Wallington hires former Wayne Hills standout as new football coach
Justin Avedissian, a former Wayne Hills standout, was approved as new football coach at Wallington High School on Monday night.
The 28-year-old takes over for Charlie Vellis Jr., who moved up to the athletic director position at Wallington. Avedissian’s hiring leaves Dumont High School as the only open head football coaching job in North Jersey.
Avedissian is a 2016 Montclair State graduate with a degree in physical education and health. He is a teacher and assistant basketball and baseball coach at Manchester Regional.
“I got to see Wallington kids up close when I was coaching at Manchester, they have a real gritty tough kid that never quit,” Avedissian said. “I knew that if I ever had the opportunity to work with kids like that, we would be able to achieve some pretty big things.”
This will be Avedissian’s first varsity head coaching job.
“Justin is an ambitious young football coach who brings the enthusiasm and leadership that we were looking for in our next coach,” Vellis Jr. said. “He comes from a great pedigree, not only as a player but as a coach, and we believe he has the potential to continue moving our program forward and even take it to the next level.”
At Wayne Hills, Avedissian played for iconic Patriots coach Chris Olsen and was part of back-to-back sectional championship teams in 2010 and 2011. He was a two-way lineman who was first-team All-County as a senior for the Patriots.
Olsen made a big impact on Avedissian.
“What I will take away from Coach Olsen is the fact that he demanded the best out of you every day,” Avedissian said. “I really think, when you take a step back, that the kids born on the Wayne Hills side of town weren’t born with any more athletic gifts than any other town, but it was a testament to coach Olsen, his refusal to accept anything less that 110 percent, that maximized our potential.”
At Montclair State, Avedissian played both football and baseball. He credits veteran Montclair State football coach Rick Giancola for educating him on the proper way to scheme and attack your opponent.
After graduating from Montclair State, Avedissian joined the staff at Wayne Hills working with the freshman team, then moved up to varsity assistant under Patriots coach Wayne Demikoff.
Avedissian also praised Demikoff for putting him on the path to become a head coach.
Wallington is coming off a 6-3 season that ended with a first-round playoff loss to Becton. It last won a sectional crown in 2010.
The Panthers fight the same adversity as many other Group 1 schools in North Jersey: participation numbers that fluctuate and a balanced conference schedule.
Avedissian will retain the bulk of Vellis Jr.’s staff to ease with the transition and will remain in his current teaching roles at Manchester, but he’s not putting any limits on what the Panthers can achieve.
“I will tell the kids I don’t care who lines up across from us or what our record is in the past, every time we line up to play, we expect to win,” Avedissian said. “We will outwork teams, play aggressively and win the turnover battle. You can’t play with the emergency brake on in football. At its roots, football is a physical game that must be played aggressively.”
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Wallington NJ football: Justin Avedissian hired as new coach
