Brian Savage resigns as Hartland football coach, cites uncertainty of new law

Back on Oct. 20, the Michigan High School Athletic Association sent an editorial to newspapers written by Executive Director Mark Uyl that was critical of Public Act 184.

The act, which went into effect in July, requires anyone who retires from a public school in Michigan to wait nine months before receiving a salary working in a school. Previously, an employee could return within 30 days at no more than 30% of their previous salary.

One of the casualties of that policy change is Brian Savage, who has stepped down as Hartland’s football coach. Savage will retire Dec. 31 as a physical education teacher at Walled Lake Central.

Under the act, the only way he could keep coaching over the next nine months would be as a volunteer.

“I put in for my retirement from teaching back in mid-October,” Savage said. “As I started to do a little more research and talking to union reps, with that new law you’re supposed to be separate from schools for nine months. There’s a lot of unknowns with it and how the law can affect your pension. I decided it was a good time to not mess around with that, do some other things as I figure out what the heck I’m going to do instead of getting up going to school every day.”

Savage has been the Eagles’ head coach for 11 seasons, qualifying for the playoffs six times and posting a 54-48 record.

He has taught in the Walled Lake schools since 1997. He was the offensive coordinator at Walled Lake Western for 12 seasons, took a year off, then was an assistant coach for one season at Walled Lake Northern and one at Milford before being hired by Hartland.

“I’ve been coaching 28 years,” he said. “Who knows? Maybe next fall I’ll go see what these colors are that people talk about up north and things like that.”

Only 51 years old, Savage may return to coaching once he clears the nine-month window.

“You never know,” he said. “It’s easy to say ‘no’ right now. I’m going to go hunting and fishing every day, mow the yard and chase the kids off the grass, stuff like that. Who knows what will happen down the road? It’s always been enjoyable and fun working with kids.”

Hartland athletic director JD Wheeler praised the job Savage did running the football program.

“He’s a very stable force for us, an even-keel guy who always had the program’s best interests in mind,” Wheeler said. “He was able to assemble a real good coaching staff that worked really well together. He was just a great person to represent not only our football program, but the community, just because football is such a big part of it.”

Hartland was involved in many dramatic games during Savage’s career, but he recalled an overtime victory at Grand Blanc in 2015 as a highlight that came immediately to mind.

In that game, injured third-year starter Noah Marshall threw a 57-yard touchdown pass to Jack Slavin with 33 seconds left in the fourth quarter to force overtime. After allowing a field goal, the Eagles won 30-27 on a 10-yard pass from Marshall to R.J. Bortle.

“There’s a lot of games that were good,” he said. “A lot not-so-great, too. That one stuck out.”

Savage lives in Howell and teaches in Walled Lake, but Hartland has become a special place for him.

“Hartland’s a great place,” he said. “Just the community, the school, the kids. The administrators are so supportive. It’s a great little place. It’s going to be hard to walk away from that community. I’ve already heard from a bunch of people, which is always nice to see.”

Wheeler said Hartland doesn't have a timeline to hire Savage's replacement.

"Obviously, just like any coaching searches, we'll cast a wide net," Wheeler said. "We have some internal candidates I think will be good, but we also owe it to everyone to go through the entire process and see who would be interested."

Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillKhan.

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Brian Savage resigns as Hartland football coach