Emery steps down as Fitch football coach

After spending 16 years as the head coach of the Fitch High School football team, Mike Emery announced his resignation Monday at the team?s banquet.

Emery cited his primary job as an assistant principal at the high school as his main reason for stepping down. He said that with the time commitment of both positions, it was time ?I step back from one or the other, and obviously, my first job is as assistant principal.?

This is the second time Emery has resigned from the head coaching position at Fitch. After 11 years of coaching at the school, he first stepped away in 2003, but accepted the position once again in 2008. Emery, 55, isn?t ruling out a return this time around, either.

?If I coach again, it won?t be right away, but I?m not going to close the door on that,? he said. ?I feel like I still enjoy it, and still may (return) at some point.?

Emery?s resignation comes only weeks after one of Fitch?s most successful seasons concluded. The Falcons went 8-2 in the regular season and finished runner-up in the Eastern Connecticut Conference Large Division to Class LL finalist NFA. The seventh-seeded Falcons were knocked from the first round of the Class L playoffs after a 38-7 loss to second-seeded Windsor on Nov. 28.

?We had a great season this year, but I?ve enjoyed them all,? Emery said. ?I just like working with the kids and I hope they got more out of it then just football. This year was a nice way to end it at Fitch. I feel like we made steps all the way through to get to this point ? all the teams through the years helped us get to this point where we can get back into the playoffs.?
Ian Boyd, an All-Bulletin selection in 2011 for Fitch, reiterated what Emery said about getting ?more out of it than just football.?

?He always talked about how there is more to life than football,? said Boyd, who graduated in June. ?He gave us a lot of good life lessons other than how to go out and play football.?

Before coming to the Falcons in 1992, Emery spent more than a decade coaching at Montville High School. Between his stays at Fitch and Montville, he has taken teams to the state playoffs seven times, including a state championship appearance with the Indians in 1985.

?It?ll be different,? Emery said about stepping away. ?Football is kind of like a love-hate relationship because there are so many good things that come out of it, but it just takes up an incredible amount of time and there is some stress that comes with it.?

Emery said he doesn?t have any definitive plans moving forward, but he is an avid golfer, and wouldn?t mind hitting the links a little more often.

Fitch athletic director Marc Romano could not be reached for comment.
The resignation of Emery as Fitch head coach now leaves three coaching jobs vacant in the Eastern Connecticut Conference.

The St. Bernard-Norwich Tech cooperative has begun the interview process to replace Scott Cook, who?s contract was not renewed. Former New London High School coach Jack Cochran has applied for that position along with five other candidates.

Bacon Academy also re-opened its search for a head coach recently and has said this past year?s coach, Brian Enrique, is welcome to apply. Enrique replaced former head coach Duane Maranda late in the summer and, according to Colchester superintendent Jeff Mathieu, the Bacon Academy administration wanted to do a more thorough search for a coach.

Source: http://www.norwichbulletin.com/sports/x2105857188/Emery-steps-down-as-Fitch-football-coach

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