Bush Legacy: Culture of Opportunity
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
April 6, 2018
By Doug Donnelly
Special for Second Half
CHELSEA – For the first time as Chelsea High School athletic director, Brad Bush has to hire a football coach.
What’s more, he has the unenviable task of replacing himself.
“I would say that nobody cares more about Chelsea football than I do,” Bush said. “It’s important to me that we find the very best person we can.”
Bush has coached the Bulldogs for 21 seasons. But, his coaching background goes much deeper than that.
He played at Ypsilanti High School for Hall of Fame coach Bill Giarmo, graduating in 1988. After playing quarterback at Cornell University in the Ivy League, he returned to Michigan, graduating from Eastern Michigan University, and started coaching for Bill Kohn, another inductee to the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Bush then went to East Kentwood to coach with Giarmo.
Through his own playing days, coaching with those legends of the game and absorbing everything he could from afar, Bush has developed an impressive culture at Chelsea.
“Friday nights in Chelsea are a big deal,” he said. “We want to keep that tradition.”
Bush became the varsity head coach at Chelsea in 1997. At the time, Chelsea had only two playoff appearances. Bush’s Bulldogs went 3-6 that first season. After that, Chelsea didn’t have a sub-.500 finish for 15 years. The Bulldogs have been kept out of the playoffs only once since 1998.
Chelsea has had only three head coaches since 1965.
“I’m fortunate,” Bush said. “I went for a few more years than the other guys. It’s a great place to coach.”
Temperance Bedford head coach Jeff Wood was an assistant with Bush at Ypsilanti during the 1990s and said he thought then that Bush was going to develop into a great head coach.
“We knew he was going to accomplish greatness, not only as a football coach, but as a father, husband and professional in education,” Wood said. “Brad has always won and lost with great class and dignity. He’s a true Hall of Famer.”
If Bush never coaches at Chelsea again, his lasting legacy might be that culture surrounding the Bulldogs program. It’s known for its large number of football players, from middle school through the varsity, and a system that ensures every student athlete on every team leading to the varsity will play in every game. Teams at the middle school, freshman and junior varsity levels all start 22 players each game – with no two-way starters. For a Class B/Division 3 school, that isn’t the norm.
“We’ve had the same philosophy for 20 years,” he said. “Everybody plays in every middle school, freshman and junior varsity game. That’s how we do it. We start 22 kids on every level. Our kids know they will have the opportunity to play.
“Every kid on every level is going to play in every game. On most nights, we play more kids than the other team has players.”
While every school loses some athletes, or potential athletes, along the way, Bush said this system helps maintain a student’s interest in the sport. Often, he said, a player who may not necessarily be a starter as a freshman will learn the game, develop and turn into a starter by senior year.
“We feel that, over time, with repetition and practice, a kid will become an expert at his position,” he said. “For us, this is a big piece. … That was my thing here. I didn’t invent it. I absorbed it, watched it at other places.”
It’s tough to argue with the results. Chelsea won or shared Southeastern Conference championships in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2017. The Bulldogs won seven District championships during the Bush era and played in the 2015 Division 3 championship game, falling to Orchard Lake St. Mary’s at Ford Field
He said he learned how to build a program from Giarmo and how to coach a football team under Kohn. Bush was quick to credit his assistant coaches who have remained with the program for years and helped build the culture. He said the program has sacrificed win-at-all-cost at the lower levels with the goal of developing varsity football players.
“You have to manage it,” he said. “That’s why you need a great staff. We have been lucky here with a great, dedicated group of guys. They always have the ultimate goal in mind.”
Bush said he won’t hamstring the next coach into running his system, but anticipates whoever is hired will buy into the culture after seeing what it’s about.
“The next coach has to run it the way he wants to run it, but I do believe we have created a culture here and we’d like to maintain that. You want to hire the right person who is going to handle the kids the right way.”
In addition to coaching at Chelsea and leading the entire athletic program, Bush also is heavily involved in the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association as a past president, serves on the Michigan High School Athletic Association football committee and has served on the National Federation football rules committee. He’s coached in all-star games and is a true believer in high school sports.
His record at Chelsea is 169-60.
“I have great energy,” Bush said. “I love coaching. I have a great passion for it, but I also know when you need to do certain things. I felt this was just the right time for the athletic department and the football team. It wasn’t one thing that led me to this.
“I love the game. I’m going to be very much involved.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTO: Chelsea's Brad Bush coaches his team during the 2015 Division 3 Final at Ford Field.
Martin Returns, Redeems, Runs Away for 3rd Finals Championship in 4 Seasons
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
November 22, 2025
MARQUETTE — Martin has gotten used to making the long but fruitful trip to the Superior Dome in the middle of the Upper Peninsula.
But after winning back-to-back 8-player Division 1 championships in 2022 and 2023, the Clippers didn’t make it out of the Lower Peninsula last year, losing in the final second of the Regional Final.
That started the Redemption Tour.
