Eastern Baseball Coach Bill Holowaty Retires - Hartford Courant
http://articles.courant.com/2013-04-26/sports/hc-bill-holowaty-retires-0427-20130426_1_holowaty-president-elsa-nunez-eastern-connecticut
Bill Holowaty woke Friday morning to his wife, Jan, in tears. This was difficult, a moment spent recognizing that a life built around baseball, all his family had ever known, was coming to an end.
"My wife said, 'You always say to players, and you preach, life after baseball," Holowaty said. "I've had a fantastic run and I'll have a life after baseball. I don't know what it will be, but it will be positive and it will help people. I'm proud of what we've done."
Holowaty's 45-year run as coach at Eastern Connecticut, a journey of extraordinary success and increasingly divisive controversy, is over. Amid allegations of abuse, and despite a swelling show of support from many former players, Holowaty resigned Friday, four days after his latest suspension began. The official announcement came from ECSU at 6 p.m. Holowaty earlier met with lawyers, signed paperwork at the university and called an impromptu team meeting at Eastern Stadium to inform players.
One of the most successful coaches in NCAA Division III history, Holowaty retires with a 1,404-525-7 career record, counting the one victory and two losses that occurred this week under assistant coach Michael Grant. Holowaty led Eastern to four national championships and was national coach of the year four times. He retires with more victories than any active Division III coach, and the most victories of any coach — in any sport — in New England intercollegiate history.
Under increasing scrutiny by the athletic department and university President Elsa Nunez, Holowaty called the situation surrounding him at Eastern "evil and sinful." He admits he was not perfect but says his behavior did not cross the line. He said, adamantly, that he has never been an abusive coach and that if his behavior "is going to be judged to be abusive, I'm in the wrong [situation]."
"It's tough to be a leader," Holowaty said. "It's tough to do it for 45 years and be perfect. I've made many mistakes but everything I've done has been in the best interest of kids and making them better. There has never been a moment where I would do something to hurt and kid. Never. Never, ever, ever."
Holowaty, 68, was suspended with pay Monday, when it was announced the university had "substantiated and affirmed through eyewitnesses and supporting documentation" charges that included a failure to comply with directives from his supervisor in a timely manner, failure to follow financial procedures as articulated in the department manual, failure to comply with an agreement that dealt with proper documentation of department funds, and throwing a helmet into the bleachers during a 6-1 loss to Suffolk March 25 at Eastern Stadium in Mansfield.
Holowaty, also a physical education professor at Eastern, was banned from campus and contact with anyone officially affiliated with the university. He was eligible to return to his job May 13 if cleared of wrongdoing during an ongoing ECSU investigation into what Nunez considered the most serious charge – public cursing and abusive language.
The suspension letter stated that "an undisclosed number of parents and students have come forward to articulate a pattern of alleged abuses over a series of incidents, the breadth of which can't be investigated without a committed and substantial effort on the part of the administration."
Nunez said Tuesday, "If he did something wrong, he should be terminated. If not, we owe him an apology."
That is now moot. Holowaty, a basketball player at UConn before graduating in 1967, was influential in the lives of countless players, many embracing his notorious, fiery demeanor. Still, he has critics, too, and in 13,500-plus innings there were several incidents that led to disciplinary action.
"I think how it's been handled is sinful and evil but it's the modern system we're in," Holowaty said. "In time, the whole stuff will come out. … I've been lucky, fortunate, had a great run. I haven't worked in 45 years. This year certainly hasn't been a fun year in many different ways but I've been very lucky. We developed a hell of a situation. I'm a darn good person. I'm not an evil person. I don't think about things to screw people up. It's tough to be a leader and I have principles and I challenge kids."
Holowaty, 68, was paid a salary of $110,764 in 2011, according to the Yankee Institute's online database of state employees at ctsunlight.org. Details of his retirement package could not be obtained Friday.
"It's really sad to see a guy who has done a lot of good – obviously, he wasn't perfect, but his heart was always in the right place – be dragged through the mud after building the program to national prominence," said Grant, a first-year assistant coach who was appointed to take over on Monday. "My thoughts right now are with Coach."