After five years spent building the Shelby Tigers football program back to prominence, Phil Fortier announced his retirement following a 2025 district championship season - just the third in school history. He’s also retiring as a teacher following this school year.
Fortier informed the team and Shelby administration of his decision in December, wanting to give the school ample time to find a new program leader. (Jacob Tumele, previously defensive coordinator at Fremont, was approved by the Shelby school board as the new head coach Monday night.)
When Fortier took over the head coach job following 13 seasons as defensive coordinator, Shelby was struggling on the gridiron. In the previous six seasons, the Tigers had won two games. Participation and morale were low. The team forfeited games twice in 2016 due to lack of available players, and in 2020 the Tigers were shut out six times in seven games played.
“We can go into all kinds of reasons Shelby football became what it was, and there’s plenty of blame to go around, but I wanted to make sure we put this thing back on its feet and it can continue,” Fortier said. “With all the talk (at the time) about eight-man football and only having varsity, I took it upon myself to say, ‘Let’s do this right.’
“I think it’s time. When I took this job, I made a five-year commitment to putting it back together and getting it on its feet again. Our kids deserved better. We worked really hard for five years, and now it’s in a great spot.”
Getting Shelby football back wasn’t just about getting more players to come out for the team, or about better offensive or defensive schemes. Fortier said it was about building enthusiasm for the program within the district, among both students and administration. Some of that was as simple as making students feel supported by the school, which meant spending money. When Fortier took over, athletic director Chuck Persenaire said, athletic costs at Shelby were increasing while the budget was staying flat, and he worked with Fortier to implement needed changes. That included a significant increase in the football budget.
“I’m sure my athletic director would say I may be the No. 1 coach for spending money, but our kids are worthy of that,” Fortier said. “If you have crappy stuff, then you’re sending them a message...Our uniform situation was a mess, so we got uniforms. We had a mishmash of uniforms and away and home jerseys, so we raised a lot of money and got that straightened out.”
In addition to uniforms, Shelby got a JUGS machine to help players work on catching the football without needing a thrower, new blocking shields for drills outside full-contact periods, and a revamped locker room.
The money comes not just from the school directly, but from fundraisers. The program now has two annual fundraisers - a raffle and a golf tournament, the latter of which will take place May 17 this year. Money raised at those events help pay for the Tigers to, among other activities, attend the three-day Victors Veer Camp at Montrose each summer to sharpen their skills.
It wasn’t just money, though. Fortier’s natural enthusiasm manifested in events like a spring “signing day.” Instead of simple meetings with players interested in playing football, Fortier helped lead a celebratory event in which future Tigers were treated like collegiate signees.
“He took it and ran with it,” Persenaire said. “It got kids excited. Some kids who may not have considered it before felt the excitement and signed up.”
The investments, both financial and otherwise, helped attract a “special,” Fortier said, senior group to play for the Tigers and spearhead a turnaround that was capped this year with consecutive road playoff wins over Pine River and Harrison, which added another number to the championship banners now hanging in the Shelby weight room. Among those banners - a state championship banner, waiting to be filled in.
That district title run was the perfect way for Fortier to cap an 18-season tenure at Shelby. Fortier came to Shelby after previous head coaching tenures at Manistee Catholic and Big Rapids, the latter of which “ended in a way that wasn’t pleasant,” Fortier said. The opportunity at Shelby reignited Fortier’s love for the game and led to his family putting down roots. Wife Shelly is a counselor at Shelby High School, and their kids Andy and Sarajane graduated from the school.
“It’s our home,” Fortier said. “It captured our family’s hearts from the very beginning. We thought every place would be like this, and it wasn’t. Coming back here and finishing my career here was very meaningful to me, and I’m very thankful to all those who helped make that happen.”
Fortier’s affinity for Shelby is certainly mutual after nearly two decades pouring himself into Tiger students and athletes.
“He’s been a mainstay of our program for a long time,” Persenaire said. “He’s invested a lot of time into these kids, watched them grow, done things to keep them together and promote them. It was good to see the fruit of the labor he had play out in the end with that good season. It promoted a lot of excitement in our building and created excitement for years to come.”
The Fortiers’ relationship with the school isn’t ending, either. The family will no doubt travel more, and Fortier chuckled that whatever his future plans are, they’ll include some golf. However, he’ll continue to be a resource for future Tigers.
For now, though, after 38 straight football seasons on the sidelines, the idea of open fall Fridays “sounds pretty good,” he said.
“It’s been a great career teaching and coaching,” Fortier said. “It’s been fantastic. I’m not going away permanently. I’m just taking a different role.”
