This past season, the Georgetown Prep football team not only beat Landon but also won another IAC championship. Coach Paro’s hard and exhausting practices really paid off. The seniors on the team will always look back at their last season with pride and a sense of accomplishment. However, though the players had won a huge victory, the team had suffered a great loss.
Following the last day of practice, Offensive-Line Coach and Georgetown Prep legend Michael Fegan, son of Coach Jim Fegan, announced his retirement from the football program. This was an extremely dreadful moment for coach, for the staff, and especially for the players. Coach Fegan was among the most respected and hard-working coaches in school history, which was seen with the high regard that his players had shown him. In his retirement speech, coach Fegan had announced, “I am proud to say that I coached my last season with this group of boys, and I will especially remember the blood, sweat, and tears that were shed by this O-Line.”
As a player, Fegan was nominated captain of the 1982 varsity football team and earned All-IAC honors for each season he played. The same year, Michael Fegan ’83 led his team to win an IAC championship.
Almost immediately after his graduation, he started on his father’s staff in 1984 as an offensive line assistant coach. Since 1984, Michael Fegan has coached 40 seasons with the varsity football team, 5 undefeated seasons, has recorded a 235-100-5 overall record, and has won 15 IAC championships. Coach Fegan alone has shaped some of the toughest, meanest, and most athletic players that Prep football has ever seen. One of his accomplishments was with the 2002 team. The 2002 Hall of Fame team finished the season ranked number one in the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan area. Fegan, accordingly, received the John Voight Award from the Maryland Football Coaches Hall of Fame. Michael Fegan, along with his father, James Fegan, was admitted to the Georgetown Prep Athletics Hall of Fame in 2019.
Although Coach Fegan’s time with Georgetown Prep has sadly come to an end, his impact and memories will always remain. I, along with all of my teammates, am more than honored to have played under Coach Fegan. Coach was a large contributing factor to the success of the football program, and he will be missed by the staff and especially the players.
