Dumping Moss mid-season was a slap in the face
Jim Dallke | Sports Editor
Issue date: 2/3/10 Section: Op/Ed
Benny Moss did not deserve to go out like this. He may have had the worst winning percentage of any UNCW coach (41-74). He may have had two of the worst seasons in school history (7-22 in 2007; 7-25 in 2009). But he still deserved a chance to finish out the regular season.
It was clear that Moss did not have much time left in Wilmington. The team was spiraling towards another losing season, and it was evident that Seahawk fans were not pleased. But getting rid of Moss only cripples the program even more. Now the Seahawks are left in the hands of 29-year-old Brooks Lee, who has just six years of assistant coaching experience.
However, this is not a knock on Lee. He did not ask for this to happen. Athletic Director Kelly Mehrtens forced this responsibility upon him like a mother giving a broken puzzle to a child and saying, "Here, put the pieces together."
The fact that Moss was let go is not even the most unsettling thing; it is how he was let go. Mehrtens called the decision a "reassignment," and said she plans to keep Moss on staff somewhere in the athletic department. Two things are evident here: First, Mehrtens is doing this because she owes Moss $510,000 over the next three years. Second, there is no way Moss agrees to continue working at UNCW. And why would he? He just got publicly embarrassed by the athletic director and replaced by a 29-year-old assistant. Plus, he will get paid regardless, so he has no reason to stick around. In an e-mail sent from Moss' attorney, Moss does not sound interested in continuing a relationship with Mehrtens or the rest of the athletic department.
"Regardless of the current record, the team, coaching staff and I deserved the opportunity to finish out the season and demonstrate the true potential of the team," Moss said in the e-mail. "The almost unprecedented decision to relieve me of my duties as head coach in mid-season does nothing to benefit the program. It serves only as a mechanism to chastise and embarrass me personally."
It was clear that Moss did not have much time left in Wilmington. The team was spiraling towards another losing season, and it was evident that Seahawk fans were not pleased. But getting rid of Moss only cripples the program even more. Now the Seahawks are left in the hands of 29-year-old Brooks Lee, who has just six years of assistant coaching experience.
However, this is not a knock on Lee. He did not ask for this to happen. Athletic Director Kelly Mehrtens forced this responsibility upon him like a mother giving a broken puzzle to a child and saying, "Here, put the pieces together."
The fact that Moss was let go is not even the most unsettling thing; it is how he was let go. Mehrtens called the decision a "reassignment," and said she plans to keep Moss on staff somewhere in the athletic department. Two things are evident here: First, Mehrtens is doing this because she owes Moss $510,000 over the next three years. Second, there is no way Moss agrees to continue working at UNCW. And why would he? He just got publicly embarrassed by the athletic director and replaced by a 29-year-old assistant. Plus, he will get paid regardless, so he has no reason to stick around. In an e-mail sent from Moss' attorney, Moss does not sound interested in continuing a relationship with Mehrtens or the rest of the athletic department.
"Regardless of the current record, the team, coaching staff and I deserved the opportunity to finish out the season and demonstrate the true potential of the team," Moss said in the e-mail. "The almost unprecedented decision to relieve me of my duties as head coach in mid-season does nothing to benefit the program. It serves only as a mechanism to chastise and embarrass me personally."
Be the first to comment on this story