Mike Brown stepped down as the head football coach at Hempfield Area last week, but he was not out of a job for long. On Monday, Brown was approved by the Norwin school board as the new football coach of the Knights.

“It’s always tough to leave a place where you kind of started out – it being my first head coaching position,” Brown said of his departure from Hempfield Area, which included him meeting with all of his players last week. “I owed it to them. They did everything we asked for.”

Brown served at the helm of the Spartans for two seasons, guiding Hempfield Area to a record of 8-12. This past season, the Spartans won their first five games, but endured a four-game skid, and missed the WPIAL playoffs with a mark of 6-4. Hempfield Area finished the regular season with a 34-7 victory against Norwin.

Now, Brown will be on the opposite sideline when the Class 5A Big East Conference rivals meet in the fall.

“I always had my eye on it, especially during my career, and when it opened up, I definitely became interested in it,” he said of the Knights’ position. “We’re excited to get involved with Norwin and trying to get that program back on the map.

“We’re going to work extremely hard, and we’re here for this program, we’re here for this community, and for this school,” he said of his message to the Knights’ faithful. “It’s going to be a program that they’re going to be proud of.”

Previous Norwin head coach Dave Brozeski stepped down from the position after the season, ending his 10-year tenure guiding the Knights. Norwin went 1-9 this past season, dropping the final seven games of the ledger.

Prior to becoming the head coach at Hempfield Area, Brown served as the defensive coordinator at Greensburg Central Catholic for two years. He was previously on staff for Robert Morris University football, coaching linebackers and defensive backs, as well as at James Madison University as an offensive intern. Brown played at Penn-Trafford, graduating in 2009, and continued his football career at Mercyhurst University.