Rhodenbaugh, Mizzou at odds over coach's departure
Missouri placed head swimming coach Greg Rhodenbaugh on administrative leave last October. Nearly nine months later, the situation does not appear resolved. On May 24th, the school replaced Rhodenbaugh as the head coach with Andrew Grevers, who had been the interim coach during the course of the suspension, but Rhodenbaugh and the Missouri administration are still at odds.
On Monday afternoon, Vox Populi Communications sent out a press release on Rhodenbaugh’s behalf, stating that the school had closed a Title IX investigation into team management issues under Rhodenbaugh “without any findings of wrong-doing.”
Missouri disputed that with a release of its own later on Monday. The Mizzou release stated the Vox Populi communication as “inaccurate and mischaracterized the university’s Title IX investigation and conclusion.”
“If an individual’s employment status ends and a Title IX investigation is currently ongoing, the investigation is typically closed,” Andrea Hayes, Mizzou assistant vice chancellor for Civil Rights and Title IX, said in the release. “This does not indicate that there was a finding that an individual was cleared.”
Rhodenbaugh’s attorney, Gregory A. Anderson, spoke with PowerMizzou.com on Tuesday afternoon and offered a rebuttal to the rebuttal.
“My response is it is important to consider what people do not say as much as what they do say,” Anderson said. “I would point out that there is nothing in Title IX or any University policy of which I am aware that says a Title IX investigation must be dropped once a coach or employee leaves.”
While Rhodenbaugh was not the head swim coach as of May 24th, he is still drawing a paycheck from the University. He was reassigned as a senior administrative consultant within the athletics department.
"The process with Title IX was not complete yet and still is not complete,” Director of Athletics Jim Sterk told reporters on June 20th. “So we couldn't act on a decision of his employment status, per se, other than we could reassign him. And so that's what we did. We couldn't really wait any longer as far as our swim program.”
Anderson said that Rhodenbaugh continues to be paid by Missouri in that role and a school spokesman confirmed as of today Rhodenbaugh is still employed.
Prior to being replaced as the head coach, Rhodenbaugh was under contract through 2022 for $170,000 per year; the coach and school had negotiated a five-year contract extension in 2017, a year in which he was named the school’s coach of the year. Anderson said the initial allegations that led to the Title IX investigation came forth around the same time the extension was being negotiated.
The Vox Populi release stated that Rhodenbaugh had informed Missouri he would be filing a lawsuit against the school for “defamation of character, termination without notice or cause and other theories.” Anderson said on Tuesday no suit had been filed.
“We’ve been drafting one,” he said. "It’s our hope we can get the matter resolved (without a lawsuit).”
At issue in the attorney’s mind are two main things: The amount of money the school owes Rhodenbaugh and his ability to continue coaching elsewhere.
“Missouri owes him money,” Anderson said. “The amount is in dispute. We are at the negotiation level. But that’s really overshadowed at this point by insuring that nothing Missouri does interferes with Coach Rhodenbaugh’s (coaching opportunities).”
The initial release on Monday stated that “the never-ending investigation was intentionally interfering with negotiations between Rhodenbaugh and another premier Division 1 university to become its head coach for the 2019-2020 season.”
Rhodenbaugh has not commented publicly since being placed on leave in October. He was quoted in the Vox Populi release.
“I was stunned. In my 34 years of coaching collegiate athletes, I think everyone I coached recognized that I deeply care about them and would do anything to help them achieve their goals and dreams - in the pool and out. My assistant coaches and I were the strongest advocates for sixty swimmers. From the sidelines, I encouraged the swimmers to stay focused on their goals and to not get sidetracked by all this.”
Rhodenbaugh continued: “I have always been conscious of the personal needs and academic goals of my student-athletes. While building a top team was incredible, that goal never outweighed my desire to help my athletes personally grow as they work through life issues. The other coaches and I know that being part of an SEC D1 swim program is challenging and transitioning from high school to college is tough. We were always conscious of the total well-being of the athletes and I am sorry that a few athletes didn’t realize the depth of care that all of the coaches had for them.”
We will update this story as it develops.