January 30, 2025
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Harvard coach Sean Saylor steps down, saying it was just time

By Joe Stevenson
Harvard coach Sean Saylor starts the timer on his watch Monday, Aug. 7, 2017, as his plays start a shuttle run. The players had to complete six down-and-backs under a certain time depending on their position group.

Kayla Wolf for Shaw Media Harvard coach Sean Saylor coaches his Harvard team in a 2017 practice. He has resigned after coaching the Hornets for nine seasons. (Kayla Wolf)

Sean Saylor definitely plans on coaching football somewhere, but it will no longer be at Harvard.

Saylor, who coached the Hornets for the past nine seasons, recently resigned his position as head coach. He will stay at the high school as a PE and driver education teacher.

“We battled and tried for a long time,” Saylor said. “We were what we were. I couldn’t ask anything more of the kids. They tried really hard and it was time for something to change … and I’ll be that change.

“It’s been about nine years. I’ve been trying to do this and turn it around for a while and it was just time. I’m not done coaching. I still have a passion and desire to coach football and hopefully there will be an opportunity somewhere else.”

Saylor took over the program when former coach Tim Haak retired following the 2013 season. Haak was 173-108 in 28 seasons and had one of his best years in 2013 when the Hornets lost to Rockford Lutheran in the Class 4A quarterfinals.

The Hornets’ best years under Saylor were in 2015 (3-6) and 2019 (4-5). His Harvard teams were 15-63.

“I love it. I still enjoy it,” Saylor said. “I love our kids and the coaching staff we had. We had a good group of coaches and the kids worked their butts off. I could ask any more for what they brought.

“The last two years I couldn’t ask any more of my kids who were competing. We just weren’t the biggest, we weren’t the fastest, didn’t have the biggest numbers. But the kids who were committed, were committed. I made some great relationships with those kids and have talked to a lot of them in the last week or so.”

Saylor said some of his best memories as Harvard coach were how he was welcomed to the community after following Haak, the challenge of playing after the COVID-19 pandemic and just the way his players competed, regardless of the circumstances.