Granger Shook is leaving his alma mater, Trinity Presbyterian, to become the new head coach at Pike Road.

Shook, 37, was approved earlier this week. He told his Trinity team of the move on Tuesday and is speaking with his new team this morning.

“I’m very excited about the opportunity Dr. (Keith) Langford (superintendent) and Miss. (Andrea) Maness (principal) have given me to help lead the Pike Road community,” Shook told AL.com. “It’s a booming area. I believe the future is bright, and I believe we are just getting started.

“The new administration has shared a great vision with me for academics and athletics. With a young family myself, it’s exciting for me and my family to come along the administration and make those things happen.”

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Pike Road won the Class 5A state title in 2021 under then-coach Patrick Browning, who restarted the program. The Patriots went 7-5 in 2022 under Ed Rigby in the school’s first year as a Class 6A school. Rigby stepped down earlier this winter and was later named the head coach at Luverne.

Pike Road is 49-12 since starting varsity play in 2018.

“The first thing I want to do is meet with the staff and the players and share with them my vision and my expectations and express to them that nothing great is easily accomplished,” Shook said. “We are going to come in and roll up our sleeves and work, but we are going to work together and pull in the same direction and work for one another and with one another and create a culture where the staff and the players enjoy being around each other.”

Trinity went 28-9 in three seasons under Shook’s guidance. The 2022 team was 9-3, losing at Mobile Christian in the second round of the Class 3A playoffs. Shook is a 2004 Trinity graduate and a member of the Wildcats’ 2003 state championship team.

“Trinity will always be a special place for me,” Shook said. “I’m very thankful for the opportunity Trinity gave me, for the administration including Jessica Lassiter and Blake Smith. They quickly reminded me why Trinity can be a great job and is a great job and has a bright future. I hope the kids I coached understand the value in hard work, and I hope I made the Trinity family proud of not just the football program but athletics overall.”

After leaving Trinity as a player, Shook was a star linebacker at Huntingdon College where he later served as an assistant coach for four years. After two years at Colquitt County, Ga., he spent four years on the Prattville High staff before earning his first head coaching job with the Wildcats.