Andy West, who played his high school football at Ridge and spent 10 years as an assistant coach for the Red Devils before taking over the program in 2020, has stepped down after five highly successful season at the helm.
The coach informed his players and coaches of his decision Thursday during a meeting at the school.
West returned to Ridge in 2010, beginning his coaching career with the baseball team, where he remains the varsity pitching and catching coach. He joined the football staff two years later, first as a freshman coach, before being moved up to the varsity the following year, as Ridge went undefeated. He became the defensive coordinator in 2015 under former coach Bill Tracy, who he later replaced at the helm, adding assistant varsity swimming coach along the way.
Ridge went 36-12 in West’s five seasons as head coach. He went 6-2 his first season – the 2020 COVID year when there were no playoffs – but he took the Red Devils to the sectional semifinals each of the past four seasons since. The run also featured two conference championships, including last season’s Big Central Conference American Silver Division title.
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Simeon Pincus has covered NJ sports since 1997. He can be reached at SPincus@GannettNJ.com. Follow him on Twitter/X @SimeonPincus
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Football: Andy West steps down as head coach at Ridge
