Anchor Bay places football coach Mike Giannone on administrative leave

Head football coach Mike Giannone has been placed on administrative leave, and will not be at the Tars' Week 4 game, an Anchor Bay school district spokesperson has confirmed.

Other than confirmation of Giannone's absence, Chelsey Schell, the communications, benefits & student services coordinator for the district, said the district could not comment further on personnel issues.

Giannone, who is in his fifth season as the Tars head coach, also teaches in the district.

Assistant head coach Bob Schroeder will be in charge of the team, Schell confirmed, as the Tars (2-1, 0-1 MAC Red) are scheduled to play No. 8-ranked Eisenhower (3-0, 1-0) Friday night at Swinehart Stadium.

Inducted into the Michigan High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame in 2018, Giannone holds a 226-91 record as a head coach in 45 overall years of coaching, winning 14 conference titles and four state titles at three different head coaching stops, all in Macomb County.

Giannone has been at Anchor Bay since 2020, landing there after being fired by Warren De La Salle in the wake of an alleged hazing incident in 2019. He led the Tars to a MAC White co-championship in 2020, going 4-3 overall, then went 7-3 in 2021 — the program's highest win total since 2003 — repeating as MAC White champs, but won just five games over the last two seasons combined, before a 2-0 start this season.

De La Salle hired Giannone away from Dakota in January, 2016, after he'd spent 18 seasons building the Cougars in to a powerhouse, winning a pair of state titles in 2006 and 2007. He went 4-5 his first season with the Pilots, then 24-4 the next two seasons, claiming back-to-back Division 2 state championships in 2017 and 2018.