The Darien High School Blue Wave head coach Mike Forget celebrates during the Class LL state football championship between No. 1 Fairfield Prep Jesuits and No. 3 Darien High School Blue Wave Saturday, December 11, 2021, at Trumbulll High School in Trumbull, Conn.
Erik Trautmann/Hearst Connecticut MediaFormer Darien coach Mike Forget has been hired as the next head coach of Norwalk football, the school announced Monday morning.
Forget replaces Sean Ireland and Pete Tucci, who were co-coaches of the Bears’ football program in the fall after the previous coach Pat Miller resigned two months before the season.
Of Forget’s hiring, Norwalk athletic director Doug Marchetti borrowed a phrase from another sport, calling it “an absolute home run for us.”
“Ultimately, to get a guy of Mike’s stature, who’s been in the league for a long, long time and had a great run of success at Darien, it’s a great fit for us,” Marchetti said. “He talked about some great ideas and great plans that he has and we were very impressed. Mike just won us over, we’re thrilled to have him and we’re anxious to get started."
"It’s a great opportunity, a great talent base and some great people to work with," Forget said. "Doug Marchetti, the AD, they don’t get any better. I just feel like it’s the right fit for me. I'm just looking forward to jumping in with both feet and getting this going."
Forget coached in the Darien football program for 11 years, first as the defensive coordinator, when he helped the Wave reach six state finals and win three championships.
As Darien's head coach the past two years, Forget led his teams to an 18-5 mark, which included a 12-1 record and the CIAC Class LL championship in 2021. He previously was head coach at Fairfield and Fairfield Ludlowe.
Last fall, Darien was 6-4 and missed the state playoffs for the first time since 2012. Forget subsequently resigned in December.
The Bears were 7-3 two seasons ago when they were led by GameTimeCT All-State MVP Cam Edwards, but fell to 1-9 last fall.
Norwalk and Darien faced each other numerous times over the years, and Forget said the Bears were a team that never stopped fighting.
"When I was at Darien, we would walk on the field and against a lot of teams, we knew we were three touchdown favorites," Forget said. "But Norwalk was one of those teams, especially with Cam Edwards and the guys they had a couple of years ago, that never backed down. They were punching and kept punching. I like that attitude and I like that effort. I look forward to working with the guys and getting them motivated."
The hiring allows Norwalk to jump off the coaching carousel, as several area schools are in the football coaching hunt, including Darien, Westhill and Newtown.
The Norwalk football job opening was posted shortly after the Bears’ final game on Thanksgiving, and Forget reached out to Marchetti after leaving Darien in December.
Forget said he chose to apply for a couple of the football head coaching jobs, and was contacted by Marchetti with the Norwalk offer on Friday. On Monday morning, they spoke again and Forget accepted.
He will be Norwalk’s fourth head coach in as many seasons.
“Kids want stability,” Marchetti said. “They want to know someone is going to be there and be there long-term. I think Mike is going to be a great long-term solution for us here at Norwalk High School.
“Mike’s not at the end of his career looking to do something for a couple of years. He’s been a solid coach for a long time and there’s still a lot of fire and passion there.”
Forget said getting some consistency in the program is the goal.
His message to the kids: "Let's be ready to work. It takes a lot to turn a program around and keep it consistent. We're not looking at wins next year, we're looking a wins over time and keeping it consistent."
David.Stewart@hearstmediact.com; @dstewartsports
