Baton Rouge Rougarou owner Ronnie Rantz has announced that the reigning Texas Collegiate League championship team will have a new coach in 2026 and beyond.
Mike Forbes, currently the head coach at Walker High School, has signed a three-year contract to take over the Rougarou reins in 2026. Stephen Klein and Carl Labit, who coached the team to its best finish in 2025, will move over to Lake Charles to take over coaching duties for Rantz’s recent acquisition, the Gumbeaux Gators.
“I’m excited,” said Forbes, a Baton Rouge native. “It’s God’s timing. They’ve asked me before and it was always a time when things didn’t line up. I guess the stars kind of aligned.”
Said Rantz: “I’ve been knowing Mike for 20 years and think highly of him as a coach and a leader. He is a championship coach and teaches his young men how to play the game the right way. I have tried to hire him a couple of times in the past and the timing was not right for him and his family to commit long-term to the Rougarou.”
Forbes becomes the fifth head coach of the Rougarou since 2022, but Rantz hopes the long-term contract will give the team some extra stability.
“Finding good coaches who are available and committed to the 60-day sprint that is the Texas Collegiate League Summer Baseball is hard, and I am thrilled to have found a good one who will be our head coach for the next three seasons,” Rantz said.
Forbes graduated from Central High School where he was a standout outfielder. He went on to play at Bossier Parish Community College for Jay Artigues, at Delgado University for the legendary Joe Scheuermann, and at the University of New Orleans for former major leaguer Randy Bush.
After a few years in the minor leagues, Forbes began his coaching career as an assistant at his alma mater, then he spent two years as the head coach at Silliman Institute. Forbes returned to Central as head coach and led the team to Class 5A state titles in 2017 and 2018, earning Coach of the Year awards from the Louisiana Baseball Coaches Association, the Louisiana Sports Writers Association, the Baton Rouge Advocate and USA Today.
After eight seasons, Forbes moved to Brusly High School for two years. He was hired at Walker in May of 2024.
Forbes said he knows he has a tough act to follow after the Rougarou won its first TCL championship with a 40-11 record this summer, its best finish in the team’s seven years in the league.
“Trust me. That’s not something I didn’t think about for sure,” Forbes said. “Expectations are high for the Rougarou right now and I love that. I love putting myself in situations where I can better myself and the kids that I’m coaching. We’re not going to change much of what they did last year, but I also think I can bring some things to the table that I’ve done throughout my career that worked and just put together a roster that will go out there and have some fun and want to win every single day.”
READ MORE:Baton Rouge Rougarou hire new head coach
