Sources tell SwimSwam that Cal Poly is bringing back longtime head swimming and diving coach Tom Milich in an interim role after his successor, Phil Yoshida, was placed on indefinite leave amid allegations of verbal and emotional abuse.
The tentative plan is for Milich to guide Cal Poly through the the 2024 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championships. Then after the conference meet, one source said assistant coach Jacki Hirsty is set to lead spring practices while the school searches for a permanent solution. Hirsty joined Cal Poly last fall after three seasons as an assistant coach at Division III Rhodes College in Memphis.
Meanwhile, Milich led both the Mustang men and women for 14 seasons before his retirement in 2020. Yoshida worked under Milich as an assistant all 14 years and actually preceded his former boss, having served five years under former head coach Rich Firman.
Yoshida is facing accusations that he “verbally and emotionally abused, threatened and retaliated against athletes and assistant coaches,” according to the OC Register’s Scott Reid. Yoshida was named interim head coach on April 1, 2020, before being promoted to full-time head coach a year later.
Yoshida was reportedly informed of his leave on Aug. 26, but swimmers and athletic department employees weren’t told until Sept. 6.
The OC Register wrote that Cal Poly athletic director Don Oberhelman “dismissed the allegations and at one point threatened to cut the men’s program if the male swimmers continued to complain against Yoshida.”
An investigation involving 40 interviews of current and former swimmers and their parents was reportedly delivered to Cal Poly administrators in June. Apparently the final straw was Yoshida’s retaliation against an athletic department employee, which prompted the indefinite leave of absence.
Yoshida also swam at Cal Poly for two seasons from 1999 through 2001, and from 2001-07 worked in the school’s fruit science department.
The Mustang women finished 9th out of 10 teams at the MPSF Championships last season, while the Cal Poly men were 7th out of 8 teams.
Cal Poly is scheduled to kick off the season with its annual Queen and King of the Pool pentathlon meet against Cal on Friday, September 22. Only the first two meets of the Mustangs’ schedule for this year have been released.
The school is a week away from the first classes of its fall term.
The program has a new head diving coach this season, Laurel Abernethy.
The AD is on his last leg. To threaten athletes with cutting their program if they report abusive coaching behavior reeks of retaliation which is a violation of California law. If any parents have deep pockets, not only is the coach gone but so is the slimy AD.
My swimmer is well qualified to swim for Cal Poly and loves the school…. But we’ve been hearing from other swimmers about the coach that was just let go… we’re glad he’s gone. We will be keeping a careful eye on the decisions that happen over the next couple years. It took too long for the AD to act, I hope they read this and consider some institutional changes.
Is this the first verbal commitment for the high school class of 2027??
And now, the interim coach, who is only going to be there for five months is making cuts to the team. Why? He’s only going to be there for five months and should not be making any cuts to the teams or the program. They need to keep their full roster intact and let the next coach make those choices, somebody who’s going to be there long term.
Who got cut?
Not knowing what is going on I got to ask: if anyone broke a ncaa, school, department, or team rule they should just keep ‘em on the roster til next head coach comes in?
Tom is an excellent interim head coach. He elevated the program dramatically in his time as head coach. Additionally, there aren’t going to be a ton of options to take over at this point in the season. We are incredibly lucky that he agreed to lead our program for this season.
Next spring, the net can be cast far and wide for the best head coach to lead the program into the future, and I am excited for that. The school and the local community have both elevated themselves so much over the past 10 years or so, and it is time for the swim team to do the same.
Airing the program’s dirty laundry out on the internet… Read more »
If Tom likes you he’s an excellent coach
This is what Tom will do better than anybody – convince an AD to not cut the program. That is a real risk in this situation, and the risk is compounded when so many people are complaining about it on the internet.
Tom will keep things moving forward this season. He has coached multiple Olympic medallists. He coached almost every Cal Poly school record. He is hard, but he is an elite coach.
In the spring, a permanent coach gets picked, and the program takes off. Look to the future!
I’m complaining about it because I swam for Tom and know what he’s like. If it takes bringing him back to keep the program alive then that’s just ridiculous and the AD needs to be scrutinized. There’s 100’s of quality coaches that would love this job, Tom isn’t the only person out there that can help this team thrive.
Olympic Medalists? Who? Just asking…
He reminds people he coached Janet Evans. BUT he was only her high school coach. lol
LOL
Love this! Why does anyone interview a club kid’s high school coach when, in most states, the swimmer is rarely impacted by the HS coach? I recognize that some states forbid club practices during HS season but TBH, it ain’t the blood, sweat and tears of HS swimming that got a kid to college.
Janet Evans and John Mykkanen
Both Janet and John went to El Dorado HS in Placentia, CA. The Coach of record for Janet was Bud McCalaster at Fullerton. The Coach of record for John was Flip Darr at Irvine. Especially in Southern California in the 80s, these top level athletes stayed with their club during the HS season. If Tom was their HS coach, I bet he rarely saw them let alone providing any coaching to aid their performance. Amazing
CP Alum…is that you Don? Airing dirty laundry? 40+ interviews with current and former swimmers about abuse and nothing was done until Phil tried to retaliate against another employee. If the AD is choosing to do nothing when swimmers speak then the world should be aware of what’s going on at SLO.
Airing dirty laundry? 40+ interviews with current and former swimmers about abuse and nothing was done until Phil tried to retaliate against another employee. If the AD is choosing to do nothing when swimmers speak then the world should be aware of what’s going on at SLO.
Airing out the “dirty laundry” on the internet will probably help a lot more than allowing bad coaches to be bad coaches. Sounds like people have tried every other recourse, next step is to let EVERYONE know.
Time for legal action against Dan! We have seen too much over the last few years, and have the sent emails with no action. Cal Poly will not be able to hide from what’s coming…
Should have made Jacki Hirtsty Head Coach.
One step forward, two steps backward!
Cal Poly needs a fresh start, not bringing back the old that didn’t work last time. Sounds like athletic director didn’t want to do any work to find a good fit for the team. Sad.