ATLANTA — No matter the outcome, Ricky Aspinwall always found and embraced his wife Shayna and their two young daughters after every game in the back of the end zone.
“That smile of him walking over to get the hugs — to get the daddy hugs, man, that’s where I’m heartbroken,” said Apalachee High School football coach Mike Hancock.
Aspinwall was one of four people killed Wednesday during a shooting at Apalachee High School in Barrow County.
The 39-year-old math teacher and football team’s defensive coordinator was the first phone call Hancock made in 2023 when assembling his coaching staff. Aspinwall was an “intense coach who lived football,” said Hancock.
But Hancock’s mind less than 24 hours after the shooting fixated on Aspinwall’s priorities off the field.
“He loved being a girl dad, and he loved his wife,” Hancock said.
Aspinwall constantly searched for something to do. He never sat down for long. In the Apalachee locker room, he often swept the floor, did laundry and took out the trash.
“Nothing was above him,” Hancock said. “Just because he was the defensive coordinator, nothing was beneath him. He always was willing to do whatever it took to help our kids and our program.”
Nick Bach was defensive coordinator at Mountain View High in Lawrenceville in 2013 when Aspinwall applied to join the school and football staff. Bach laughs about their first meeting, a job interview with “tough questions that made Ricky sweat it out.” It didn’t take long for Bach to learn that Aspinwall was the type of coach that would one day lead his own defense or program.
“You never had to ask Ricky to do anything, ever,” said Bach, now the head football coach at Pace Academy in Atlanta.
Bach said Aspinwall would spend late nights staring at a wall filled with pictures of plays. Aspinwall would also repair broken helmets, order new shoulder pads and hang up players’ jerseys in the locker room the night before games.
“He was worth about three or four coaches,” Bach said. “Just things that nobody sees or even knows about, he would do it without being told or asked.”
On the field, during practice and games, Hancock said Aspinwall coached his players hard. But, Hancock added, Aspinwall always circled back to players, put his arm around them and explained why stern corrections were necessary for the sake of improvement.
“His mantra was E.A.T. That’s effort, attitude and trust,” Hancock said. “Building those relationships with his players was important to Ricky.”
Bach watched Aspinwall’s football coaching career soar. Aspinwall became defensive coordinator at Dunwoody High, then returned in the same role at Mountain View for a few seasons before taking over Apalachee’s defense.
Bach also watched Aspinwall’s family grow and flourish.
“He just loved my little girl and played with her in the field house so much,” Bach said. “She would run right to him. The Lord has a plan, and the plan was for Ricky to have daughters. I’m crying just thinking about it.”
Apalachee’s home game on Friday against Monroe Area has been canceled. As of Thursday morning, Hancock said he had not been able to address his team in person. Hancock had spoken to assistants on his staff and communicated to players via text.
“I want to get them in a room and tell them, ‘Yes this is going to be hard, but we’re going to do this together,” Hancock said.
Apalachee’s cross-county rival Winder-Barrow postponed its Friday game against Seckinger.
Apalachee and Winder-Barrow are scheduled to meet next Friday. Hancock isn’t sure if and when the game will be played.
“I’m hoping and I’m praying that there’s a way to get our kids on that football field to show people that this is a strong community,” Hancock said. “There’s a lot of things bigger than football, and this is obviously a lot bigger than football right now.”
Two students and two teachers were killed and nine others were injured in the shooting that occurred in the community located between Atlanta and Athens. The other teacher killed Wednesday, Christina Irimie, also taught math.
Federal and state law enforcement agencies assisted with the investigation. Authorities arrested Colt Gray, 14, an Apalachee student, and charged him with murder.
“That’s the toughest part is there’s really no words you can say,” Hancock said. “You go to work and you don’t expect that. Not here.”
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