The players coined it, the coaches went with it, a fan even painted it on his car windows. The Clippers completed the tour Saturday with a dominating 52-8 victory over Blanchard Montabella 435 miles away from their home south of Grand Rapids.
They didn’t want to forget what happened last year, and that bad taste in their mouths helped turn the 2025 campaign into the kind of season they’ll never want to forget either — only for much better reasons.
“We didn’t want that feeling again because it was terrible,” Martin coach Brad Blauvelt said. “Especially winning the two years before, we wanted to be here doing this.”
Senior quarterback Haylen Buell was a big part of the win; he ran for a game-high 179 yards on just nine carries and threw for another 134 during a four-touchdown championship day. That’s two years after being one of the leading rushers and receivers in the 2023 Final.
“(This) means everything. This is what we strive for each and every year,” Buell said. The workouts to get here start each year in March. “I think every senior was at every single workout. It showed up here.”
A dozen seniors, some with experience in previous Finals like Buell, were key to the season and to this victory. Despite the final score, Blanchard Montabella proved up to the challenge early on and Martin needed an answer.
The Mustangs scored first, a rarity for any team against Martin, according to Mustangs coach Tim Webb. They used 13 plays and nearly six minutes to go 90 yards as Brady Kieff put them on the scoreboard with a three-yard run.
Martin answered with a scoring drive to tie it, ending on a three-yard touchdown rush by Buell. Montabella took the ball back and took another methodical drive right back into the red zone, even overcoming a holding penalty early in the drive.
“We thought that we were gonna be the more physical, more dominant team,” Blauvelt said. “That first quarter, they gave us a run for our money and then we kind of took over with our physicality.”
With the help of a key takeaway to set it all in motion.
On the third play of the second quarter, and the 10th of the drive, the Mustangs fumbled. Martin senior linebacker Isaac Suk recovered, and the whole game changed. Compounding the devastating turnover, Martin scored on the very first play of the ensuing drive, on an 81-yard touchdown run by Bryer Watson.
“That was a huge turnover,” Blauvelt said. “Football is momentum, and once we had that, we didn’t really look back.”
It opened the floodgates for the Clippers.
The Mustangs went four-and-out. Martin scored on a 44-yard run by Buell. Montabella punted. Martin scored on a one-yard rush by Seth Toris. Montabella turned it over on downs near midfield. Martin scored on a 25-yard pass from Buell to Anderson Keeler.
It went from looking like a shootout to a 38-8 Martin lead at the half.
Webb said the Mustangs needed to play mistake-free football to compete. It was tough to keep doing that all afternoon.
“We did some good things, I thought, first quarter, first couple drives,” he said. “But we needed to play almost flawless to be able to compete. Their (12) seniors just kind of control the game. Line of scrimmage, they controlled the offense and defense. They tackled better than we did. And I got to give them credit for that.”
Montabella finished the season 11-2 while making its first trip to the Finals. A tough ending to be sure, but a lot to be proud of as well.
“It was a good experience for us, but I mean it’s tough to have it go the way it did,” center Brayden Foster said. “But first one in school history.”
Webb said he hopes the successful run this year shows other Montabella students they can do it, but it’ll take even more dedication in the weight room.
“It’s been a pretty magical couple weeks for our football program,” he said. “And I think we’re just getting started.”
Martin is the gold standard right now in Division 1, with the Clippers now winners of three titles over the last four years. They can forget about last year now that the Redemption Tour is complete with a 13-0 championship season.
“It’ll take me a minute to realize all that,” Blauvelt said. “We’re just trying to win the football game at this point. We’ll look back at it and years from now be like, ‘Man, that was a heck of a run.’ Heck of a run, just special, every time we get here and then win it, too. I’m just proud of my team and my coaches.”
He was thrilled to have a player-led team this time around, something that’s no slam dunk with high school-age kids. It’s the most tight-knit senior group he’s had, and that’s what made this team unique among the three champion squads.
Plus that dominating defense.
“Our defense is different,” he said. “This is our best defense that we think we had. And we held our hat on that, and we like to be physical.”
And if a strong senior class and a feared defense weren’t enough, Martin also had the advantage of having been here before, the coaches and the players. They have an itinerary for the trip that works — which includes speeches from players and coaches the night before — and the ability to focus on the game instead of the commotion of championship week.
“We take that as an advantage,” Blauvelt said. “We just try to soak in the moment every time we come. This is a special place to play. … It’s electric, it’s fun. It stinks it’s eight hours from home, but it’s a cool place.”
One that’s been very good to them.
PHOTOS (Top) Martin’s Weson Elkins (22) charges down the sideline Saturday as Montabella’s Austin Jensen closes in during the Division 1 Final at Superior Dome. (Middle) Montabella’s Brady Kieff steps into the end zone for the game’s first score. (Below) The Mustangs’ Noah Carlson (10) attempts to slow down Haylen Buell as he approaches the end zone. (Click for more from Cara Kamps.)