📡 Ashley Priess-Johnson was announced as the seventh coach to lead the Crimson Tide Gymnastics program. - AL.com

[BAMANEWSBOT]

Former Alabama star named new gymnastics coach

Alabama named a replacement for Dana Duckworth after she stepped down last Thursday.

www.al.com

The Alabama gymnastics coaching search didn’t take long as a familiar face is coming back to Tuscaloosa.

Ashley Priess-Johnson was announced as the seventh coach to lead the Crimson Tide program. A star at Alabama from 2009-12, Priess-Johnson was part of 2011 and 2012 national championship teams.

She will be formally introduced at a news conference Friday in Tuscaloosa.

The hire comes less than a week after Dana Duckworth announced she was stepping down from the head coaching job she occupied since 2014. Duckworth was an assistant coach under Sarah Patterson during Priess-Johnson’s time on the team.

Priess-Johnson returns to Tuscaloosa after spending the last four seasons at Auburn where she was most recently the associate head coach. In 2019, she was named NCAA Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year.

She began her coaching career at the Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy before moving onto the college level.

“We are beyond excited to have Ashley Johnston take over the reins of our gymnastics program as our head coach,” Alabama AD Greg Byrne said in a news release announcing the hire. “Everyone we’ve spoken to holds her in the highest regards as a coach, mentor and leader, including long-time head coach Sarah Patterson, who I’ve had wonderful conversations with during this search and I really appreciate her support.

“Throughout this process with Ashley, we’ve been very impressed with her commitment to the total student-athlete. One of the grittiest and most accomplished competitors in our program’s proud history, she has translated her achievements as a gymnast into a standout career as a coach, and we are thrilled to have her back in Tuscaloosa.”

 

[bama alum]

Excellent hire!

 

[rick4bama]

That didn't take long!

 

[TerryP]

Suggested: Scroll down to the bottom of the article and watch her press conference.
You may not realize this. Ashley is the only alum Alabama has in a head coaching position in Tuscaloosa.

Ashley Johnston Introduced as Alabama Gymnastics Head Coach - University of Alabama Athletics

Nearly a decade after her All-America gymnastics career came to a close, Ashley Johnston returns to the Capstone as the Crimson Tide's seventh head gymnastics coach and just the third since 1979.

rolltide.com