New Irvington HS head football coach ‘very excited’

IRVINGTON, NJ — For the past few seasons, Marco Soto said he served as sort of a “mentor” to Ashley “Smoke” Pierre, just like he did many years ago.

Soto was Pierre’s coach when he was an assistant coach and Pierre was a varsity football player at now defunct Bayley-Ellard High School in Madison.

A few years ago, when Pierre was the Irvington High School head football coach, he called Soto about joining his coaching staff. Soto liked that proposal, but wanted to wait until his son graduated high school. After that happened, Soto came aboard and served as the Blue Knights assistant defensive line coach, along with Nhemie Theodore, one year after the Blue Knights won the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4  state sectional championship in 2021, Irvington’s first state sectional crown.

Now, Soto has taken the proverbial torch from Pierre, after recently being named the new Blue Knights head coach.

Pierre, an Irvington native, guided the Blue Knights to a magnificent run during his eight seasons, stepping down after last season.

Make no mistake, Soto wants to continue that glorious run in his first head-coaching job. 

“I’m very excited,” he said in an interview with the Irvington Herald. “I am very appreciative of the support from (Irvington Superintendent) Dr. (April) Vauss and the board (of education). I am grateful for the opportunity, and now it’s time to roll up those sleeves and go to work.”

Soto has kept the majority of the assistant coaches, while adding a few new coaches.

After graduating from defunct Don Bosco Tech in Paterson in 1988, Soto

played collegiate football at Sacred Heart University.

Under Pierre, the Blue Knights have been one of the best teams in the area. Pierre guided the program to a 63-25 overall record, including two state sectional championship appearances in 2018 and 2021, and five straight Super Football Conference divisional titles from 2017-2021. After winning the state sectional title, the Blue Knights capped the 2021 campaign by beating Northern Highlands in the North, Group 4 regional title game at Rutgers University’s SHI University to finish with an 11-2 record.

For the past few seasons, the Blue Knights boasted dozens of collegiate-caliber players, including a few who have gone to play football at major universities, such as Nebraska, Penn State, Notre Dame, Rutgers and Kentucky.

Irvington is looking to rebuild after losing several players from last year’s 6-5 team that lost a heartbreaking 15-12 decision at top-seeded Randolph in the North 2, Group 4 sectional semifinals. 

Soto acknowledged that the younger players will have to immediately contribute in order to maintain the Blue Knights’ tremendous run of success. Soto is confident those young players will deliver.

“It’s going to take the younger kids to mature quickly,” Soto said. “We lost a lot to graduation and we lost a couple who transferred. But for the most part, it’s going to take the younger kids to grow up. I don’t have a problem with playing younger kids. These kids are not your ordinary younger kids, these kids are mature kids. You can’t really rattle them. The young kids are going to have to play and they’re going to have to play quickly.”

More than just wins and championships, Soto’s main goal is to develop the players as much on the field as in the classroom.

“I want to keep the same path that they were on, trying to get the best out of these kids, both on the football field and in the classroom, try to make them productive young men,” Soto said. “The goal, other than winning a state championship,is to get them into colleges and universities and stretch their wings a little bit and fly. I want them to be the best that they can be.”

  Irvington High School football