Ohio Athletics set a bad example for the swimming and diving team when it fired its head coach.
Hardly a day goes by when there isn’t an article, blog or story to be read about the entitled, “it’s all about me” generation that will soon be the leaders of our country. Much of the responsibility needs to be placed back on the adults who serve as role models and leaders to this generation. Everyone wants a quick fix to their problems without the effort of correctly identifying and addressing the real issues. That takes extra work, and who has time for that?
It is no secret that Greg Werner was fired in late October as the head swimming and diving coach after 18 seasons at Ohio University. Since his termination was announced as being “without cause” and simply justified as a “change in direction,” it could be said that the administration had no plans or desire to support its coach or its team until the end of the season. Instead, there was a quick meeting and an even quicker press release two days prior to the first home competition of the season that left the team with a small staff and far fewer resources in the areas of coaching and recruiting.
The quiet and far less public punch in the gut came in the middle of the MAC Championships (on Friday, Feb. 28) when the head coaching position was officially posted on the Ohio University website. Nothing screams “we support you and your hard work over the past six months” like posting your head coach’s job before the most important competition of the season has ended. Could it have waited until Monday? You would think so, since more than a half-dozen jobs were posted on the same website the following week.
And then there was the announcement very late in the evening on Tuesday, March 18 about the new head coach that had been hired. In a typical week, this would be a positive story that shows a bright future for an athletic program at Ohio. The problem is that last week was not a typical week, at least not for sophomore Addy Ferguson, who competed at the NCAA Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships on March 21. What message does this announcement send to her about the importance of her experience as a student athlete and the success she has had this season? I would have to imagine it’s not a positive one.
Perhaps a little extra time and thought on the part of head athletic director and others would have shown this team of young women that accountability and adversity isn’t a bad thing when you have people to lead you in the right direction.
Emily Frasco-Smith was a
member of the Ohio swimming and diving team in 2003.
