It's clear no coach in the athletic department has a safe tenure under the leadership of athletic director Tom Collins. The message doesn't appear to be about the number of games won. It's also not about the number of athletes coaches lead to high standards in the classroom.
With the firing of women's volleyball coach Randy Litchfield, Collins has sent an entirely different message.
Litchfield's 15 consecutive winning seasons didn't matter. The 50 times he guided an athlete to the Academic All-Mid-American Conference didn't matter.
Coaches beware.
Although Litchfield had a losing season with a team that probably underperformed, there were 15 winning seasons that preceded 2006. Those seasons made Ball State University a team that conference foes hated to play.
What mattered in Collins' decision wasn't disclosed because it was a personnel matter. Collins surely has a reason and hopefully other coaches in the athletic department know what that is. Without that understanding other coaches won't have the security they need to make decisions, the kind of security Collins gave football coach Brady Hoke a month ago.
If Ball State fires coaches for bad seasons, then the university will go through a lot of coaches. It was nowhere near time for Litchfield's clock to expire.
Litchfield was the epitome of a coach who had his team competing for a MAC Championship year after year. There were six MAC Tournament titles and seven NCAA appearances during his tenure.
With the firing, Ball State also loses something that makes - or used to make - this university unique. There was a time when the university employed people who carried deep pride in the institution.
Litchfield played volleyball here and when he returned as a coach he showed a fire only a true alum would understand. He was successful enough that he could have moved to a bigger school, but he chose to stay here.
A choice that apparently isn't rewarded, despite Litchfield's dedication and the mountainous achievements of his players.
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