Shaw High School football coach and athletics director Al Pellegrino dies
Shaw High School head football coach and athletics director Al Pellegrino has died.
Pellegrino died Monday while on vacation in Orlando, Florida, Muscogee County School District athletics director Jeff Battles told the Ledger-Enquirer.
Battles said he was notified by Pellegrino’s wife, Ashlee.
Pellegrino’s age, cause of death and exact location weren’t available. Battles said his understanding is that Pellegrino died from a natural cause, but he wasn’t aware of any health problems Pellegrino might have had.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
“It’s sad,” Battles said. “It’s unbelievable. He was such a presence at Shaw High School. Losing him is going to hurt.”
Pellegrino was defensive coordinator at Shaw when he was promoted to head football coach before the 2017 season. He also taught health and physical education.
“He was a husband, a father, had three kids of his own kids and two step-kids,” Battles said. “… Just an extremely loving guy, a good person.”
It’s too soon to know who will be in charge of the Shaw football program and athletics department during the interim, Battles said. The principal and MCSD region chief will make that decision, he said.
Summer workouts for football start June 6.
Becky Clark, a Shaw media center assistant who also works in the school’s front office as a support staff member for the administration, knew Pellegrino as a colleague and as a mother of a football player who graduated this year.
“This is definitely a hard hit and a shock for us Raiders,” Clark told the L-E in a Facebook message. “. . . He was a great man. He loved the Lord, and he loved his students. He was definitely passionate about football and his role as an educator and mentor. The halls of Shaw will definitely not be the same without him. He played a vital role in many students’ lives. It’s going to be rough, but, we will get through it together with prayer and God’s guidance. We love you, Coach!”
During 18 seasons as a head football coach in Georgia and Tennessee, Pellgrino’s overall record was 82-107, according to the Georgia High School Football HIstorians Association:
- 2017-21, Shaw, 16-34
Tennessee
- 2015, Sycamore, 6-5
- 2009-11, Ripley, 15-17
- 2007-08, Lake County, 13-10
Georgia
- 2004-06, Heritage (Conyers), 16-16
- 2000-02, East Hall, 13-18
- 1999, Savannah, 3-7.
This story was originally published May 31, 2022 at 1:22 PM.
