Familiar Face Takes the Helm Of Fair Lawn Football Team

Adhering to his most valued football principle—speed—Amir Saadah is starting fast at .

Saadah, who graduated from the school in 2000, was named the Cutters' head football coach at and was introduced Friday.

“This was a dream of mine. Once I realized that I wanted to be a coach, I wanted to come right back to Fair Lawn,” Saadah said. “I finally got the opportunity and being the head coach is like a dream.”

After spending six years as an assistant coach at Hawthorne High School working on coach John Passero’s staff, Saadah says he’s primed for his first head coaching position. The 29-year-old played linebacker at the University of New Hampshire and served as Hawthorne’s defensive coordinator for the past two seasons.

After making his rounds in school today, Saadah was eager to meet his players and will quickly begin breaking down game film.

The former Fair Lawn High School captain brings with him what he calls a “G defense,” which employs a four-man front and uses two outside linebackers, but is most reliant on one factor.

“It’s about team speed on defense. We get the fastest guys who can tackle on the field,” Saadah said. “That’s really coming directly from UNH.”           

While Saadah is a self-described “defensive minded” coach, he plans to overhaul the team’s offense and implement the spread, which continues as an ongoing trend in high school football.

“The offense is going to look very different," he said. "It’s going to be a spread offense, so that’s going to be noticeable.”

Fair Lawn’s new head man said that perhaps the most important task at hand lies in continuing to build the town’s youth program, keeping a fresh pipeline of talent in tact—something Saadah plans to do.

Fair Lawn Athletic Director Cory Robinson said Saadah stood out during the interview process and came highly recommended.

“He wants to instill our kids with the values and core principles that the superintendent, principal and myself feel are important,” Robinson said. “As a former captain of his high school team, he knows what it’s like to play here and how important it is to have the community involved in the program.”

Saadah comes to the helm a program that went 3-7 last season under former head coach Stan Myles, who resigned in January for family reasons.

“I think I have a very good understanding of what it does take to be a head coach,” Saadah said. “I knew right away if I’m going to move on, why not come back home?”