Briggs stepping down as director of AHSAA

Alvin Briggs (right) took over from Steve Savarese as the executive director of the AHSAA in 2021. He announced that he would step down from the position in September. (File Photo)

By TIM GAYLE

Alabama High School Athletic Association executive director Alvin Briggs informed the Central Board at its April meeting on Wednesday that he would be stepping down from his position in September.

“My time with the AHSAA has been memorable,” Briggs said in an AHSAA release. “I am humbled and thankful for having the opportunity to serve our member schools and Central Board as their executive director. I am grateful to the AHSAA staff for their commitment to serving our member schools. I will miss this extended family. I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish and am confident the AHSAA will continue to move forward facing and overcoming the many challenges that the future might bring. Now, after much prayer, it is time for me to retire.”

Rumors concerning Briggs’ future have been rampant since the first of the year and it was thought that a late January Central Board meeting -- which included a lengthy executive session between board members and the executive director -- might bring a decision concerning his future. Instead, he continued to serve through the basketball state tournament and another Central Board meeting in March, a virtual gathering to decide classification for winter sports.

“We want to congratulate you on your retirement and we thank you for your service,” Central Board president Mike Welsh told Briggs following his announcement.

Briggs has spent the last 13 years serving as part of the AHSAA staff, first as director of the Alabama High School Athletic Directors and Coaches Association, then as associate executive director under Steve Savarese, then the past three years as Savarese’s replacement.

Briggs is the first person selected for the position of executive director who was already serving on the executive office staff. His replacement is expected to be someone from within the state with a high school sports background but is not currently on the executive staff.  

Briggs was a standout cornerback at Greenville High (1979-82) and Auburn University (1983-87) before joining the University of North Alabama coaching staff in the late 1980s. He would later serve as head coach at Greenville High for four years beginning in 2001 and at Florence High for five years beginning in 2005.

He is the fifth AHSAA executive director, following Cliff Harper (1948-66), Herman L. “Bubba” Scott (1966-91), Dan Washburn (1991-2007) and Savarese (2007-2021). In a position dictated by decades-long service, Briggs will barely make it through three years, setting his retirement for Sept. 2.

With Savarese guiding the association through several changes including the introduction of instant replay and the struggles associated with the coronavirus pandemic, Briggs’ brief tenure was relatively quiet. He moved baseball and softball championships out of Montgomery and initiated girls’ flag football as a sport, but the effects of name, image and likeness at the high school level, the increasing regularity of transfers between schools and the continual battle of public schools and private schools put increasing scrutiny on the position.

In addition to Briggs’ announcement, the Central Board elected officers for the 2024-25 school year with UMS-Wright football coach and athletic director Terry Curtis taking over as president and Pelham High principal and athletic director Kim Kiel taking over as vice-president, beginning July 1.