The Bay Port football team didn’t have to look far for its new leader.
Assistant coach Steven Jorgensen was promoted to head coach Tuesday. He replaces Gary Westerman, who stepped down last month after 12 seasons.
“It means everything,” said Jorgensen, who was busy celebrating his daughter’s birthday the day his hire was announced. “I am very excited, but really just thinking about (Tuesday), just super grateful. Obviously, I am a man of faith and believe everything happens for a reason in life.
“This is just one of those opportunities that you can’t pass up. You have to go for it when it came open and there has been such a great tradition here of success, and we are looking to build off of that and take what Coach Westerman did here over the last decade and just continue to elevate this program to another level.”
Jorgensen was added to the Bay Port staff by Westerman in 2022 to help with the offense, bringing plenty of experience with him to Suamico.
He was the coach at Fond du Lac from 2019 until stepping down during the 2021 season for personal reasons. The team went 21-4 during his time on the sideline.
Jorgensen previously served as an assistant for the Cardinals for seven years, mostly as an offensive line coach and run game coordinator before taking over the top spot when his father, Wisconsin Football Coaches Association Hall of Famer Steve Jorgensen, stepped down after guiding Neenah on an interim basis in 2018.
“Steven brings a wealth of experience and success as he takes over as the head football coach,” Bay Port athletic director Dillon Maney said. “We are very excited for what he will continue to accomplish here at Bay Port.”
Hiring Jorgensen likely was an even easier decision considering he already is a physical education teacher at Bay Port and the school didn’t have to find a teaching position for him.
When Jorgensen arrived a few years ago, there always was a chance he would be the perfect successor to Westerman. He wasn’t thinking too much about the possibility at the time.
“You know, at that point I was just super excited to get in here and make the biggest impact that I could personally on the program,” Jorgensen said. “It wasn’t really ever a thought that it would happen. I didn’t know at that time what Coach Westerman’s timetable was or what would happen. I just thought that in the assistant role that I could do the best I could to help him elevate this program.
“I would lie to say it wasn’t in the back of my mind that if it came open that I would go for it, because it’s a great job. I learned really quickly how awesome the administration is here, and the community is second to none in their investment in this sport and in their kids. It became very apparent when it became open that it was something that I really want to pursue.”
Jorgensen is stepping into a role that does present some pressure.
The Pirates are no rebuilding job. There isn’t an opportunity for a soft landing for the new guy.
Bay Port went 114-23 during Westerman’s tenure. It won seven Fox River Classic Conference championships, enjoyed a record 38-game conference winning streak and made a WIAA state title game in 2019 for the first time in program history.
The Pirates went 8-3 last season and won the FRCC-North title before losing to Milwaukee Marquette in the second round of the Division 1 playoffs.
There are plenty of holes to fill for 2024, including starting quarterback Carter Kallies and a dynamic offensive weapon in running back-wide receiver-return specialist Blake Buchinger.
But Bay Port could have one of the best offensive lines in the state led by the senior duo of Alex Warden and Alex Michels.
It also will welcome back all-conference talent in tight end Bennett Deppeler, wideout Sawyer Torp, defensive end Max Romenesko and linebackers Brock Gauthier and Nick Hawker.
Winning conference and making a deep playoff run is far more than just a hope.
“That is the expectation every year here,” Jorgensen said. “That’s what the expectation is around this community and the expectations of the players. If we are doing all the right things on and off the field, in the season and out of the season, and we are working really hard and we are a connected team, we want to put in that work so when things come together we are right there at the end at Camp Randall (for state).
“That’s the goal. We have no reason to set our goals here lower than that.”
Jorgensen already has a talented coaching staff at Bay Port, which includes his brother, Matt.
But the family tree might not end with those two.
Steve Jorgensen, anyone?
The former Oshkosh North and University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh football standout has been an even better coach.
He won a WIAA state championship at North in 2000 and two state titles at Kimberly in 2007 and 2008.
Steve went 164-58 in 20 seasons at North, Kimberly and Fond du Lac, winning nine Fox Valley Association titles. He was named the league’s coach of the year eight times and The Associated Press state coach of the year twice.
“I talk to my dad every day, he’s my best friend,” Jorgensen said. “He’s been doing the offense over at Neenah High School. I obviously would talk to my father and do anything I can to get him around, because he means everything to me. He has taught me from a young age that the best way you can be successful as a head coach is to have unbelievable assistants around you that share your same vision.
“He did that at Kimberly with Coach Westerman on his staff and Coach Steve Jones, who everyone knows as well. He had an unbelievable staff there. We have a great staff here already in place. We are always going to try to look to add great people that can impact kids as well.”
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