Brad Bush has been accepted a new position as assistant director for the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) beginning Jan. 16.
The current Chelsea High School athletic director and assistant principal previously served as Chelsea’s varsity football coach for more than 22 seasons, and while at the helm, led the Bulldogs to a 169-60 record, 13 league championships, 18 playoff appearances, seven District titles and a Division 3 runner-up finish in 2015.
“It is a bittersweet moment for me,” Bush said of his new position. “I am very excited for this new challenge. I am also sad to be leaving Chelsea High School. I have loved being a Bulldog for the last 26 years.”
Bush will serve as the MHSAA’s lead administrator for baseball and also among lead administrators for the officials program, which includes more than 8,000 registered officials in all sports, according to information from the MHSAA. He will be assigned additional duties in other sports based on his vast experiences.
“Brad’s dedicated service to the Chelsea School District over the last 26 years has set the bar extremely high for whomever steps into this role moving forward,” said Superintendent of Schools Mike Kapolka.
“Brad has truly lived the job for his entire career as a teacher, coach and administrator, which has made him an incredibly valued and respected member of our administrative team and Bulldog community,” Kapolka said.
As Chelsea athletic director, Bush supervised a staff of 110 coaches across 31 programs, with nearly 70 percent of the high school’s 800 students participating in athletics.
As a teacher and assistant principal, he has served on Chelsea’s School Improvement Team and on multiple committees that provided instructional leadership including in the development of the district’s new trimester schedule.
Bush, 52, taught and coached at East Kentwood High School for four years before beginning a tenure at Chelsea High School in 1997 that has included teaching, then serving as athletic director and later also assistant principal and leading the football program as varsity coach from 1997-2003 and again from 2004-18.
He served as a statewide delegate on the MHSAA Representative Council during the last year and provided leadership in multiple roles including president for the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association (MHSFCA) since 2005. In his roles with the MHSFCA, Bush helped direct an organization with more than 2,200 members and also served as the association’s treasurer and liaison to the MHSAA.
Bush also has served as a statewide delegate on the MHSAA Representative Council during the last year and provided leadership in multiple roles including president for the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association (MHSFCA) since 2005.
During his break in tenure as Chelsea coach, Bush served as an assistant football coach and recruiting coordinator for Eastern Michigan University during the 2003-04 school year, and he has served as an assistant coach at Albion College the last four seasons contributing to the team’s two league titles and appearance in the 2021 NCAA Division III Playoffs.
“I feel like joining the team at the MHSAA is an opportunity I couldn’t pass up,” Bush said in a press release. “The 26 years I spent at Chelsea were some of the best times of my life. It’s a professional transition that in the back of my mind, if this opportunity came, was something I needed to do.
“Over time, I’ve grown to care about the bigger picture of athletics and appreciate the role of the MHSAA in protecting high school athletics in Michigan.”
He was chosen from a pool of 34 candidates.
“I’m incredibly excited to have Brad join our team,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said in a press release. “He’s been an outstanding athletic director and coach who is highly-respected by those who know him.”
“This new career opportunity with the MHSAA is a testament to his talents and overall passion for high school athletics,” Kapolka said, adding, “Brad will forever be a Bulldog and I am extremely proud of him.”
During the course of the next few weeks, the district will provide additional communication regarding the transition and timeline for hiring his vacated position.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.3 million spectators each year.
