ALA Gilbert North Football coach, AD Ricedorff out; no reason given
Randy Ricedorff is out without explanation as athletic director and head football coach at American Leadership Academy Gilbert North.
Ricedorff on Saturday would not discuss the circumstances of his ouster, praising the school for the opportunities it provided.
District Athletic Director Rich Edwards said he could not comment on why the school and Ricedorff have parted ways.
Chris Moss, who oversees all 17 of ALA’s elementary and high school campuses, cited “practical and philosphical differences” with Ricedorff.
“We can confirm we have parted ways with Coach Randy Ricedorff,” he said Saturday in a statement. “We wish him well. As this is a personnel matter, we cannot comment further.”
The school and its athletic program for weeks have faced scrutiny from community activists over the Oct. 28 fatal beating of 16-year-old Preston Lord in Queen Creek and the “Gilbert Goons,” a gang of mostly affluent teenages who have carried out assaults in the southeast Valley for more than a year.
Parents and students zeroed in on American Leadership Academy shortly after Lord’s death, accusing administrators and coaches of bending the rules to protect one of his attackers.
“Preston’s death has peeled back layers of accountability issues at private, public and charter schools,” Katey McPherson, a former teacher and school counselor turned community organizer, said Saturday.
Administrators knew about potential misconduct and turned a blind eye to it, she alleged.
ALA, which operates charter schools in Arizona and the southeast United States, has pushed back against social media criticism and allegations from posters calling for justice in Lord’s name.
In November, it sent a cease and desist letter to operators of one website that it accused of defamation. The operators responded with a laughing emoji. Ricedorff did not respond to direct questions about the Preston Lord case.
“I am grateful to ALA for the memories and experiences of the last seven years,” Ricedorff told The Arizona Republic in a text message Saturday morning. “I am grateful for the coaches that I have rubbed shoulders with and for their dedication to building character and chemistry within our athletic program.”
Ricedorff did not give a reason for no longer being at the school.
“ALA is a special place,” he said. “I am grateful to the ALA athletes that I have come in contact with that have changed my life, that are doing their best to be the best version of themselves. I am most grateful for a wife and family that has supported in my journey as a coach. I couldn’t be a more blessed man.”
A Dec. 14 investigation by The Arizona Republic detailed potential ties between Lord’s death and a string of vicious assaults by the “Gilbert Goons,” which had gone unchecked for more than a year.
The Goons recorded their blitz-style attacks on teens in parks, public parking garages, outside fast food restaurants and house parties, sharing videos on social media and in private messages. Beatings left teens traumatized and hospitalized.
Gilbert was the nexus for attacks, but others occurred in Mesa and San Tan Valley. Since The Republic’s account, at least 13 adults and juveniles tied to Goon attacks have been arrested.
Queen Creek police have not named any suspects or arrested anyone in Lord’s killing. On Dec. 28, the department announced it intended to charge five juvelines and two adults.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office was reviewing the cases.
Ricedorff led team to first championship victory
Ricedorff led the charter school to its first Arizona Interscholastic Association 4A football championship in 2022, and got the Eagles into the 2023 5A playoffs after the team was promoted from 4A by the AIA.
Ricedorff started the ALA Gilbert North football program as it moved from the Canyon Athletic Association, where he led it to a state title, and into the AIA, where it made steps to becoming a power after a couple of years.
Before going to ALA, he led Show Low to 3A state titles in 2007 and 2010.
Messages have gone out from The Republic to Principal Dan Provonsha and Assistant Athletic Director Dave Novak.
San Tan Valley Combs’ boys and girls basketball teams in January canceled their region games against ALA Gilbert North due to “the sensitive nature of recent events, coupled with the heightened level of commentary and concern shared by community members,” the Combs district said, adding, “it was determined that canceling the upcoming games was in the best interest of our students.”
Lord was a junior and basketball player at Combs. In December, an inappropriate comment by a Gilbert Mesquite junior varsity player about Lord during a Combs-Mesquite basketball game caused the game to be stopped.
That led to the suspension of the varsity game that was to follow.