Pell City and Mary G. Montgomery tried to appeal their high school football postseason bans in Alabama. Both efforts failed.
No action will be taken to overturn the decision.
Both high school football coaches will be suspended for the entire 2026 season. Their teams will not be eligible for the playoffs.
Mary G. Montgomery head coach Zach Golson posted photos of eighth grade recruits.
Located in Semmes, Alabama, Mary G. Montgomery High School enrolls ~1,800 students in Grades 9-12. The Vikings used to compete in Class 7A, Region 1. They were recently moved to Class 6A.
Zach Golson was hired as the head football coach in 2022. He led the program to its first three playoff wins in school history, multiple regional titles and its first-ever appearance in the state semifinals with an overall record of 37-10.
However, the fifth-year head coach will not be allowed to coach in 2026. Golson is suspended for the entire 2026-27 academic calendar year. The program also will be allowed to compete in the postseason while on probation and must pay a fine.
This three-fold punishment stems from a violation of Alabama High School Athletic Association rules. More specifically, Rule VI, Administration, Section 12 on recruiting. A photo surfaced of a signing ceremony for eighth-grade students who were not zoned to Mary G. Montgomery. It ultimately self-reported the violation to the AHSAA as soon as the image was posted on the internet.
Pell City head coach was caught recruiting his former players.
Pell City High School enrolls ~1,300 students in Grades 9-12. The Panthers, who were recently dropped from Class 6A to 5a, have not had a lot of success in recent years. They hired Jake Ganus as head coach in December to lead the rebuild.
Ganus spent the last few years at Moody High School. He made the playoffs in each of his four seasons with his last program, made back-to-back state championship appearances in each of the last two seasons, finished with an overall record of 44-10 and won the 2025 5A state championship.
However, Ganus will not coach his first year at Pell City. Like Golson, he was also suspended for the 2026 season for recruiting. Pell City is banned from the postseason. It will also be placed on probation and must pay a fine.
As the story goes, Ganus was caught recruiting some of his former players from Moody to come join him at Pell City. Those athletes were not zoned to play for the Panthers.
Alabama will not overturn the high school football postseason bans.
Officials from Mary G. Montgomery and Pell City high schools both had opportunities to present their cases to the AHSAA Central Board on Wednesday. It was only a hearing. The schools essentially told the association how they messed up and how they plan to address the problem moving forward. The meetings were closed to the public.
In the end, the Central Board decided not to take action on either case. It did not rule for or against either high school football program. Nothing happened. It was a big waste of time.
The appeal process can now begin.
As far as I understand it, both schools can now appeal to their respective district boards. They will re-present their cases with the goal of getting their postseason bans and/or probation overturned. The clock is ticking.
Mary G. Montgomery is scheduled to begin the 2026 high school football season against Saraland on August 21. Pell City is scheduled to begin the 2026 high school football season against Bessemer City on that same day.
Technically speaking, neither game matters. Neither the Panthers nor the Vikings are allowed to play for a state championship.