2008 Woodie Awards
Coach fired, new leader for tryouts
Team places in Nationals
Andy Harper
Issue date: 4/12/07 Section: News
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The team competed in the collegiate small co-ed division with 16 other teams, said Renee Hathaway, interim cheerleading coach.
"There were a lot of really good teams and we made a couple of mistakes in the finals," Hathaway said.
The competition occurred in the wake of a resent decision of the university to terminate the head cheerleading coach Jonathan Pursley. Hathaway, who was acting assistant coach, has assumed the position of interim head coach.
"I took over when he left about three weeks ago," Hathaway said.
Both Hathaway and Gene Fitch, associate dean of student affairs and dean of student life, declined commentary of reasons for the head coach's termination. Pursley also declined to comment.
In addition to the competition, Hathaway will be directing cheerleading tryouts Friday and Saturday to construct new teams for next year.
Before taking on the responsibilities as assistant and now temporary head coach, Hathaway had about 15 years experience as a cheerleading coach at East Tennessee State University.
"What Jonathan was doing, I was also doing as assistant coach, so it isn't that big of a change," Hathaway said.
The position of head coach is considered an "at-will" employment and may be released for cause, as was the situation with Pursley, Fitch said.
"Right now, we want to get through the competition and tryouts before posting the position," Fitch said. "After the season, we will be sitting down and reviewing applications."
The university will review the requirements and responsibilities of the head cheerleading coach. If the position needs adjusting to accommodate certain duties, it will be done before the university officially posts the position.
"We are hoping to have the position posted by the end of the month," Fitch said. "After the semester, it will be the slow time for the athletic season as far as cheerleading, so we will have time to look then."
Although the position has not been officially posted, 10 to 12 people have already inquired.
"We hope the position will be filled by the end of June," Fitch said.
Although Hathaway might apply, her employment as assistant coach is not guaranteed and is deemed as a conditional position by the university.
"The role of assistant is conditional depending on the amount of fundraising by the cheerleading squad," Fitch said. "The university does not dedicate money for an assistant. So as long as fundraising is done by the team, there will be money to pay for the salary."
For now, Hathaway said she does not mind taking over for Pursley. However, she is not sure whether she will apply for the permanent position.
"As of now, I don't know if I will apply for the head coach position because I have a five-year-old daughter who takes up a lot of my time," Hathaway said.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
anonymous
posted 4/12/07 @ 9:24 AM CST
Good grief! What is this article about? The new coach, the old coach, or the competition?
Why the hell was the old one fired? And if the new coach is just "doing the same thing" as the old one - why wasn't she fired too?
And apparently there wasn't a problem, because MTSU placed 4th in the competition. (Continued…)
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