"The truth about Colorado School of Mines is the following (and I apologize for the run-on sentences):

My talented Asst. Coach Rothman and I, along with a good handful of others with vested interests, including Williamson, Hale, Forbes, and many others, worked with progressively lower operational and scholarship budgets (last season ending June 2010 will easily be the lowest operational spending and scholarship spending in the team's history, along with two of the highest grossing fundraising seasons ever, thanks to a solid swim/dive-a-thon last season, and two highly successful BlasterBlast Triathlon fundraisers, and many thanks to our not-to-be-named here supporters and a fast, well-run RMAC Championships) to return Mines to the top 25 in the U.S. for both Men and Women. In those two years, we had a significantly HIGHER level of competition than EVER at Mines (WVU, Washington, Oregon State, Denver, Arizona, Incarnate Word, GCU, Northern Arizona, MSU-Moorhead, Air Force, CSU, Mesa State), a training trip, won several championship meets, and not only brought in some new recruits (the easy way to score at NCAA's), but developed our returning student-athletes (that had previously not reached NCAA cuts) to heights unimagined. I can't count the number of CSCAA Scholar All-Americans we raked in, and while our Women's team finished 4th in the NCAA Div II for Fall 2009, the jury is still out for the men, who might have won a Team Scholar All-American title for the Spring 2010. The most important accomplishment I am proud to have been part of is a complete 180-degree change in the spirit of the team, where all members were accountable to each other (Athletes to Athletes, Coaches to Athletes, and Athletes to Coaches). To prevent my Asst Coach from pursuing a coaching position elsewhere (since he just attained his college degree in Dec'09), and after being told that I would not be retained as Head Coach for the 2010-11 season (personality conflicts with AD's, although no official reason was ever given), I did some homework and after confirming that it was possible, officially proposed to the Athletic Director that Nate and I switch positions... that I return to the position that I was originally hired to do (Assistant Coach primarily focussed on coaching the divers), and that Nate move into the Head Coaching position. I knew that after three seasons coaching the Mines' divers, and qualifying 5 divers to Nationals (2 of those divers had NO previous diving experience), I was in the wrong position as Head SWIMMING Coach, and that switching was best for everyone involved.

After officially proposing the position switch to the A.D., he told me he was intrigued by my proposal and needed to verify some things before he gave me an answer. 6 days later, his answer was this: "Give me your keys, give me your badge, you are no longer associated with Colorado School of Mines." He then personally walked me to my office to retrieve my personal belongings; just a few days later, somehow all the A.D.'s (with the exception of one) suddenly had the time to come to the pool for AT LEAST a half day to help me move all of my dryland equipment out of their facility at their expense... wouldn't leave me alone with Nate, Dr. Hale, my lifeguards, any of the students in my 3 P.E. classes that I taught... I tell ya, we made every necessary positive change in that swimming and diving program in both the athletic and academic sense... all of us in the program should have been partying and excited about the future.

The light at the end of the tunnel is highlighted by two important things... after a costly national search, they did hire Nate (Phew!), and I am in a much better place as diving coach for a local diving club that had (for the past two seasons) been dormant due to my Head Coach position. Life is good..."