IRVINGTON, NJ — In his six-plus years as the athletic director at Irvington High School, Dr. John Taylor’s main focus was about giving opportunities to the students.
To accomplish his goals, all he needed was support from the school board and Superintendent April Vauss.
Thanks to that support, not to mention the commitment from his coaches, Taylor saw the athletic department grow tremendously.
Taylor leaves behind a lasting legacy. His last day in the district was Wednesday, Jan. 31, as he accepted the athletic director position in Burlington Township.
Taylor was extremely thankful to the administration for its help in growing the athletic department.
“I think Irvington is the best athletic department that any AD can ask to work for,” said Taylor, a native of Washington state. “The amount of growth that we’ve had in terms of programs and athletes, doesn’t happen without a very supportive school board and very supportive superintendent, and that’s not just me saying that. That’s honestly the truth.
“When you’re working in Irvington and you start to understand how supportive the board and superintendent are of providing students with additional opportunities, you realize this is a really good place.”
Taylor’s work was recognized on a national level. He was named the 2022 Varsity Brands National Athletic Director of the Year.
Taylor, who arrived at IHS in July 2017, said he had “big ambitions” when it came to growing the athletic department by starting new programs. And never once was he told, “no” by the administration, which only wanted to know if there was enough interest from the students to start the new programs.
A few months into his new job, Taylor noticed that the girls volleyball program drew a turnout of more than 70 kids, which was way too much for both the junior varsity and varsity teams. Taylor felt bad about turning away those students. The next year, the same number of girls tried out for volleyball. This time, Taylor approached the administration about adding a freshman team. Within a few days, he got approval to add the freshman level.
The same scenario happened with the boys soccer program. Because of strong interest, the boy soccer program also added a freshman team.
The students wanted to play, and Taylor made sure to oblige.
“I feel like if they were presented with opportunities for athletic participation and programs, they would have taken advantage of it,” Taylor said of the students.
The athletic department added new programs, such as girls wrestling in the winter; and boys volleyball, girls lacrosse and girls flag football in the spring. He also revived the golf program, which had been dormant for years. He even added a girls team to the golf program..
Taylor was approached by a strong group of boys who wanted to play volleyball and was able to get approval to start a boys volleyball program..
The girls flag football program, under head coach Kyle Steele, has evolved into one of the best in the state, having won the state championship in 2022, beating Hawthorne at the New York Jets training facility in Florham Park.. In the previous year, which was the first year for the sport in the state, the Blue Knights were state runner-up, falling in the state championship game to Passaic County Tech at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford..
Taylor secured a wrestling mat worth more than $10,000 from the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association a few years ago. Steele also is the head coach of the boys wrestling team.
In addition, Taylor wanted to recognize Irvington’s past. That’s why he revived the IHS Athletic Hall of Fame, which had been dormant for decades. Since 2018, the Irvington Athletic Hall of Fame has inducted an annual class, featuring several categories, including a coach category and team category. They have had a special induction ceremony every year at the high school, with the exception of the COVID years.
More than anything, Taylor always gives credit to his coaches. In fact, each year he nominates one of his coaches for the “Teacher Who Rocks Award” by radio station WDHA. Several Irvington coaches have won that award, such as former girls volleyball head coach Paul Tortorella, bowling head coach Myles Hart, former boys soccer and boys tennis coach Salim Laib, softball head coach Jenna Weiss and boys basketball head coach Elias Brantley.
Taylor marvels at his coaches’ dedication. Steele travels around the country with IHS star flag football senior Janasia Wilson with her club team, the Staten Island Giants, going to such places as Washington, D.C. and North Carolina, even though he has no affiliation with that club team.
Brantley spent his own money purchasing screen printing equipment for apparel for his boys basketball players. Thanks to Taylor’s nomination, Brantley received the LifeChanger of the Year Award from the National Life Group for his efforts to help his team by using his own money. The award goes to educators who go above and beyond for their students.
