Mary G. Montgomery coach Alex Page said before Wednesday’s hearing that he is still optimistic the Vikings will be allowed back in the playoffs. (Helen Joyce/Call News)
By JIMMY WIGFIELD
MONTGOMERY — Mary G. Montgomery’s playoff ban remained in place after the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s Central Board took no action to lighten the school’s punishment Wednesday but the process is not over.
Multiple sources confirmed to the Call News that no vote was taken by the Central Board during a second executive session because voting in an executive session is illegal.
Mary G. Montgomery Principal David Diaz confirmed he had received a letter from the AHSAA but declined comment. (Call News file photo)
After marathon day of meetings, AHSAA Executive Director Heath Harmon said late Wednesday afternoon he would send a letter to MGM Principal David Diaz explaining the Central Board’s actions. Diaz confirmed Thursday morning that he received the letter but declined to comment, referring all questions to Mobile County Public School System Communications Director Rena Phillips.
Phillips said in a statement later Thursday morning that MGM still has an avenue to get relief.
“According to the AHSAA, yesterday’s meeting was not a formal appeal,” the statement said. “It was a meeting where MGM representatives presented the action steps that the school has taken to make sure that the school maintains AHSAA compliance going forward. AHSAA informed MGM last night that MGM can appeal its status for the 2026 season to the local AHSAA board. MGM is now considering its options.”
It’s not clear when the local District 1 board — consisting of Blount Principal Jerome Woods, Alma Bryant coach Bart Sessions, former Foley coach Deric Scott and Fairhope coach Caleb Ross — will hear MGM’s appeal.
Harmon didn’t elaborate on Diaz’s 20-minute presentation to the Central Board Wednesday morning in another executive session that lasted four hours because the Central Board also met separately with school officials from Pell City, Vestavia Hills, Oak Mountain and Selma.
Diaz was asked to present an action plan to the Central Board, including steps to prevent violations in the future.
“I just asked them to come in and present to the Central Board what had happened and what they’ve done to address it,” Harmon said.
In May, the AHSAA ruled that Mary G. Montgomery committed recruiting violations and punished it with the postseason ban and by suspending head coach Zach Golson for a year. Golson — who had built the Vikings into one of the state’s premier big-school programs — ultimately lost his job.
Golson was placed on paid administrative leave on May 4 and was escorted off the campus without being allowed to address his players and staff.
Golson had turned MGM into one of the state’s premier teams after inheriting the worst program in Class 7A history in 2022. He was 37-10 and won two region championships in four seasons, including 31-5 in the last three years and 23-3 in the region in the last four seasons.
New Vikings coach Alex Page said earlier this month he is optimistic the playoff ban will be reversed.
“Those guys that are here, they’re all here because they want to be here,” Page said. “I am confident that they’ll look at the players we’ve got now and they’re Semmes kids and they deserve the ability to play in the postseason.”
