Savage out as Decatur High head football coach
Jan. 5—Aairon Savage has resigned as head football coach for the Decatur Red Raiders.
The move was made at 7:30 a.m. Friday during a special called meeting by the Decatur City Board of Education. No reason was given for his resignation and when asked if Savage was asked to resign Decatur City Schools Superintendent Dr. Michael Douglas declined to comment.
"We normally don't make it a habit to discuss personnel decisions," Douglas said.
Savage didn't return messages for comment.
According to the public personnel agenda, Savage will be transferring to the Center for Alternative Programs effective Jan. 8.
"We'll hopefully be hiring a new coach soon and obviously you don't want the new coach and old coach in the same building," Douglas said.
Savage leaves Decatur after just one season on the job where he finished 3-7. Decatur went 1-4 in area play and finished the season on a four-game losing streak.
Savage, a former Auburn University player, was hired last February to be the 11th head coach in school history and just the sixth coach since 1933. He replaced longtime coach Jere Adcock who won 187 games in 27 years with the Red Raiders.
Decatur was Savage's first head coaching job and his one-year stint is the shortest stint since Loyal Duyck in 1923.
Prior to Decatur, Savage was a college coach at Western Illinois. He also had stints at Louisiana-Lafayette, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Georgia State, Northern Iowa, Arkansas Tech and Army and spent time as a graduate assistant at Georgia Tech and Auburn.
No interim coach was named in the wake of Savage's resignation. Decatur City Schools Athletic Director Lane Barnett said current assistants will help with offseason workouts, but no one will officially be named to lead the program.
Instead, Decatur will quickly pivot to its search for its 12th head coach.
"We want to get on that right away," Barnett said. "The sooner we can get that out there, the better."
Since H.L. Shorty Ogle was hired in 1933, Decatur has had a history of coaches with long tenures. Ogle coached from 1933-63, Earl Webb from 1967-1980, Steve Rivers from 1981-1995 and Adcock from 1996-2022.
When asked what Decatur will be looking for in its new head coach, administrators had a good idea.
"We want someone that's going to win ball games but will also work well with our kids," Douglas said.
"We're going to find the best fit," Barnett added.
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—caleb.suggs@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2395. Twitter @CalebSuggs2
