So the one day that I don't check the news 3-4 times a day to see if J got fired yet...he gets the axe! No matter. It's taken me part of a day to catch-up on all of this and I found a copy of the 31 page U internal report - along with J's response - and the firing letter. The report is long and heavily redacted, and it does make public the name of the source of the drugs (who sold to the 4 Gopher Wrestlers). Here they are:
U Report:
http://kstp.com/kstpImages/repository/cs/files/University of Minnesota Wrestling Investigation Memo.PDF
J's Response to U Report:
U Termination Letter:
http://kstp.com/kstpImages/repository/cs/files/Letter to J Robinson from Mark Coyle.pdf
What I gathered from the U report was that they gave J a lot of chances to cooperate, which may likely have led to a settlement and a buyout. But, to obtain that settlement J would have had to tell the investigators information which would have incriminated his student athletes. J was not going to do that as he didn't want to hang a felony of these First Time Offenders...so he withheld his cooperation.
I'm not a lawyer, but it sure seems like this is all set-up for a long drawn out lawsuit, which will expose a good amount of negligence about the U administration. I'm not sure what J's goals in this lawsuit would be? I suppose he'd like his job back, but that one has to be pretty tough to attain. I think he would like to receive the rest of the money from his contract, and he would like to partially clear his name by showing that he was not the only culprit in this mess. Even though he likely deserved to be fired with cause, he might still feel vindicated if he not only went out "protecting his kids", but also got a monetary settlement and shared culpability with the U.
With a one year contract, Interim Head Coach Eggum will have a year to show how he can lead the program. This could lead to a search for a new HC, where Eggum would be one of the applicants. Or, if somehow Eggum does an unbelievable job, it's possible he might get the Interim tag removed.
The big question that remains is what will happen to the 4 sellers and the 10-12 users (I forget the exact #)? All of the wrestlers are now having discussions with an internal Ethics Board, so this is still not clear. Even if all 4 drug sellers are expelled, the team will still be viable. And if they are suspended, we will be a top 10 team when they return.
For you naysayers who want to dump on the team, go right ahead as Gopher Wrestling will prove you wrong. Our results will be better than you think and our future will be brighter than you think!
Yes, J did things that were clearly wrong...and for that he was fired. But, I submit to you...were many of us in the same position, we would have done the same thing he did. He protected his kids!! And I will tell you that every one of those kids' parents are happy that they entrusted them to J!!!
Go Gopher Wrestling!!!
Back to the Top!!!
U Report:
http://kstp.com/kstpImages/repository/cs/files/University of Minnesota Wrestling Investigation Memo.PDF
J's Response to U Report:
U Termination Letter:
http://kstp.com/kstpImages/repository/cs/files/Letter to J Robinson from Mark Coyle.pdf
What I gathered from the U report was that they gave J a lot of chances to cooperate, which may likely have led to a settlement and a buyout. But, to obtain that settlement J would have had to tell the investigators information which would have incriminated his student athletes. J was not going to do that as he didn't want to hang a felony of these First Time Offenders...so he withheld his cooperation.
I'm not a lawyer, but it sure seems like this is all set-up for a long drawn out lawsuit, which will expose a good amount of negligence about the U administration. I'm not sure what J's goals in this lawsuit would be? I suppose he'd like his job back, but that one has to be pretty tough to attain. I think he would like to receive the rest of the money from his contract, and he would like to partially clear his name by showing that he was not the only culprit in this mess. Even though he likely deserved to be fired with cause, he might still feel vindicated if he not only went out "protecting his kids", but also got a monetary settlement and shared culpability with the U.
With a one year contract, Interim Head Coach Eggum will have a year to show how he can lead the program. This could lead to a search for a new HC, where Eggum would be one of the applicants. Or, if somehow Eggum does an unbelievable job, it's possible he might get the Interim tag removed.
The big question that remains is what will happen to the 4 sellers and the 10-12 users (I forget the exact #)? All of the wrestlers are now having discussions with an internal Ethics Board, so this is still not clear. Even if all 4 drug sellers are expelled, the team will still be viable. And if they are suspended, we will be a top 10 team when they return.
For you naysayers who want to dump on the team, go right ahead as Gopher Wrestling will prove you wrong. Our results will be better than you think and our future will be brighter than you think!
Yes, J did things that were clearly wrong...and for that he was fired. But, I submit to you...were many of us in the same position, we would have done the same thing he did. He protected his kids!! And I will tell you that every one of those kids' parents are happy that they entrusted them to J!!!
Go Gopher Wrestling!!!
Back to the Top!!!
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