Earleywine opens up

about firing by Sterk

Associated Press photo

Jan. 28, 2018

COLUMBIA, Mo. --- This is a story about the winningest coach in the history of the University of Missouri.

In any sport.

Winning, you would think, would be embraced at this school, especially since the trophy case hasn't exactly been bulging at the seams with success in recent years.

But apparently, unless you win nice, it seems you're no longer welcome. it's what our schools, what our society, have become.

So very sad, but so very true.

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ON FRIDAY, MISSOURI SOFTBALL COACH EHREN EARLEYWINE attended what he thought was a routine meeting with Athletic Director Jim Sterk. It was a meeting, after all, that had been scheduled for more than a month.

The subject was supposed to deal with the school's new mission statement called Winning Right.

"They made an acronym out of the word Right," Earleywine said in an exclusive interview late Saturday night. "I think the R stands for respect, the I is integrity, and so on and so forth.

"That's what I thought it was about, and there was actually a piece of paper that had Right written on it when I sat down."

"So that's what we're going to discuss?" Earleywine asked Sterk.

"Yes, that's what we were going to discuss, but the circumstances have changed."

Earleywine felt a jolt of lighting shoot through him.

"I knew right then," he said," it wasn't good."

"My wheels were turning, trying to figure out what he was going to tell me I'd done that led to this decision he's about to tell me," Earleywine continued. "He didn't say much, other than that they were terminating me, effective immediately. They took away my keys immediately and just shut me down.

"I asked what for, and he said: 'I'm not required to give you a reason.'"

Sterk said in a statement: "We have lost confidence in coach Earleywine's leadership to foster the type of healthy environment we expect for our student-athletes and, as a result, believe it is in the program's best interest to make a change at this time."

Foster the type of healthy environment ... code words for playing nice.

Earleywine, 47, a graduate of Jefferson City High School, led the Tigers to a record of 482-182 in 11 seasons, an average mark of a sparkling 40-15. Mizzou played in the NCAA regional all 11 seasons and advanced to the College World Series three times.

Earleywine is a fiery competitor and --- as a result in this day and age --- had a few turbulent times during his tenure. But nothing happened in the last seven-plus months since the 2017 season ended, nothing that could possibly raise an eyebrow.

At the end of last season, Earleywine had a meeting with Sterk and assistant AD Brian Brown. At the end of that meeting: 

"You told me," Earleywine recalled saying to Sterk on Friday, "that there were a few things  you wanted me to do different, to be better at. Since that time, I have toed the company line and done everything you have asked of me.

"What, since that meeting, have I done that's led to terminate me? Then he said, again, that he wasn't required to tell me."

In a letter sent to a few media outlets Saturday night, Earleywine said he was "blindsided" by this news. He also felt something else --- anger.

"What do you mean you're not required to tell me? Who cares, tell me," Earleywine said. "Be a man, reach down and grab yourself, and talk to me like a grown man about how I messed up.

"My assistant coaches and I have talked about this at length the last couple of days. We couldn't come up with one thing."

Earleywine said he seldom had contact with Sterk, "So it's weird that he acted like he needed to fire me, because he was never around, never came to practice."

Instead, it was Brown who was a frequent visitor of Earleywine's and the program.

"He was constantly telling us what a great job we were doing and singing our praises," Earleywine said. "He told us he was very confident in us and the future of the program moving forward.

"He never corrected me or pulled me back in line for anything, and yet I get fired? It's unbelievable."

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EARLEYWINE HAS AN OLD-SCHOOL PERSONALITY and he's been a winner all his life, from his time playing baseball for the Jays to his days coaching softball at Mizzou.

Well, at least he's considered old-school by today's standards.

"Back 30 or so years ago when I was growing up," he said, "I would be considered a wuss today."

He's been known to yell at his players, at times --- "To make them better." --- and he's been kicked out of a few games for arguing calls.

"I think coaches like me are about to be extinct," he said. "I think it scares them (school administrators) to have people like us, because kids complain, parents get involved, and then administrators have to deal with that. Over time, they've learned to insulate themselves from all those issues just by saying: 'Let's be positive, let's be encouraging all the time.'

"It's really confusing to me, more than anything. This is what you do, isn't it? It's almost like I'm alone, I look around and think: 'Why isn't everyone like this? It's how I was raised.'"

The biggest upheaval came during the 2016 season. Is this decision the result of that?

"I think there's definitely some residuals from that, that are part of this decision," Earleywine said. "But I don't know to what degree.

"There were two or three girls (Earleywine asked their names not be revealed) on the team who were complaining about me being too tough on them and their parents got involved, and they went straight to the administration. From there, it was just a big ugly mess."

The 20 other Tiger players vehemently disagreed with those teammates, causing a serious rift within the team.

"They got together and said, 'Wait a minute, they don't represent how we feel,'" Earleywine recalled. "'We came here to play for Coach E because we knew he would try to get the most out of us, push us, and we want that.

"It's as simple as my voice being raised and shouting out commands to them. I don't know, I just think it doesn't take much to hurt kids' feelings now days. They're very, very sensitive, they've never had anybody raise their voice or be demanding toward them. They've always gotten their way.

"I'm not letting go of who I am ... I am who I am. When they're playing for me, it can be tough on them. But when they graduate, years later they always come back and say, 'Thank you so much, I get it now.'"

Earleywine expects more out of himself, after all, than he does his players.

"By Mizzou standards, we've had unparalleled success," he said. "But by my standards, I really haven't been that happy with what we've done. I feel like we should have won two or three national championships, already. That's just the way my mind works."

The outpouring of good-will has been overwhelming.

"I've had tremendous support and I'm thankful for that," said Earleywine, who says it's '"too early" to think about his future. "My phone has absolutely been blowing up from people supporting me, from all over the country. All of that has tempered some of the pain that's been shot through me by the University."

The thoughts from his players, past and present, have touched him the most.

"That's the most emotional I've gotten about all of this," he said. "It's all been positive, no negative texts. Not one.

"They tell me I'm like a dad to them ...  That my voice will always be in their subconscious and playing over and over in their minds, some of the lessons I've taught them about life."

What will Earleywine miss the most? His answer is as good as it gets.

"Winning," he said without hesitation. "That is my favorite part of coaching, competing and winning. That's the high, that's the drug, that you keep going back for."

What about the relationships he's formed?

"Certainly --- friendships with players, coaching friends, a lifetime of memories with amazing human beings, people who work hard and stand for all the right things," he said. "But winning is the thing I'm going to miss the most.

"I won't miss those relationships," he concluded, "because I will always have them."

Loeffler's Link

In a move that defies logic and reason, Athletic Director Jim Sterki fired Missouri head softball coach Ehren Earleywine on Friday.