Fornari earned six letters in football and baseball at Michigan State University. He was the first football, basketball and baseball coach at Mandeville High and also coached track. He led the 1951 Mandeville team to 9-0 record and third in the final state Class C rankings. Fornari was named the outstanding athlete from among 17,000 in the Detroit City League batting championship at age 34 in 1955 with a .414 average.
