Why Muskegon's Shane Fairfield is the 2023 Free Press Dream Team Coach of the Year
Before the Muskegon football players board the bus for an away game, they meet at the 50-yard line in Muskegon’s venerable Hackley Stadium.
It is there coach Shane Fairfield says a few words for the players to think about on their way to the game.
That was the case a few weeks ago, when the Big Reds were ready to board the bus that would take them to Ford Field and the Division 2 state championship game.
The message from Fairfield, 55, this time was simple:
“We’ve grown up together, we leave here together, we play together, we stay together, we come back together. We have to be unbreakable.”
[ Sign up for our Michigan Preps newsletter for high school sports news, directly in your inbox ]
This was Fairfield’s ninth trip to Ford Field as the head coach, and his teams had a 1-7 record.
This one did not look promising early for the Big Reds as they took on defending champ Warren De La Salle, which pounded Muskegon, 40-28 in Week 2.
“We went down 21-7,” Fairfield said. “But we refused to break.”
Instead, Muskegon rallied to post a 33-21 victory over De La Salle to claim the Division 2 state title, and earn Fairfield the Free Press Dream Team All-State Coach of the Year award.
MARK IT: Detroit High School Sports Awards back for 2024: Here's what to know
Fairfield did not take the usual path to coaching.
After graduating from Muskegon Heights, he got a job at Meijer to help support his ailing mother and brother and sister. In 1991 he began coaching junior high football at Muskegon Catholic Central, and later became the head junior varsity team.
He started working at the local YMCA and eventually became the building supervisor and a certified youth sports coordinator.
He joined Tony Annese’s staff at Muskegon High in 1999 before leaving in 2003 to begin a 5-year stint as varsity head coach at Holton.
Fairfield returned to Muskegon in 2008 and became head coach in 2010.
In 14 seasons he has become the second winningest coach in school history with a 154-29 record.
Once he began coaching, Fairfield didn’t want to stop. It isn’t about the wins and losses that keep him in the job.
“It’s 100% the relationships,” he said. “I always say besides the birth of my two children, there’s nothing else that’s more exciting or anything I’d rather be doing than to be with them on that field that day and in their lives.”
Growing up, Fairfield had a lot more in common with his players than a lot of people may think. That is another reason he coaches.
“It gives me purpose, it gives me a meaning to fulfill,” he said. “It’s a way of giving back. I don’t want to get into a sob story or anything, but just not having a dad around growing up and trying to find someone to latch on to and being that guy to hopefully fill that spot in some of these young men’s lives.
“And just being a good father and an inspiration to my two daughters. Those are the reasons I get out of bed and go to work every day. My daughters inspire me.”
This year the Big Reds began the season 0-2, losing to Rockford and De La Salle.
The team was at a crossroads when quarterback M’Khi Guy and running back Destin Piggee addressed the team after the second loss.
“M’Khi said something and Piggee said something after that Week 2 and the tears were real — that disappointment was real,” Fairfield said. “’Hey, this was a huge letdown, this isn’t who we were supposed to be.’ After that, everything just clicked.”
It clicked all the way to the first half of the state championship game, when the Big Reds trailed 21-7 at the half.
“They were three-and-out their first four possessions, so we were playing real good defense,” Fairfield said. “We knew if we cleaned up our mistakes and stay on their side of the 50 and flip the field at times, we’ve got a shot. Definitely, we thought we should win that game.”
They did win that game, which was the 900th victory in school history, most in state history.
THE TEAM: Michigan high school football: 2023 Free Press All-Detroit team
The 900th win helped ease the pain of the previous Ford Field losses.
“I was there for their ’08 game and it was a wonderful feeling,” Fairfield said. “I was there in ’17 after losing four and it was amazing. Each team has a different meaning and this one was just like the first one all over again.”
Recent winners: Free Press Dream Team Coach of the Year
2022: Herb Brogan, Jackson Lumen Christi
2021: Tyrone Spencer, Detroit King
Mick McCabe is a former longtime columnist for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at mick.mccabe11@gmail.com. Follow him @mickmccabe1. Save $10 on his new book, “Mick McCabe’s Golden Yearbook: 50 Great Years of Michigan’s Best High School Players, Teams & Memories,” by ordering right now at McCabe.PictorialBook.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan high school football Coach of the Year 2023: Shane Fairfield
