On Oct. 23, members of the Ohio University Swimming and Diving team met with Director of Athletics Jim Schaus to discuss their grievances with coach Greg Werner’s leadership.
One day later, without allowing Werner the opportunity to alter anything about the program or his training methods, the university authored his termination letter.
Werner told The Post that he was “blindsided” by the notification of his firing, which came Oct. 31 at the end of a weeklong suspension issued after the meeting between Schaus and members of his team.
After a close look at the facts currently available, it’s easy to see why Werner felt that way. During his 18 years as coach of the team, Werner led the Bobcats to 11 Mid-American Conference championships, and Werner’s personnel file reveals no evidence of any violation of university or NCAA policies.
The only explanations for Werner’s termination are nondescript and have left us scratching our heads despite our belief that we have exhausted our options as reporters, which include reviewing the university’s records, talking to Werner and attempting to talk to the team. Athletics, however, would not make any of the swimmers available to comment on this topic.
All we know is what we found in Werner’s personnel file, which is that members of the team expressed disappointment in the coach’s leadership. Schaus said in a statement that the department had “decided to take the women’s swimming program in a different direction.”
It is baffling why Athletics would sever its relationship with the winningest coach in program history without giving him the chance to correct the actions that upset his team. That is assuming there was no foul play, which is not listed in his personnel file.
More than two months later, the university still owes students, alumni and the public an explanation to justify this sudden and seemingly unwarranted firing.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post’s executive editors.
