Family first: Alkire leaving Modesto football to be closer to ailing mother

Richie Alkire has stepped down as Modesto High School’s football coach and will move to Michigan to be closer to his ailing mother.

Alkire addressed his coaching staff and players last week, ending a short but highly successful stint with the Panthers. He went 16-6 in two seasons and led Modesto to back-to-back Sac-Joaquin Section playoff appearances and a share of the 2013 Modesto Metro Conference title.

“The whole decision has really nothing to do with anything professionally,”Alkire said. “I had a great gig, and I had a great situation because of my relationship with (athletic director Donnie Wallace), my coaching staff and my players.

“I’m making this decision for my family, and it’s really, really hard when that happens. You care about the people you’re leaving, but you know what you need to do.”

His mother’s failing health brought on Alkire’s resignation. She had brain surgery in December, “and we weren’t sure she was going to make it out of that,” Alkire said. Since then, he’s flown back four times to be at her side, and he spent most of June in Michigan. He and his family plan to leave Modesto on Aug. 1.

Alkire has accepted a teaching position at Lutheran Northwest, a private high school in Rochester Hills. His son, Zack, will attend Lutheran Northwest and play football.

“It’s a crazy situation how it all came together,” said Alkire, who received the offer July 4. “From our point of view, it was God opening the door for us.”

Alkire has no plans to coach at Lutheran Northwest. He wants to spend as much time as possible with his mother, a woman he reveres for her strength and support in the face of a bipolar disorder that has affected her mind and body.

“If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have gotten my education or gone to school. None of this would have been possible,” he said. “As much as I love Modesto, football and coaching, I don’t want to miss that (time with her). She served me my whole life, and now it’s my time to get back there and help.”

Wallace thanked Alkire for his energy and innovation. The longtime athletic director credits Alkire with reinvigorating the football program. The Panthers went 4-16 in the two seasons before Alkire’s arrival, including 1-9 in 2012.

Alkire has been employed by Modesto City Schools since 2001. The Tracy native began his tenure with the district at Beyer, where he served as the football coach in 2010 and 2011. The Patriots went 13-9 in those two seasons and captured his only outright MMC title in 2011. He also shared head-coaching duties in 2009 with Beyer’s current coach, Doug Severe.

“Family first, you know,” Wallace said. “We understand that part of it and wish him the best of luck – and his mother the best of luck, too.”

Wallace will become the interim football coach. This will be a first for the Panthers’ former boys basketball coach and longtime football assistant, whose football résumé features stops at Modesto, Patterson and Modesto Junior College. He hopes to keep the momentum Alkire generated by retaining his staff, including offensive coordinator Scott Vincent, the architect of the Panthers’ spread attack.

“The coaching staff, they were shocked,” Wallace said. “When you bring Rich in, he’s so full of energy. Then he has two successful seasons. But I think in the back of their minds, they knew (this was coming) because he was back there most of June.”

Wallace said he’s averaging 50-plus kids in the weight room, but Modesto did pull out of Saturday’s Modesto Junior College Passing Tournament, though it intends to keep its 7-on-7 dates before the dead period.

“Rich had a knack of making the right calls and seeing things in a different way,” Wallace said. “Hopefully, I can continue that. I convinced (Vincent) to stay so we could keep things going.”

Modesto opens the season at home against Ceres on Aug. 28. The Panthers begin MMC play Sept. 25 at Johansen.

“It was emotional and hard to do, but it is encouraging that Donnie is stepping up and taking it on,” Alkire said. “He’s keeping things intact. I really think we have something special going on over there, and Donnie stepping up the way he has keeps those pieces in place.”

This story was originally published July 14, 2015 at 8:50 PM with the headline "Family first: Alkire leaving Modesto football to be closer to ailing mother."