Shook leaving Trinity to lead Pike Road football
Granger Shook is leaving Trinity after three years to take the head coaching job at Pike Road High School, he announced on Wednesday. (File Photo)
By TIM GAYLE
Granger Shook was perfectly happy at Trinity, but couldn’t shake his continued interest in the Pike Road football program as the Patriots conducted a coaching search to replace Ed Rigby.
“There’s always something that has intrigued me about the potential of Pike Road and when I heard the vision and the plan for what could potentially lay ahead, it was intriguing,” Shook said. “I’m thankful for (school superintendent) Dr. (Keith) Lankford and (principal) Mrs. (Andrea) Maness and the administration for giving me the opportunity.”
Shook told his coaching staff on Tuesday morning he was accepting the job as head football coach at Pike Road. Shook and Trinity officials asked to delay the release of the information to coincide with Pike Road’s official announcement on Wednesday morning following his introduction to the Patriot players and coaching staff.
“We are extremely excited to welcome Coach Shook as our new head football coach at Pike Road High School,” Maness said. “His experience and success in working to build young men, on and off the field, are a great fit for our student-athletes, our school and our community.”
When Shook was hired as Trinity’s head football coach in March, 2020, his vision for a stronger, better conditioned football team was seen as a transformational hire by some who felt the Wildcats’ program had slumped in recent years. He promptly led the Wildcats to a 10-3 record before losing to unbeaten Montgomery Academy in the 3A quarterfinals and led Trinity to back-to-back 9-3 seasons in 2021 and 2022 that included losses in the second round of the 3A state playoffs.
While his teams fell short of Shook’s region and state championship dreams, his team’s physical play and its fundamentally sound approach to the game earned praise from opposing coaches who felt Shook had his squads playing at their peak potential.
“I am thrilled for Coach Shook,” Trinity athletic director Jessica Lassiter said. “He exceeded expectations. This is Trinity’s loss for him to move on, but the Lord’s plan is sovereign. And I do believe from the very beginning that this was the Lord’s plan. He brought Granger to us to achieve some goals and achieve a culture that we wanted to develop and then the Lord blessed Granger with a big opportunity.
“He’ll forever be a Wildcat, but he is built to run big football. I knew when we hired Coach Shook, it was just a matter of time until a bigger opportunity came along. We have a great relationship with him and it’s one we’ll continue to have, especially with him being an alum. I am so grateful for the time he put in here and what he did for our kids. I just really cannot say enough good things about him. I’m just so thankful we had him for three years here. I’m so excited for him and so excited to see what he’s going to do and create over there.”
Shook, a linebacker on the 2003 state championship team at Trinity, admitted it was difficult to leave his alma mater.
“There were a lot of sleepless nights,” he said. “I will be forever grateful to the Trinity administration, particularly Jess Lassiter and Blake Smith, for giving me the opportunity to be a head football coach at a place I love and cherish. It was a difficult situation, just the relationships I had in coming back (to the school in 2020) and the relationships I formed by coaching here the last three years.
“(Lassiter) definitely was in my corner, going through the interview process. She’s a go-getter, a fighter, very good at what she does. That was a hard conversation to have. The conversation with my players was difficult. The conversation I had with my staff was very difficult.”
At Pike Road, he will be tasked with building a similar culture at a program that is only in its fifth year but has already had three coaches. Patrick Browning coached the Patriots through two years of 3A football and two more in 5A, including a 2021 state championship, but there were divisive factions within the program related to its identity. Ed Rigby was hired in March, 2022, but a 7-5 record this past season in Class 6A only seemed to fuel the divisiveness and led to his resignation last month.
Into that void steps Shook, who said the interest between him and the search committee was “mutual” and that “the future is bright” at Pike Road.
“The vision that was cast to me throughout this process was one of growth, one of high expectations,” he said. “I’ve been going to Trinity youth games and extracurricular activities for Trinity and I see Pike Road and them being successful in youth league, them being successful in other sports. Are there high expectations there? Absolutely, but I don’t want to be anywhere else where there’s not.
“It is an area that is growing and not every town in central Alabama can say that they’re growing. Any time there’s growth and development, that’s definitely a place I would like my family to be a part of. I’m excited not only for my career, but it’s a good place to raise my family.”
While this is only the second head coaching position for Shook, his background in football has surrounded him with familiar names. As a high school linebacker, he played for Hall of Fame coach Randy Ragsdale. As a four-year starter at Huntingdon College, he played for Mike Turk. He served as an assistant coach for Rush Propst at Colquitt High, then became the strength coach -- and later the defensive coordinator -- at Prattville High in 2016-20 before taking the job at Trinity.
While he spent Wednesday morning meeting with Pike Road administrators, coaches and players, his first task with the Patriots will be to put together a coaching staff.
“I’ve yet to meet with the current staff, I’ve yet to dive into that,” Shook said on Tuesday morning. “I know we’ll be praying for discernment and wisdom on who to bring in and who to keep.”