Ritter era comes to close at Russellville as head football coach takes Decatur job

The Russellville Golden Tigers are looking for a new varsity head football coach following the departure of John Ritter.

After six successful seasons at Russellville High School, Ritter recently resigned and accepted the job of head football coach at Decatur High School. During his tenure at Russellville, from 2018-2023, Ritter had an overall record of 52-19. When it came to region play, the Golden Tigers were 35-3, including four AHSAA Class 5A Region 8 titles in a row starting in 2020. Under Ritter, RHS advanced to the playoffs in each of his six years, going 5-6 in the postseason.

“Coach Ritter put in many long hours with our football program and served as athletic director the last few years,” explained RHS principal Dr. Jeremy Madden. “Since I came to RHS, John also helped me with many other school functions that often went unnoticed by the public. On behalf of RHS, I would like to thank him for everything he has meant to our school organization as a teacher, athletic director and head football coach. I want to wish him the best in all his future endeavors.”

Before coming to Russellville, Ritter was head coach at Red Bay High School during the 2012 and 2013 seasons going 16-7. In 2015, Ritter took over a struggling West Morgan program and went 0-10. The following season, the Rebels improved to 7-4 and, during Ritter’s final year at West Morgan, the team went 10-2 and were region champions in 2017.

The 2023 Decatur team went 3-7 overall and 1-4 in 6A Region 7 during Aairon Savage’s only season as head coach with the school. Savage replaced head coach Jere Adcock who went 187-120, leading the Red Raiders from 1996-22. Adcock retired after the 2022 season at Decatur but was recently named head coach at Whitesburg Christian Academy in Huntsville.