Ray Betton, who was the head football coach at East Ridge last fall during the school's inaugural season, has resigned to become head coach at Holy Angels in Richfield. Betton was an assistant coach at Holy Angels from 1996 to 2000 and was the associate head coach there in 2004.
"I'm delighted to be back at Holy Angels," Betton said. "The alignment between the values that I stand for and reinforce on the football field and AHA's mission for students to be confident, prepared and connected in faith is very strong."
Betton also was an assistant coach at Minneapolis Washburn High School from 2001 to 2003 and was head coach at Simley from 2005 to 2009 before being named the first football coach at East Ridge.
While he was at Simley, Betton's team captured the conference championship twice, and he was named Classic Suburban Coach of the Year in both 2007 and 2008. "We feel very fortunate to have Ray Betton, who is one of the best coaches in the metro area, as Holy Angels' head football coach," Holy Angels activities director Ralph Halvorson said. "We interviewed a pool of very strong candidates, and Ray emerged as the best choice for AHA. He knows our community and our organization. He brings us great experience and skill and the ability to develop our players. He is passionate about coaching and eager to coach at AHA. Ray is a man of exemplary character." Betton also will work in a response-to-intervention (RTI) position at Holy Angels. RTI addresses students who need additional academic and organizational support. Betton earned a bachelor's degree in sports management at Bemidji State University in 1993 and a master's degree in special education at the University of St. Thomas in 2005. He has more than 15 years of classroom and special-education teaching experience.
