He missed the January 1, 2011 Gator Bowl after being ruled academically ineligible and was no longer enrolled at the university when the new term began following the semester break.

Following in the footsteps of his brothers and father, Forcier has been a quarterback since his Junior PeeWee Pop Warner Football days.

[4] In 2001, Forcier quarterbacked the Carlsbad Charging Lancers to the four-team National Pop Warner Football Championship at the Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida in the Junior PeeWee division.

[4][7] While he was in middle school, the family moved 60 miles (97 km) from San Diego to San Clemente, after football powerhouse Mater Dei High School, which is Matt Leinart's alma mater, recruited his oldest brother, Jason.

[4] The lack of academic attention left Tate with poor study skills and, by his sophomore year, he had to enroll at Charter School of San Diego.

[12] As a junior, he led his team back to the San Diego Section Division II playoffs where they won their first game.

[28] Sources: Forcier, at the encouragement of his brother, Jason, enrolled early during the winter 2009 semester at the University of Michigan.

[29] He was one of seven 2009 recruits to enroll early, according to the university directory, along with Vladimir Emilien, Brandin Hawthorne, Vincent Smith, Anthony LaLota and Michael Jones who began classes on January 7 and William Campbell, who was expected to join them soon thereafter.

[34] He finished 2009 with a 128.1 passer rating, ranking ninth out of 11 starting Big Ten Conference quarterbacks on the season.

Fellow sophomore quarterback Denard Robinson started in place of Forcier on the first-team offense.

[36][37] On September 4, 2010, he began the season third on the quarterback depth chart, behind Robinson and true freshman Devin Gardner.

[38] On September 25, while playing against Bowling Green, Forcier set a Michigan record for pass completion percentage (with a minimum of 10 attempts) by throwing a perfect 12 for 12.

[42] In athletic director Dave Brandon's announcement of the University of Michigan's new head football coach, Brady Hoke, it was also reported that Forcier was no longer with the program.

[54] Forcier's oldest brother, Jason, redshirted in 2005,[4] and was the backup quarterback behind Chad Henne in 2006 at Michigan before transferring in May 2007 to play for Stanford during the 2008 season.

[55][56][57] Jason, a graduate student at the time of his youngest brother's Michigan enrollment, was Tate's first year roommate.