Diamond Decisions
Missouri's spring diamond sports are both done for the season and now major decisions loom. Missouri baseball bowed out of the SEC Tournament with an opening round loss to Vanderbilt, finishing a disappointing season under .500. The Tiger softball team blew a 4-1 7th inning lead to Michigan in Game Two of the Super Regionals and ended 42-16 on the year, two wins shy of the Women's College World Series. Both now wait to find out if their coaches will return for 2017.
For Tim Jamieson, it is a second straight year of waiting and wondering. Last season, Mizzou faded down the stretch to finish 30-28. In the final year of his contract, speculation raged about Jamieson's future. Director of Athletics Mack Rhoades, in his first major move after starting the job in April of 2015, inked the coach to a new three-year contract in early June.
But the Tigers struggled to repeat last year's blip of success, finishing 26-and-30 on the year, including sweeps against the top tier teams in the SEC throughout the season. The Tigers have no postseason for the fourth straight year and the sixth time in seven.
Immediately following the Tigers' loss to Vanderbilt, a report surfaced that Jamieson would retire and take a job in the Athletic Department at Missouri. Department officials immediately refuted that report to PowerMizzou.com and multiple other media outlets. Officials said that Rhoades and Jamieson would meet to review the season in the near future.
No official word has come out about Jamieson's future, but it remains in doubt at least until that meeting occurs.
For Ehren Earleywine, the questions of his future have nothing to do with success on the field. He is, by winning percentage, the most successful coach in any sport in the history of the school. But off-field questions have followed him for weeks as Missouri came down the stretch in 2016.
Prior to the Tigers' game against South Carolina on May 7th, a player handed a release to members of the media in attendance stating that the team was playing that day in protest of Rhoades and a department investigation into the coach. Eleven days later, Earleywine released a statement calling for the players to stand down and let the investigation run its course.
The internal review stemmed from complaints lodged to the department about Earleywine's behavior and treatment of players. No details have been publicly given about the incidents that led to the investigation, but Earleywine himself has admitted there are "some things I need to improve." He told media last week he has been meeting with a psychologist on campus since the investigation started in efforts to improve the way he deals with players.
Rhoades told the Kansas City Star last week that the investigation now lies in the hands of Mizzou's Title IX office.
“Right now, the piece of the investigation is out of our hands, and we can’t provide a timeline,” Rhoades told The Star on Monday. “Like everybody, we’re hoping sooner rather than later.
“We understand that it’s hard for everybody. It’s hard for, first and foremost, our student-athletes, it’s hard for Coach Earleywine, our assistant coaches, the athletic department, our fans, the public — but it is ongoing.”
Following Sunday's loss to the Wolverines, there is no more clarity.
So Mizzou's two major spring sports are at a crossroads. There is no certainty whether either coach will be back, nor a timeline on either decision. Toppmeyer tweeted on Saturday that Rhoades was in attendance at the Super Regionals, but declined to comment on the investigation or Earleywine's situation.
PowerMizzou.com will continue to follow both situations and pass on any details that may emerge.
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