Breaking news out of Tennessee is that the University of Tennessee has dismissed men’s swim coach John Trembley, according to a press release on the official University athletics site. He will be replaced by assistant Lars Jorgensen, who will take over as interim head coach for the rest of this season.
It is exceedingly rare for a college swimming coach to be fired in-season, and according to local news affiliate WBIR, the reason for the release given by Athletics Director Dave Hart was “gross midsconduct”.
WBIR has also posted a link to his contract, which defines gross misconduct as “theft or dishonesty; gross insubordination; willful destruction of University property; falsification of records; acts of moral turpitude; reporting for duty under the influence of intoxicants: illegal use, manufacture, possession, distribution, or dispensing of controlled substances or alcohol; disorderly conduct; provoking a fight; and other similar acts involving intolerable behavior by the employee.”
We won’t speculate on which of those categories Trembley falls under, but it would have had to have been something pretty bad to have fit that definition. As of posting, our query to Tennessee Athletics had not received a response (though it is 5 in the morning, so that is expected).
This was Trembley’s 23rd year as the head coach at Tennessee, in addition to 5 years as an assistant. He was also a 1975 Tennessee graduate. He took the Volunteers to a 12th place finish at NCAA’s last year, though they haven’t appeared as strong in the first semester of this season. Jorgensen has previously served as a top assistant at LSU and as the head coach at Toledo, though they only have a women’s program. At Toledo, he was the 2010 MAC Coach of the Year. He’s also a Tennessee alum.
reply to Suzanna Aguilar Dann – appears you drank the kool aid like your brother.
Did you not think it was totally wrong to pass out those money wreathes at Christmas. Or do you think it is normal to pay kids who swam fast. If he paid secondary school kids, who knows what else he would do.
SCUM BAG. NARCISSIST
He was always a scumbag. Payed swimmers from the beginning. I saw it.
Whatever the incident may be. Never forget to be graceful, respectful and supportive. You know JT better than many, and he has had a long standing successful career full of dedication and positive impact on not only the TEAM but countless individuals. Stand by him and ‘Walk Tall.’
Suzanna Aguilar Dann, Mercersburg ’86
Whatever it is appears to be serious enough for a criminal investigation.
http://www.govolsxtra.com/news/2012/jan/04/ut-swim-coach-john-trembley-under-criminal-investi/
Braden,
Any timeline here? When can we be clued in?
I could see their AD going for a combined program for this reason: often AD’s take a look around them and see what other teams in the conference are doing. In this case, they might look at the three most consistently great programs in the SEC: Auburn, Georgia and Florida, and see that they are all combined. I personally think its a wash being combined versus split.
does everybody think they will combine the programs or keep it separate? What other programs have they done this to at UT?
Lost Translation – actually writing a post about just that topic as we speak. Stay tuned for my thoughts…:-)
Braden….sheesh! not fair!
Eliza – I know it’s not fair…but you have no idea how many times we’ve been threatened with law suits, even when we post only factual information. Basically, whenever someone doesn’t like what’s written about them, be it factual or not, they sue for defamation. In this particular case, before I can be absolutely certain that it’s true, I’ve gotta hold off on posting it.