ABINGTON – Legends retire in sports every year, but some footsteps can be tough or even impossible to follow. But in Abington tradition never graduates or retires.

Jim Kelliher retired as head coach of the Abington Green Wave last season after 50 years on the sidelines. The iconic head coach rattled off 313 wins, which is good for fourth all-time in Massachusetts high school football history.

Even more impressive, Kelliher was able to ride the horse into the sunset in his final game on the gridiron as his squad captured a 46-6 victory over Thanksgiving Day rival Whitman-Hanson and added that cherry on his retirement sundae after five state championships along the way.

Following these achievements is on par with taking over at the White House as president of the United States, but if there was someone in Abington good enough to walk side-by-side with Kelliher on the field for the past 25 years, it’s new Abington head coach Ed Reilly.

Reilly is in the mold of what Green Wave fans have come to expect. Reilly has been with Abington as a water boy since he was 8 years old. Reilly had dreams of playing for Kelliher and surpassed that goal 10-fold.

Reilly went on to play for Kelliher as the starting quarterback, graduated as the senior captain of the Patriot League championship team, and went on to play at Holy Cross all with the helping hand of Kelliher and his tough-love ways.

Reilly came back to the Abington football hub in 1997 as head coach of the freshman program and joined varsity in 2001 as Kelliher’s right-hand man on offense.

So, blazing a trail In Abington with Kelliher wearing the green and white is old hat for Reilly as he takes over the dauting task of keeping the standard of excellence of Abington on and off the field.

“It’s the community itself, the work ethic that the parents instill in a lot of these kids. I think our upperclassmen do a really good job teaching the younger guys the way as we have an old saying ‘tradition doesn’t graduate’ and the kids have really bought into it,” said Reilly. “Winning obviously breeds that, and we’ve been lucky around here – not just football – as a lot of the sports have been successful.”

What has helped Reilly succeed and what will continue to benefit Reilly on the sideline is being such a humble figure both in temperament and his abilities to motivate on and off the field. Reilly’s strength is building relationships with his student-athletes and the community while applying real-life lessons.

“Been very, very lucky to have the father I did and Coach Kel – just two huge mentors. I learned a lot from my father and often it was from former players that would tell me stories on how things he did, and his motto was to ‘maker things fun’ and I took that to heart,” said Reilly about the inner workings of Kelliher’s success. “Try and think of it through a kids’ perspective. This is not professional football, this is not college football, either. Majority of these kids will never play again, and you must keep that in mind and a lot of these kids have stuff going on at home as well.”

Reilly described the style he has learned throughout the decades with Abington.

“You have to have a sense of discipline but also a sense of understanding,” said Reilly.

Regardless of how well Reilly comes out of the gates, the upcoming season is an exciting time as always for Green Wave fanatics. It is also undeniable that Abington has not only replaced 50 years of brilliance with a Green Wave lifer with over 24 years of being the Robin to Kelliher’s Batman, but the Abington blue-collar, every-day man mentality of Reilly won’t miss a beat.

Reilly pumped the brakes on expectations as Kelliher left with over 14 seniors from the 8-3 squad last season. So, the experience on the field will be just as difficult to replace as Abington opens the season against perennial powerhouse Duxbury.

But Kelliher has thrusted greatness upon Reilly and the Abington program for 2024 and beyond, but in football it is all about family and reloading on the field. These concepts are certainly not any different in Abington.

Reilly’s son Eddie Jr. is in his third year of college after playing under center for Kelliher and now coach Reilly’s next son in line, Michael, gets to shine as senior captain, ironically also following the Abington tradition and footsteps of his own quarterback family.

Adding a dash of sophomore Jack Reilly only adds to another anecdote from Reilly that Abington can be one of two things.

“A small town or a big family, however you want to describe it,” he said.

The true winners in all this change are the student-athletes who will rise for Reilly to showcase that the more things change, the more they remain the same.

Reilly got to experience that electric final season for Kelliher with the victory over the Panthers and was in awe, but it’s time to turn the page in the family album and use Kelliher’s inspiration and guidance to form the next generation of the Abington football family.

“Family is huge here. Family is first at home and we try to become that second family and for a lot of these kids it is very important with the role we play in their lives,” said Reilly. “Coming from a small town, you are playing and coaching for others. I see guys around town all the time, friends of mine, and it is a truly a family atmosphere. Abington is a small town.”

Blood may be thicker than water, yet in Abington everyone bleeds green, and Reilly is now head of the table for the Green Wave football family.

After 50 years of Jim Kelliher patrolling the sidelines, Ed Reilly takes over as head coach of Abington High’s football team. (Libby O’Neill/Boston Herald)