream since I was seven years old playing Keyport Pop Warner for coaches Joe Vecchio and Steve Breene. My hard work and dedication is finally paying off and I cannot wait to pay it forward to the young men of the Saint John Vianney football program. This isn't about me becoming a head coach. This is about helping the SJV program grow and making these student-athletes into better young men for the future, just like all my head coaches have done in my journey."

Papcun played his high school football at Raritan where he was a 2005 graduate. He was a senior captain in 2004 when the Rockets went 12-0 and won the Central Jersey Group 2 title, the program's first sectional title in program history. He then played collegiately at Montclair State University.

Papcun returned to Raritan to begin his coaching career in 2011 as a volunteer assistant under current Rockets head coach Anthony Petruzzi. He has coached at multiple Shore Conference schools with stops at Keansburg, Red Bank Catholic, Colts Neck, and two stints at both Raritan and St. John Vianney.

"So many people laughed and joked about how many places I've coached these past 12 years," Papcun said. "My replay to all of them was that I want to be a head coach someday and I want to learn from all of the great coaches who mentored me including Vecchio and Breene, coaches Darren Ault and Owen Byrne when I played basketball at Holy Family school, my high school coaches Sininsky, Generelli, Devani, and Fermado, my college coaches Giniacola and O''Connor, and coaches Petruzzi, Carlstrom, Damian, Portela, Ahearn, and Alberque. Thank you for making me the coach I am today."

St. John Vianney went 4-7 last year playing in the Shore Conference's Freedom Division with Long Branch, Freehold, Toms River South, and Toms River East. The Lancers finished second to Long Branch with a 3-1 division record. For the 2022 season, SJV will play in the new-look Independence Division with Manasquan, Point Boro, Raritan, Monmouth Regional and Holmdel.

Among St. John Vianney's returners next season will be quarterback Antonio Rosato, wide receiver/defensive back Kyle Verriest, linebackers Jack Farrah and Michael Foley, and two-way linemen Makel Davis and Ryan Buchanan.