After 20 years as a coach, Ashley Kilcrease is stepping away from the field to be in an administrative position full-time.

Kilcrease, Andalusia Elementary School’s new assistant principal, had been the head football coach at Brantley, but is looking forward to his career change.

“I am very excited to be here,” Kilcrease said on the first day of school. “Everyone has been really great here and it has been a very smooth adjustment.”

Kilcrease’s passion for teaching was instilled in him at a young age.

“I have always had a love for people,” Kilcrease said. “And as I grew older, I loved children. I had several coaches while I was growing up that made a huge impact in my life, so I wanted to do the same.”

Kilcrease earned his bachelor’s degree in secondary education and master’s degree in educational leadership from Auburn University of Montgomery.

His entire educational career has been at Brantley, where he was head baseball coach for 14 years, and took over as head football coach in 2013.

“I will definitely miss coaching,” Kilcrease said. “Just the relationships that you form while coaching, it is a bond and it will be hard to replace, but don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love my job. I’ve been put in a great situation.”

Kilcrease’s son is a senior at Brantley and will be playing football, and he said that it will be hard to go watch him play from the stands.

“I don’t know if I will be able to watch from the stands,” Kilcrease said. “I will want to go out on that field.”

Kilcrease said that his goal for this year will be to make sure he gets to know every single person at AES.

“I don’t want to just see faces,” Kilcrease said. “My job is to form a relationship with everybody in the school and I am looking forward to meeting all these new people.”

Kilcrease said that the best part of his job is that he gets to see the educational system on a broader spectrum.

“When you’re a teacher it is easy to get caught up in your own area, grade level or class,” Kilcrease said. “When you’re assistant principal, you get to problem solve on a grander scale. I get to learn so much and get to know so many people. I can’t wait.”

While outside of the office, Kilcrease enjoys golf and is very active in church life at Mt. Zion Baptist Church. He and his wife, Wendy, have three children.