New head football coach, AD appointed for Shaw High School after death of Al Pellegrino
The new head football coach and athletics director for Shaw High School is a familiar name to the Raiders and Columbus football fans.
Blair Harrison, who was the head coach at Brookstone School before becoming Shaw’s offensive coordinator in January, was promoted to interim head coach and AD at Shaw for the 2022-23 school year.
“Shaw High School suffered a tremendous loss this week with the passing of Coach Al Pellegrino,” the Muscogee County School District said in a news release Friday.
“Shaw HS has selected Blair Harrison to continue the work started by Coach Pellegrino . . . Coach Harrison brings 27 years of coaching experience with him to the Shaw Athletic Team. On Thursday evening, Coach Harrison addressed the team and families about his role and his respect for Coach Pellegrino and the legacy he leaves for the Shaw program.”
Pellegrino, 56, died Monday while on vacation in Orlando, Florida. He was pronounced dead at Dr. P. Phillips Hospital after being taken by ambulance from his hotel. The cause of death was hypertensive cardiovascular disease, according to Marie Drechsel, administrative assistant to Orange County associate medical examiner Dr. Chantel Njiwaji.
Shaw principal Sureya Hendrick mentioned several reasons she and her administrative team asked Harrison to lead the program through this tough time, including being someone who already had established relationships with the students and parents.
“Coach Harrison is an experienced and highly qualified coach and educator,” she told the Ledger-Enquirer. “We knew he was a longtime friend of Coach Pellegrino. … We needed someone to continue his vision and legacy.”
Hendrick described that vision and legacy.
“Building strong student athletes, ensuring they have leadership qualities and capabilities on the field and in the classroom and in the community, … and creating a sense of family in Shaw High School.”
Hendrick and Harrison said they mutually agreed his promotion would be on an interim basis for next school year to give the program stability — instead of searching now for a head football coach and AD — while also giving both parties flexibility to evaluate the situation after the season.
Harrison explained why he accepted the request from Hendrick.
“I’m just trying to help,” he told the L-E.
Then he shared what he told the players and parents during Thursday night’s meeting.
“I came to Shaw to help my friend, and I’m still doing that,” he said. “But I’m just going to do that in a different capacity than we planned. … Nobody should have to go through what we’re going through, but we’re going to do it together.”
The Shaw Raiders went 16-34 under Pellegrino from 2017-21. Harrison has an overall record of 124-77 in 18 seasons as a head football coach, winning three region championships.
The Brookstone Cougars went 104-55 under Harrison in 14 seasons over two stints, 2003-11 and 2017-21. He led the program to the Class A private school state playoffs each of the past five years, advancing as far as the second round three times, including last year’s 7-4 finish.
His other head football coaching positions were at Towns County (4-6, 2013) and Tennessee programs Kingston (7-5, 2012) and Claiborne (9-11, 2001-02), according to the Georgia High School Football Historians Association.
Harrison said he left Brookstone because “the program decided to go in another direction” after a disagreement about his preference for an offense that relies more on running than passing the ball.
Then he jumped at the chance to coach with Pellegrino, a friend for more than 20 years. Now, he is tasked with filling Class AAAA Shaw’s leadership void — and he figures this moment is why his tenure at Brookstone ended.
“It’s the only answer that makes sense,” he said.
This story was originally published June 3, 2022 at 10:38 AM.
