Last year’s defensive coordinator for Turlock High, Eddie Abassi, has found a new home with Modesto Junior College's football team as the new inside linebacker coach.
After just two years as a coordinator at the high school level, Abassi, who was a player for Turlock High in the early 2000s, is one step closer to reaching his ultimate goal—becoming a collegiate coach.
Although in some ways his dream has already come true he knows that a lot of hard work is ahead of him to reach the head coach level.
“It’s something I've been looking into for a long time,” Abassi said. “I’m into coaching football and it does a lot for me and I want to make an impact for the guys.”
The former Bulldog linebacker played at MJC for two years from 2005-2006 and was given an opportunity to play at the next level after receiving a full ride scholarship to Southern Oregon University in Ashland.
After graduating from Southern Oregon, Abassi decided to return home and was the defensive coordinator for Livingston High’s football team during the 2012 season.
Abassi led a solid stint as the defensive head man for Livingston and then received an opportunity to coach for his alma mater in Turlock before receiving a phone call in March to coach the Pirates.
He hopes that this will help his resume grow as he fine tunes and makes his way up the coaching rankings with a possibility of reaching the highest level of college eventually.
“Coming in at the next level, it is kind of like you’re on the go and need to know what you were doing and have some form or process on learning for the student athletes,” said Abassi. “We must be organized and need to work on footwork, everything starts in pre-snap and playing run first is huge that’s what we emphasize, no matter what, we always look to play run first.”
As a first generation American, Abassi thanked his family for bringing him to the states and providing him with the opportunity to chase his dreams.
“I was blessed because Turlock gave me the first opportunity to coach really,” Abassi said. “My family and my parents are from Baghdad, Iraq and once I got there to football coach Tyler pushed me to keep playing and it is something I wanted to get into and I paid for my education because of it and got schooling, so win-win.”
