Coach A: Ricky Aspinwall Remembered Fondly

By many accounts, Marquel Broughton is considered a hero.

The Mountain View grad overcame a challenging childhood that included his father’s death at a young age and his mother’s health problems and succeeded in life, eventually attending the U.S. Military Academy, where he was a rare two-time captain of the football team.

Broughton may not accept that hero label, but he feels strongly that one of his high school football coaches, Ricky Aspinwall, is definitely deserving of it.

Aspinwall, a Rome High graduate who coached at Mountain View for a decade, was one of four people — two students and two teachers — killed in a shooting at Apalachee High, just across the Barrow County border on Wednesday morning, his friends and Mountain View officials confirmed Wednesday night. A 14-year-old student, allegedly responsible for the tragic shooting, will be tried for murder as an adult, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Online posts said Aspinwall was killed in the doorway of his classroom as he attempted to usher students from the hallway inside to safety.

“Coach A was an amazing person,” Broughton said. “He cared for the development of his student and his athletes. For me specifically, he believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. He pushed me to have high aspirations through the faith he had in me. His love was genuine, and his heart was pure. His legacy will forever live on through those he touched. Coach A will forever be known as a hero.”

While Aspinwall had moved ahead of the 2023 football season to Apalachee, where he was in his second season as defensive coordinator, he made his biggest mark in education at Mountain View. He was around for the Bears’ most successful seasons, including their first state playoff game and first state playoff win.

“I just want to say Coach A was a great role model and male figure in my life and helped mold me into the man I am today,” said former Mountain View linebacker Blake Carroll, who played college football at Georgia State. “He will me missed so much because he is so loved by everybody he comes in contact with.”

Aspinwall earned the Touchdown Club of Gwinnett’s Tally Johnson Award in 2022 as Assistant Coach of the Year, and was a highly respected defensive coach. He also coached track and field at Mountain View.

Aspinwall’s wife Shayna also is a former teacher at Mountain View who now works in Hall County. The couple have two young daughters.

“Ricky Aspinwall and I both arrived at Mountain View High together in 2013,” said Nick Bach, Mountain View’s head football coach from 2015-17. “He was one of my dearest friends in the coaching profession. An outstanding coach that went above and beyond the call of duty for his team. ‘Coach A,’ as many knew him, was always available, dependable and reliable from the moment I met him.

“His players will tell you that he truly loved them and their relationships lasted well beyond their football time together. I will deeply miss my friend and I know many others in the Mountain View community will as well. He was and will always be a brother to me. My thoughts and heart are now with Shayna and their beautiful daughters. He loved his family so dearly. He will be so missed.”

Aspinwall, who coached at Haralson County before his time in Gwinnett, is a native of Rome and a 2003 graduate of Rome High School. He had numerous friends in the coaching community, particularly in Gwinnett.

“Not only was Ricky a wonderful husband, father, teacher and football coach, he personally was one of my best friends in coaching and I was devastated to learn of his passing,” said former Mountain View assistant Derek Tiller. “My prayers go out to Shayna and the girls.”

Aspinwall was a fixture in the Mountain View program, staying true to the program amid coaching changes. He worked under four different Bears head coaches — Doug Giacone, Bach, the late Rob Kellogg and John Poitevint, the team’s current coach.

“I’m devastated to hear about Coach Aspinwall,” Poitevint said. “He was a great coach but an even better person and friend. I’ll always remember his work ethic and the relationships he had with his players. Truly one of the best. My heart hurts for his wife Shayna and his daughters Addie and Emery.”