By
Sean Joyce
Arizona Summer Wildcat
The brass had no class
With the hiring of Andy Lopez on Monday, the Wildcat baseball program seems poised for a fresh start.
But before moving on, the university has to take care of some unfinished business.
While UA athletic director Jim Livengood and Lopez were all smiles for the media during their press conference, there remained one man who doesn't know what the changing of the guard will mean for him.
Former head coach Jerry Stitt, who spent 27 years in the program as a player and a coach, was forced to resign from his post - two years before he was eligible for his pension from the university - so the UA could get Lopez, who Livengood has sought out for at least the last six years.
And as of last week, Stitt was still unemployed. A 54-year-old coach who has devoted half of his life to UA was left out in the cold for a younger, more charismatic coach.
Stitt hoped that the athletic department would ensure that he would get a job with UA athletics somehow - and it couldn't be that hard for Livengood to find something for him to do. Stitt has a doctorate in educational administration from UA. Clearly, by taking care of Stitt and his future, Livengood could have avoided the inevitable public flap over a controversial move.
But until Monday, there was still no word on what Livengood had in mind - if anything - for the former coach.
This brought scores of criticism from both the media and boosters, who couldn't understand the seemingly callous behavior of Livengood - often thought of as one of the "nice guys" in the business. Thankfully - for Stitt - the pressure was apparently enough to garner a reaction from the athletic director.
Livengood has stated that should Stitt not be taken on by Lopez as an assistant coach, he will have a position in the athletic department for the next two years.
"Jerry's going to end up where he can put his talents to work," Livengood said. "He's not going to be counting paper clips in an office somewhere."
The question remains - should Stitt take solace in this promise? The former coach has said that Livengood had given him a verbal commitment at the end of the season that his job would be safe. Whether that's the case or not, I wouldn't blame Stitt for being a little skeptical at this point.
The university botched this entire thing from the beginning. Stitt was fired at a very inconvenient time, two months after the season ended and in the middle of the summer. The timing made it nearly impossible for Stitt to find another job in baseball, as most programs are in the midst of preparing for the season, not looking for new coaches.
The athletic department showed little class in firing an employee two years away from pension, and offering him only three-month severance pay, as per university policy for employees fired after April 1. Now it appears that they're going to take care of Stitt in an effort to stop the flood of calls that the athletic department has received from angry boosters who have loyalty to Stitt, and threatened or demanded that their donations for this season be refunded.
Undoubtedly, Livengood and the rest of the athletic department are hoping that the Stitt flap will subside once the boosters realize that he'll have a job and that Lopez is truly the right man for the job. Lopez is as good of a baseball mind, and also is willing to do the things that Stitt was never fond of - namely public relations.
If everything were to turn out for the best, Stitt would be kept on as the hitting coach, and the athletic department could act like he was never fired. It remains to be seen whether that will be the case, but one thing is for sure - Livengood will do his best to make sure that the first year of Lopez's tenure isn't mired in controversy over a former coach.
