New Hillside Football Coach
Shined At All Levels As Player

Succeeding Barris Grant as Hillside head football coach is an assignment as challenging as making a fourth down play inside the opponent's five-yard line to win the game.

Grant was Hillside's most successful head coach, guiding the Comets to three state championships in nine seasons before leaving to become the head coach at Union.

Speaking of Union, it is a former standout player from that program who was chosen to take over the coaching reins at Hillside.

Isa Abdul-Quddus starred at linebacker at Union in the mid-2000s, the 2007 UHS graduate helping to lead the Farmers to the 2005 and 2006 North 2, Group 4 semifinals.

After playing right next door to Hillside growing up, Abdul-Quddus then played collegiately right next to Yankee Stadium as he excelled at Fordham.

What followed for the 6-1, 200-pound free safety was a six-season career in the National Football League, his first three years with the New Orleans Saints, followed by two more with the Detroit Lions and his final one in 2016 with the Miami Dolphins.

When Abdul-Quddus steps in front of his players to preach about the game he loves he does so with a vast wealth of experience that includes the rigors of making it to and competing in the NFL.

Hillside made it official on April 29 when the Group 2 school named Abdul-Quddus, 35, as its next head football coach. Abdul-Quddus will turn 36 on Aug. 3, right on the eve of what will be his first season as a head coach at any level.

"I'm super excited," Abdul-Quddus said. "I grew up just down the street in Union from where these kids are. I'm ready to be a part of the Hillside community."

Abdul-Quddus, following a career-ending injury when he was with the Dolphins, remained with Miami in a coaching position that saw him work with the defensive backs and the defensive coordinator.

Abdul-Quddus was then an assistant coach at Gateway Charter School in Naples, Fla. for the football seasons of 2021, 2022 and 2023. For family reasons he did not coach last year.

"I want to apply what I did in Florida and do some foundational work to reach out to the kids here in Hillside," said Abdul-Quddus, who is still a resident of Union.

Hillside is coming off a 5-5 season in which the Comets were ousted from the South, Group 2 playoffs in first-round action. It was the first time Hillside did not finish above .500 since Grant's first year at the helm in 2016 when the Comets came in at 4-6.

"I went to the NFL undrafted and became a starter," Abdul-Quddus said. "I have a lot to give back to the kids here at Hillside now."

"Isa was a coach on the field for me," said Marc Crisafi, who was Union's head coach from 2001-2006, including the time Abdul-Quddus starred for the Farmers. Crisafi's last year at the helm was Abdul-Quddus's senior season.

Crisafi, a 1983 UHS grad who played for legendary head coach Lou Rettino, was also an assistant coach at Hillside in the early 1990s.

"Like Peter Tverdov, Abdul-Quddus was a sophomore when Tverdov was a senior, both were bright, intelligent players on the field who made me look good," Crisafi said. "Isa was knowledgeable, like a sponge. He was a great athlete. I'm looking forward to seeing how he does."

Abdjul-Quddus was a three-year starter on defense at linebacker for Crisafi, with Union making the playoffs all three seasons in North 2, Group 4 in 2004, 2005 and 2006. The 2005 and 2006 teams, both 7-4, reached the semifinals, falling at Phillipsburg both seasons.

Abdul-Quddus also ran the ball and played wideout as a sophomore.

"Chris D'Andrea was our lead running back and Isa never complained about not getting the rock enough," Crisafi said.

At Fordham, Abdul-Quddus went from cornerback to safety and then to free safety in the NFL.

"Isa, who had crazy good 40 times, visited bigger schools like UConn and Rutgers, but he was a tweener," Crisafi said. "Fordham turned out to be a good fit for him."

One game at Union that stands out for Crisafi when remembering Abdul-Quddus was when the Farmers defeated visiting J.P. Stevens 55-20 in the first round of the 2006 North 2, Group 4 playoffs.

"Isa made some remarkable plays in that game, including a play where he tipped the ball to himself and ran it back for a touchdown," Crisafi said.

Abdul-Quddus remembers this about his time at Union and his head coach Marc Crisafi.

"Coach always had us practicing hard and he also had us always prepared to play," said the former scholastic standout for Farmers.

At Hillside, for his first head coaching stint, Abdul-Quddus is not stepping into a program that is a mess.

"I want to keep the culture intact," Abdul-Quddus said. "There's a high standard. I want to do everything I can for the program to continue to be successful.

"Hard work, dedication and keeping eye on the prize are very important."

"Isa was very humble, very focused," Crisafi said. "He was always ready.

"He was a quiet leader. He always had a smile and led by example. He loved to practice and always went at it hard.

"He was a quiet assassin with a smile on his face."

Abdul-Quddus earned a bachelor's degree in Applied Accounting and Finance at Fordham and is ready to promote academics even more than the dream of a possible professional playing career.

"You have to have the grades," Abdul-Quddus said. "Kids also need direction to be successful not only on the field, but off the field as well to align where they want to go in life.

"Fordham was a great learning experience for me and I also played on a good team there."

Abdul-Quddus said that his staff should be in place by next week.

As far as the Xs and Os of coaching, Abdul-Quddus said: "It's all about the preparation, knowing your opponent and knowing the schemes.

"Schemes may change from time to time, but the basic principles of football don't."