ORANGE, NJ — For the past 18 years, Akil Boucaud has been the head track and field coach at his alma mater, Orange High School.
Boucaud is now the new head coach of the OHS football team.
Officially appointed to the job in late July, after spending the past two seasons as the head coach at Newark Academy in Livingston, Boucaud has been impressed by the Tornadoes’ commitment during the preseason, despite a few players leaving the program.
“The team is relatively young this year, as some athletes have left the team,” said Boucaud, a 2001 OHS graduate, who played receiver/cornerback for head coach Randy Daniel’s Tornadoes. “However, they are working hard and getting better every practice.”
One player who decided to remain at Orange is senior tight end/defensive end Aaron Biart (6-foot-1, 195 pounds), who earned second-team defensive honors on the All–Super Football Conference–Freedom White Division last season.
Other key returning players are senior wide receiver/defensive back Delan Pierre (6-1, 170) and WR/DB/kicker David McLaughlin (6-0, 165).
The quarterback position battle was still undecided.
The Tornadoes are looking to improve on last year’s 2-7 record, after competing in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North Jersey, Group 4 regional consolation tournaments in 2022 and 2023, which were the first two years of the regional tournament, under head coach Khalfani Alleyne. They lost to Bergenfield in both years in the semifinals, finishing 4-5 in 2022 and 6-3 in 2023. The tournament, which was discontinued after the two years, consisted of teams that just missed qualifying for their respective NJSIAA’s state sectional playoffs. The tournament only had two rounds (semifinals and final). The Tornadoes last made the state sectional playoffs in 2017, when they lost to North Hunterdon in the North 2, Group 4 first round.
Notes – Boucaud, a 2001 OHS graduate, played collegiately at New Haven and Rutgers. Boucaud began his coaching career at OHS as an assistant coach under Daniel. Boucaud then went to Passaic as an assistant coach, under then-head coach Will Widener –, a 1999 OHS graduate who was a running back/linebacker for the Tornadoes. After Passaic, Boucaud became the Newark Academy head coach. Widener is on Boucaud’s coaching staff this season.
The coaching staff has other former Tornadoes, including Abbri Jones, Ny’Quee Hawkins, Nasier Givens, Carlos Hawkins, NyQuee’s father; Kevin Boateng and Akie May.
Jones, also a 2001 OHS graduate, was a standout starting quarterback. Ny’Quee Hawkins, a 2019 graduate, was a cornerback who played at Division 1 Virginia Tech and Sam Houston State.
Givens, a 2018 OHS graduate, played at Pace University as a defensive lineman at the Division 2 level. He was the 2022 Northeast-10 Conference Defensive Lineman of the Year.
Alleyne and Boucaud were classmates at OHS, where they were receivers/cornerbacks. Alleyne succeeded Daniel, who stepped down after the second game of the 2021. Daniel had been the OHS head coach since 1996. Alleyne is currently an assistant coach at West Orange.
Boucaud has his own foundation. The DAAB Foundation provides mentoring and tutoring programs, and educational workshops. The foundation also provides scholarships to students.
Boucaud has an associates degree in law enforcement administration from the University of New Haven; a bachelor of arts degree in criminal justice from Rutgers; a master’s in public administration from Kutztown University; a master’s of education in educational leadership; and a doctorate in education with a concentration in teacher leadership from Concordia University.
Bellva May, OHS’s all-time leading girls basketball scorer with 2,090 career points and a 2001 graduate, is the academic coach for the Tornadoes football program. May scored in her Tornadoes career and played collegiately at the University of Cincinnati.
Schedule
Aug. 28: vs. Voorhees, 6 p.m.
Sept. 5: vs. Irvington, 7 p.m.
Sept. 12: at Columbia, 7 p.m.
Sept. 19: vs. Lincoln (Jersey City), 7 p.m.
Sept. 27: at East Orange Campus, 1 p.m.
Oct. 3: vs. Central, 7 p.m.
Oct. 10: at Union City, 7 p.m.
Oct. 17: at Randolph, 7 p.m.
Oct. 24: vs. Bayonne, 7 p.m.
Photos by Joe Ragozzino
Orange team practice at Bell Stadium in Orange, Aug. 13
Akil Boucaud photo, courtesy of Akil Boucaud
About the Author