Taylor also was impressed by Weiss, who paid, out of her own pocket, for one of her players, Jael Gonsalves, for private pitching instruction, as well as for Gonsalves to attend a pitching camp run by famed softball pitcher Jennie Finch.
“The (Irvington) coaches are really good people and always do what’s best for the kids,” Taylor said.
Taylor also nominated Irvington coaches who were inducted into the New Jersey Scholastic Coaches Association Hall of Fame, including head coaches Marvin Hawkins and Barnes Reid of the track and field and cross country teams, former soccer coach Rob Osieja and former football head coach Darnell Grant.
Reid, who has been coaching at IHS for the past 45 years, said, “Dr. Taylor played an integral part in servicing our community, our health and physical education department, along with the department of athletics. He helped create interest among our scholars to participate in athletics, especially introducing new sports to the high school athletic program. I’ve coached under nine athletic directors, dating back to 1979. He is the best athletic director I ever coached under.”
Hawkins, who coached Irvington for many years before leaving in 2022 and is the current cross-county and track coach at Hunter College in New York, said “Dr. Taylor was the best athletic director in Irvington history. He worked hard, always promoted the accolades of he athletes and coaches, added sports, such as golf, lacrosse, boys volleyball and flag football. I was an honor and a pleasure working for him! He will be missed!”
Hart, the bowling coach, said Taylor is the type of AD who calls and messages after every match to see how the team is doing. “He helped take the Irvington bowling program to the next level by allowing for a boys and girls team,” said Hart, who took over as the IHS girls volleyball head coach this past fall. “I deeply appreciate the work that Dr. Taylor has given to the Irvington athletes and coaches. He will be greatly missed and I wish him the best of luck. His super positive attitude and everlasting commitment to his department is something that recognized and noticed by his coaches. Thank you, Dr. Taylor!”
Weiss also said Taylor is the type of person who is always available any time of the day if anyone needs anything..
“Dr. Taylor, hands down, was one of the hardest-working AD’s we have ever had,” Weiss said. “He set a precedent in this town for how athletics should be run and supported. He made our jobs easy because of the behind-the-scenes work he does for us. He has made this community better and has created opportunities for kids to embrace new sports. Dr. Taylor reaches way beyond the scope of his job title. I know I will miss him greatly as he was an amazing boss and an even better friend.”
Taylor also wanted to thank the athletic directors in the Super Essex Conference.
“The SEC athletic directors have been phenomenal in my development,” Taylor said. “They are a selfless group of people who have been so helpful to me throughout the years. I think, on the outside, people may view athletic directors as people who only are concerned with their school and their athletes. In Essex County, that is far from the truth. AD’s like Gerhard Sanchez (Essex County Vo-Tech), Joe Piro (Nutley), Adrian Bosolasco (Science Park), Dan Romano (Caldwell), Steve Jenkins (Bloomfield), Chris Heath (North Star), Anthony Minella (West Essex), Rob Hill (Glen Ridge), Dave Cohen (Livingston), Rich Porfido (Columbia), Marcellino Marra (Belleville), Rob Gogerty (Cedar Grove), Mike Baldwin (East Orange), Liz Bona (Newark Academy), Steph Zichella (West Orange) and Lorenzo Sozio (Mount St. Dominic) are people I speak with constantly, and are definitely student-first people. Not just for their own students, but for every student in Essex County.
“As an example, when former Irvington student-athlete Nashawn Brooks – Class of 2019, county wrestling champion and a scholarship football player at Wagner College – passed away in a car accident in 2020, the Essex County ADs, led by efforts from Joe Piro and Ron San Fillipo, dropped everything they were doing, and went to work to help pay for Nashawn’s funeral expenses. I can’t say for certain if this sort of thing happens in other conferences, but in the SEC, I can tell you that the AD’s are some of the most caring individuals you could ever hope to work with. I’ll definitely miss working with them each day.”
Indeed, Taylor also will miss Irvington, but he will always have a special place in his heart for the Blue Knights.
Taylor leaves behind a lasting legacy as Irvington HS athletic director added by Joe Ragozzino on
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