Kansas Coach Mark Mangino (Later Fired for Verbally and Emotionally Abusing Players)
The NCAA football bowl season is upon us, and NCAA basketball turns to conference play. The stakes are higher and higher for coaches, as they chase lucrative contracts for winning.
Here is an incomplete list of coaches who were fired or resigned due to abuse allegations.
Some people dismiss all of this as "hard coaching."
At times, however, it crosses into clear criminal behavior. Even the milder abuse stories raise the question: Where else on a university or college campus is an employee entitled to call some a n*****, or a c***, or a p****, or a m*****f*****, or shove them, or break them down emotionally to the point of contemplating suicide?
To the 50% of teams that lose their next game, here's hoping that your coach is a decent human being and comports himself/herself like faculty members who are obligated to treat students with respect.
Here is an incomplete list of coaches who were fired or resigned due to abuse allegations.
Some people dismiss all of this as "hard coaching."
At times, however, it crosses into clear criminal behavior. Even the milder abuse stories raise the question: Where else on a university or college campus is an employee entitled to call some a n*****, or a c***, or a p****, or a m*****f*****, or shove them, or break them down emotionally to the point of contemplating suicide?
To the 50% of teams that lose their next game, here's hoping that your coach is a decent human being and comports himself/herself like faculty members who are obligated to treat students with respect.
Sean Woods, Men’s Head Basketball Head
Coach Morehead State University Resigned (2016). Woods resigned after
multiple players and a parent accused him abusive behavior, including head-butting
a player and halftime locker room with players. Matt Norlander, Morehead State Coach
Resigns after Investigation, Charges, Abuse Allegations, CBSSPORTS.COM, at https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/morehead-state-coach-resigns-after-investigation-charges-abuse-allegations/ Woods was charged with
criminal battery. Kyle Boone, Report:
Morehead State Basketball Coach Facing Battery Charge (Dec. 13, 2016), CBSSPORTS.COM, at https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/report-morehead-state-basketball-coach-facing-battery-charge/
Jim Leavitt, South Florida Head Football
Coach (2010), Fired. Leavitt was fired for striking a player during a game
and interfering in the school’s investigation. Leavitt was later hired as the
defensive coordinator at the University of Oregon. Dennis Dodd, Jim Leavitt Back in College Game, While
Player He Struck Is Struggling (Feb. 10, 2016), CBSSPORTS.COM, at https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/jim-leavitt-back-in-college-game-while-player-he-struck-is-struggling/.
Mike Leach, Texas Tech Head
Football Coach (2011), Fired. Published news reports state that Leach ordered a
player to “stand in a dark shed at the Tech football practice facility because
he thought (he) was faking a concussion.” Leach reportedly repeated the
treatment, ordering the player to stand in another dark room for three hours.
Emily Friedman, Texas Tech Coach Mike
Leach Fired After Claim of Abuse, ABCNews
(Dec. 30, 2009), at https://abcnews.go.com/US/texas-tech-university-football-coach-mike-leach-fired/story?id=9449169. Leach was later hired as
Washington State University Head Coach.
Mark
Mangino, Kansas Head Football Coach Resigned (2009).
University opened investigation into accusations that Mangino verbally and
emotionally abused players. Associated Press, Kansas Coach Quits Under Fire,
N.Y.Times (Dec. 3, 2009), at https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/sports/ncaabasketball/04kansas.html.
Mangino was later hired as offensive coordinator for Iowa State University.
Associated Press, Mark mangino Leaves Iowa State Football Program, Los Angeles
Times (Oct. 26, 2015), at https://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-college-football-notes-20151027-story.html.
Greg
Winslow, University of Utah Head Swimming Coach, Suspended (2013).
Greg Winslow was accused of abusing an underage girl over two-year period,
according to a police report. A published report said that Winslow also came to practice drunk; had outbursts of anger, including once punching an assistant
coach; used racial slurs; and once forced a team member to swim underwater with
his hands tied to a PVC pipe that was strapped to his back until he blacked
out, according to a parent. Associated Press, Utah Hires Out for New
Investigation, ESPN (March 11, 2013), at https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/9040762/utah-utes-open-new-investigation-greg-winslow.
Mike
Rice, Rutgers University Head Basketball Coach, Suspended and Fired (2013).
Practice videos of Rice showed him hurling a basketball at close range at
players’ heads, legs, and feet; shoving and grabbing players, and screaming
obscenities and homophobic slurs. Don Van Natta Jr., Video Shows Mike Rice’s
Ire, ESPN (April 2, 2013). Also see Steve Eder and Kate Zernike, Rutgers
Leaders Are Faulted on Abusive Coach, N.Y. Times (April 3, 2013), at https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/04/sports/ncaabasketball/rutgers-fires-basketball-coach-after-video-surfaces.html.
