Brewer girls varsity basketball coach Mark Savage has resigned and the school is seeking another coach to replace him in the next few weeks.

Brewer High athletic director Dennis Kiah said Savage resigned after April vacation. The job was advertised this weekend.

“I think he wanted to spend time with his son,” Kiah said. “He had always done other activities that had taken time [away from his family] in the summer.”

Savage coached the Witches to a 26-64 record, including an 8-10 mark in 2003, since he took over the position in 2001.

Brewer swept rival Bangor in a three-game series that winter and broke a five-year streak in which the Rams had never lost to the Witches. It was also Brewer’s first win at Bangor High’s Red Barry Gymnasium since 1995.

The Witches went 3-15 this past season.

Kiah said the new coach has to be in place by early this summer because of summer camps and varsity leagues.

The school would likely present its choice to the school department during a June 6 meeting.

“It’s going to be quite a rush,” Kiah said.

Savage previously coached the Brewer boys for 11 seasons and led the 1988 team to the Eastern Maine Class A title.

He has been teaching at Brewer High since 1986 and was named the Maine Physical Education Teacher of the Year in 1996 for his work in starting and developing an outdoor education program. The University of Maine alumnus has also coached girls varsity soccer at Brewer, Hermon and Bangor High School.

Savage resigned as Brewer’s boys coach a year after a failed petition drive by parents to force him out of the position over concerns he failed to supply positive reinforcement.