LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Ashley Pierre was nominated by a colleague who wishes to remain anonymous. 

Coach Ashley Pierre, lovingly known as Coach Smoke among the Irvington community, is the epitome of a LifeChanger. He is taking poverty-stricken students and providing them with opportunities that some only dream about.

The student athletes on his football team currently hold offers from some of the biggest football programs in the nation, such as Alabama and Michigan. This would be a completely normal occurrence if he was coaching at a parochial school, but he is doing this with young men who are homegrown in Irvington, NJ, a town that is less than 3 square miles. He has been the head coach at Irvington for four years and currently has athletes playing collegiate football at NC State, UNC, Albany, Wagner, Liberty, Delaware State, Monmouth, University of Buffalo and more.

Coach Smoke has shined a very positive light on his community and teaches kids tremendous life lessons using the game of football. There have been more collegiate scouts at Irvington High School in the past 5 years than one can imagine. The way he encourages his student athletes and makes the impossible possible for them is inspiring.