West Orange appoints Greg O'Brien as girls head coach

Why O’Brien fits the brief

The report says O’Brien is not arriving as an outsider.

• He has already worked around West Orange, assisting the boys side.
• His background is rooted in goalkeeping, from Westfield High School to Division One football at Fordham and UConn.
• His coaching path has included boys and girls roles, plus an interim varsity spell at Brearley.

That matters at a school where expectations are now high. West Orange does not need a reset as much as it needs stability. O’Brien’s local experience and existing connection to the programme appear to make this more of a handover than a rebuild.

Devore’s decade changed the programme

Devore’s record, according to the report, was 131-53-24 across 10 years in charge. The more important detail is the lift in standards.

• West Orange won its first Essex County Tournament title in 2018.
• The same season brought the programme’s first North 1, Group 4 championship.
• From 2021 to 2024, the Mountaineers reportedly reached every Essex County final.
• Back-to-back county titles followed in 2021 and 2022.

The context makes the rise even sharper. Before Devore returned in 2015, West Orange had gone several seasons without winning more than five matches. Within two years, the team was deep into county and state contention.

The pressure now changes

O’Brien is reportedly taking over a winning programme, not building one from scratch. That shifts the challenge. The task is maintaining a culture that expects finals, silverware and postseason relevance every year.

The next storyline will be simple: whether West Orange can keep that edge through the coaching transition. Early results will matter, but the bigger measure will come later in the county and sectional races that Devore turned into annual targets.