Rice
was hired in 2019 to coach an elite high school basketball feeder for NCAA and
NBA prospects. Jerry Carino, Mike Rice on
His New Venture: Princeton Arts and Sports Academy, Asbury Park Press (May 1, 2019), at https://www.app.com/story/sports/high-school/basketball/2019/05/01/mike-rice-princeton-arts-sports-academy/3631272002/
Petra Martin, Rutgers University,
Women’s Head Swimming Coach, Fired.
See Rutgers Fires Head Swimming Coach
Petra Martin, Swimming World (Nov.
16, 2017), at https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/rutgers-fires-head-womens-swimming-coach-petra-martin/. Martin was fired over allegations
that she “shamed athletes over their weight, used abusive language
during training, and sessions and demanded they stop using medication
prescribed by their doctors for anxiety and other issues.”
Sylvia
Hatchell, University of North Carolina Women’s Basketball Coach, Resigned.
The coach was accused of racial insensitivity, including a warning to black
players that a loss would “lead to nooses.” Marc Tracy and Alan Blinder, Sylvia Hatchell Is Out at U.N.C. After
Inquiry Supports Team’s Complaints, N.Y. Times (April 19, 2019), at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/19/sports/basketball/north-carolina-sylvia-hatchell.html.
Larry
Cochell, University of Oklahoma Baseball Coach, Resigned (2005).
Cochell resigned as after he used a racial slur to describe one of his African
American players during off-camera interviews with ESPN. Eric Stephens, Details of Cochell’s Use of Racial Slur
Disclosed, Los Angeles Times (May 3, 2005), available https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-may-03-sp-cochell3-story.html
(Cochell said to Thorne: “There are honkies and white people, and there are
niggers and black people. Dunigan is a good black kid,” and told Peterson, “There’s
no nigger in him.”)
Brian
Meehan, Brandeis University Men’s Basketball Coach, Fired (2018).
Meehan was fired after an outside investigation corroborated allegations of racism
and abusive behavior towards his players. Prince
Lobell, Summary Report of the Independent
Investigation
of Complaints Related to the Brandeis
University Men's Basketball Program: Part One
(August 22, 2018), at https://www.brandeis.edu/president/letters/pdfs/independent-investigation-report.pdf.
Ehren
Earleywine, University of Missouri Women’s Softball Coach, Fired (2018).
He was investigated in 2016 for alleged verbal abuse of players but was
retained. In 2018, he was fired just before the season started for unspecified
reasons, though the athletic director said “we have lost confidence in Coach
Earleywine's leadership to foster the type of healthy environment we expect for
our student-athletes.” Graham Hays, Missouri Fires Softball Coach Ehren
Earleywine After 11 Seasons (jan. 26, 2018), at https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/22224960/missouri-tigers-dismiss-softball-coach-ehren-earleywine-11-seasons
Ric
Seeley, Quinnipiac University Coach of Women’s Ice Hockey, Fired (2015):
Seeley was accused of abusive behavior during his time at the university,
including taking a slap shot at a player's head, telling players to kill
themselves, and grabbing a player by her jersey in a game at Harvard University
in 2015. Brett Bodner, Former Quinnipiac Women’s
Hockey Coach Accused of Physically and Verbally Abusing Players, Daily News (April 13, 2017), at https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/quinnipiac-women-hockey-coach-accused-abusing-players-article-1.3052194
Matt
Heath, College of Charleston Head Baseball Coach Fired (2017).
Heath was fired shortly after the school launched an investigation into
allegations of abusive behavior by Heath toward his players. Andrew Miller, College
of Charleston fires baseball coach Matt Heath, The Post and Courier (June 30,
2017), at https://www.postandcourier.com/sports/college-of-charleston-fires-baseball-coach-matt-heath/article_36f02ebc-5ded-11e7-8673-e7801f3a3aa9.html.
Kellie
Young, University of Louisville Women’s Soccer Coach, Fired (2017).
Young was fired twelve days after a local newspaper reported a former player
accused Young of negligence, an accusation that was similar to news reports in 2012 that Young used abusive coaching tactics with players. Danielle Lerner, Former
U of L Lacrosse Coach Fired ‘Without Cause,' Courier Journal (Dec. 4, 2017), at
https://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/college/louisville/2017/12/04/former-louisville-lacrosse-coach-kellie-young-fired-without-cause-contract/919406001/
Larry
Eustachy, Colorado State University Men’s Basketball Coach, Resigned (2017).
Eustachy resigned after being put on leave for a “climate assessment” evaluation
of his program. In 2013-2014, an investigation at CSU recommended he be fired for
emotionally and verbally abusing his players and creating an atmosphere of fear
and intimidation. ESPN News Services, Larry Eustachy Stepping Down at Colorado
State after Being Put on Administrative Leave, ESPN (Feb. 26, 2018), at https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/22589155/larry-eustachy-stepping-colorado-state-rams-head-coach.
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