Right during the flurry of public calls for Athletic Director Dianne Murphy's ouster, she fired one of the most popular coaches in the history of Columbia varsity sports.
The official line from the department is that long-time women's soccer coach Kevin McCarthy '85 stepped down of his own accord. I have several sources that say that's not remotely true.
That alone is not a story, coaches often "resign" when they're actually fired. Same goes for CEO's, etc.
But what sets this story apart are three questions:
1) Why was McCarthy let go NOW, after what was the first winning season for women's soccer in three years? Most insiders in Ivy women's soccer, not just our own supporters, believe the team is on the rise.
2) Why were the players reportedly informed that McCarthy "just quit on them," when the truth is he was pushed out? Why was that untruth told to our student athletes who are still having a hard time figuring out what happened exactly?
3) How could Murphy treat McCarthy so badly? This is someone with a 30-plus year connection to Columbia. He's the only coach to deliver an Ivy title for women's soccer in the history of the program, (2006). AND he was a key member of the best varsity team of the last 40 years of Columbia history, (the 1983 men's soccer team that very nearly won the national championship).
Why was he reportedly forced out so quickly with the standard, "sign this release in the next 10 minutes or you lose benefits" threat? Don't the many decades of McCarthy's service to Alma Mater deserve much better than that?
Is there a part of this story we haven't heard? If not, we'd like to hear it.
As usual, I offer Murphy and President Lee Bollinger a completely unedited platform here to respond to the reports of the shabby treatment for McCarthy?
5 comments:
Jake
Let me proudly be the first to post under your new guidelines, although you and everyone else know that I have been signing my name all along.
As I have consistently said regarding PM and DM, there is much empirical as well as anecdotal info warranting their dismissal. However, I will always lean towards the empirical, factual and indisputable when it comes to forming an opinion.
Therefore, the info you provide re McCarthy I find disturbing at best. While I do not expect any official response to your offer of "equal time", I think all of us would be very interested in getting other first-hand info on this. If nothing else, it suggests basic HR improprieties as well as professional slander re his departure, so that, if true, it would constitute grounds for immediate dismissal.
Something like this demands verification. Who can help? And if not provable, we should state that as well, being equitable people.
Rich Forzani '66
Thanks Rich.
I consider my sources here to be unimpeachable, however while I don't doubt the veracity of their info, it's possible there is ADDITIONAL information out there that should be considered.
I cordially invite anyone with such info to provide it here or email me privately.
But the burning questions about McCarthy remain. I can't understand why he has been treated so poorly.
Rich '66C
That's the key. We need someone with guts as well as first-hand info to step up.
Typically, companies execute a mutual non-disclosure with fired employees to prevent them from describing issues, in return for a severance package. I have no doubt this occurred with McCarthy. He may be under legal pressure.
What about senior team members? Ones with nothing to worry about from the admin?
Kevin McCarthy is a class act. Hard to fathom why he resigned. His teams were competitive. I would be surprised if any player or coach ever had a bad word to say about him. Straight shooter all the way. Could it have been personal reasons or was he really asked to leave? I can't dig up anything on the circumstances.
I just came across this blog post. My daughter was being recruited by Kevin and his staff and I can say that he gave absolutely no indication by his words or his enthusiasm for the future of the program that he had any intention of resigning.
Paul '91CC
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