BARROW COUNTY, Ga. — When shots were fired at Apalachee High School one year ago, math teacher and assistant football coach Richard Aspinwall was among the victims.
Channel 2 Sports Anchor Alison Mastrangelo sat down with the former head football coach at Apalachee High School who said he took the anniversary of the shooting off to reflect on the last year.
Mike Hancock no longer coaches or teaches at Apalachee High School. Instead, he’s moved to teaching physical education and coaching defensive backs at Loganville High School.
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But he says the Wildcats will always have a place in his heart.
“I’ll think about it, especially a lot recently. But riding down the car, maybe a song that Ricky liked may come on or different things. But obviously, it will always be a part of my life,” he said.
Hancock says that over the last year, he has learned the importance of focusing on mental health, not only for students, but for himself.
“I grew up in the 70s and 80s and, you know, we didn’t show emotion, we didn’t show our feelings, but that’s one thing I learned through counseling is, you know it is one, number one, OK to not be OK, but two, it’s OK to show emotions in the right way,” he explained.
He says he stays in touch with Aspinwall’s wife.
“You see the things she’s also done to show her girls just the legacy of his life,” he said.
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Aspinwall’s legacy isn’t left only at Apalachee High School.
“There’s people [at Loganville High School] that know Ricky and have known Ricky, and it’s cool to tell those stories and it is cool to talk about them with [head coach Brad Smith] and say, ‘Hey, you know, Ricky would have done this,’" Hancock said.
He said he wants to remind people to check in on your loved ones. Taking 10 seconds to send a text letting someone know you’re thinking about them can uplift them for hours.
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