Meet the Coaches

My name is Ethan Smith and I'm thrilled to be stepping into the role of head coach of the Montclair Varsity team. I began playing ultimate in 2013 with the Hometown Ultimate program in Maplewood, NJ. I would go on to captain the Columbia High School JV and Varsity Teams as well as playing 4 years on the DEVYL u17 and u20 Teams. I played college ultimate at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst from 2018-2021. I have played club ultimate for New Jersey Jughandle, Amherst Sprout and most recently played for Garden State Ultimate in 2023 alongside Montclair Varsity Assistant Coach Dyllon Jeng! From 2022-2024 I was the assistant coach of the CHS Varsity Team and have been on the DEVYL U20 coaching staff since 2022 (excluding summer 2024).  

My name is Doug Tahirali and I was asked to join the team for the Spring season as an adult Coach/Advisor.  My greatest skill is good timing as I found myself with an amazing group of young men who were on the brink of Ultimate greatness!  To quote the band The Talking Heads:  How did I get here?

I am a Canadian physiotherapist who discovered Ultimate later in life in 1990 in Ottawa, Canada. Ottawa was home to the worlds largest Ulti league and I played 3-4 nights a week and travelled to tournaments most summer weekends.  We also had a Fall and Winter league and I was soon the league co-ordinator and running a few tournaments a year as well.  I also helped lead the initiative to buy 100 acres of land and develop 50 acres into the worlds first Ultimate-only sports park!  Ottawa still has a massive league and thee fields continue to be the cornerstone of Candian Ultimate.  I spent the early 2000s travelling the world and playing and teaching Ultimate wherever I went, finally ending up in Hong Kong where i helped to build the fledgling league there.  

As a player I was Captain of several Canadian Masters Championship teams which then qualified us for a few World Championships through the 90s.

As a physical therapist I am able to assess, tape and treat any injuries sustained in the physical game of Ultimate.  I have worked up with many professional and National sports teams around the world.  I am also a PADI certified Emergency First Aid Instructor and spent 12 years on the Canadian Ski Patrol as a Senior Instructor and Senior Examiner, so I am capable of dealing with any fieldside situations including concussions.

My goal as a Coach/Advisor is simple - to help young people become better humans through the sport of Ultimate and its unique Spirit of the Game mentality!    

Dyllon Jeng began playing ultimate at Rutgers University my freshman year in the fall of 2015. He had no prior experience with ultimate outside of gym class, but  fell in love with the sport instantly. He played on Machine's B team that fall, and  made his way onto the A team that spring. He became obsessed with the goal of making college nationals with Rutgers, and was able to accomplish that goal  in 2019. After he graduated, he began playing with GSU the summer of 2021 and has been playing on the team each summer since. In fact, he was fortunate enough to play two seasons with Ethan in 2022 and 2023. Just last season was he was given the honor of being a captain for the team, and is running it back for this year as well. Going into the spring season of 2022, he was offered the opportunity to join the coaching staff for Rutgers. He's been coaching the team each season since. This is his first stint coaching at the youth level and is honored to be part of the journey this year with Montclair Ultimate.