Mary G. Montgomery coach Zach Golson was suspended for the 2026-27 school year by the AHSAA on Monday. (Call News file photo)
By JIMMY WIGFIELD
Mary G. Montgomery High School was put on probation and Vikings head football coach Zach Golson banned from the field for a year after the Alabama High School Athletic Association ruled the school committed recruiting violations, the AHSAA announced Monday.
MGM self-reported the violations, which lessened the severity of the punishment, according to the AHSAA.
“We appreciate the administration for investigating and reporting this violation,” AHSAA Executive Director Heath Harmon said in a press release.
Several eighth graders who attended a recent freshman welcoming ceremony had not yet moved into MGM’s school zone, multiple sources told the Call News. Those students were ruled permanently ineligible for athletics at the school but can become eligible in the school district where their families reside. Junior high and middle school students can participate in varsity sports at the high school in which they are zoned to attend. Mutual agreements to violate or knowingly violating AHSAA rules may result in fines, restrictive probation or the suspension of any or all schools involved, according to the AHSAA rulebook.
The AHSAA took the rare step of suspending Golson from coaching at any association school for the 2026-27 school year. MGM’s varsity football program was also placed on restrictive probation for the 2026 season, meaning the Vikings can play their 10-game regular-season schedule but cannot participate in the playoffs. MGM’s 6A Region 1 opponents also cannot count any games against the Vikings in the standings nor in any tiebreakers.
The only other coach in recent history suspended for an entire year by the AHSAA was Coosa Christian’s Mark O’Bryant, who was banned for the 2025 season due to violations regarding an ineligible player and coaching outside the school year.
Golson’s status remains uncertain and defensive coordinator Alex Page has been named the interim coach. Neither Golson nor Mobile County Public School System Communications Director Rena Phillips could be reached for comment Monday.
Golson was placed on paid administrative leave on May 4 and said he was escorted off the campus without being allowed to address his players and staff.
Golson had turned Mary G. Montgomery into one of the state’s premier teams after inheriting the worst program in Class 7A history in 2022. He is 37-10 and won two region championships in four seasons with the Vikings, including 31-5 in the last three years and 23-3 in the region in the last four seasons.
