Players rally around embattled football coach

FOOTBALL: Forest Grove players, coaches and boosters rally in support of Mike McCabe as rumors swirl about the veteran football coach possibly losing his job

By Zack Palmer

The Forest Grove News-Times, Apr 11, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Nancy Townsley / News-Times

Forest Grove senior Justin Loranger presents a petition in support of head football coach Mike McCabe to school district officials on Friday afternoon.

ADVERTISEMENTS

As Mike McCabe settled into a chair at the Forest Grove School District office last Friday and prepared to meet with administrators about his future as the school’s varsity football coach, he glanced out the window and spotted two familiar faces.

Those faces belonged to Forest Grove seniors Dylan Sullivan and Brooks Baumgartner, who showed up prior to the meeting to hand-deliver a letter supporting McCabe to district Superintendent Jack Musser.

Later, fellow senior Justin Loranger turned up at the district office with a petition signed by over 300 students, urging Musser and other school officials to turn down the heat on McCabe, who is currently negotiating with the district to keep his coaching job beyond next football season.

“I’ve been taught for my whole life to do what feels right,” Loranger said. “This feels right.”

Baumgartner and Sullivan echoed that sentiment.

“He is Forest Gove High School in my mind — I think in a lot of people’s minds,” Baumgartner said of McCabe, who has taught in the school district for 30 years and coached the varsity football team for the last decade. “It wouldn’t be the same without him.”

“People are upset,” Sullivan added. “A lot of people.”

McCabe was flattered and even a little embarrassed by the community support he has received since an article in last week’s News-Times revealed that some district officials want him gone after next year.

“It’s flattering,” McCabe said of the outpouring of support. “What goes around comes around. I love those guys and I know they love me.

“It’s amazing what young people can put into words and actions when they really feel strongly about something.”

1 | 2 Next Page >>