Drury’s head swimming & diving coach Brian Reynolds is “stepping back” from his regular duties until the school develops a new anti-hazing policy, according to a report from local ABC affiliate KSPR33.
The move was announced this week after a Reynolds and Drury were implicated in widely-reported hazing allegations. Former Drury swimmer Evan Petrich posted on Facebook and talked to media earlier this month, claiming that he was a victim of hazing by upperclassmen on the team that left him with Conversion Disorder and PTSD that he says effectively ended his swimming career.
Petrich, who was a freshman at Drury in the fall of 2015, wrote this about the alleged hazing activities:
I do not know if I can ever forget the events and activities that I was forced to participate in. Having dodgeballs thrown at my exposed bottom, or being terrified in a cold, dark basement corner surrounded by my drunk classmates who had covered the floor with throw up and urine while punching holes in the wall and ceiling. All I had to protect me was the diaper and shoes that the upper classmen were gracious enough to allow us to keep on. This event is in past. The violent chest rub, the swallowing of a live goldfish while we wore hoods is all in the past. There is nothing that I can do about that horrific event that ended my swimming career.
Petrich also says he reported the hazing to Coach Reynolds, but the Reynolds didn’t address the situation.
The school announced Monday that Reynolds would be “stepping back from his day-to-day duties” until the school develops a new anti-hazing framework that could be used nationally. The Springfield News-Leader reports that Reynolds will help head up a “blue ribbon coalition” that will create a national model for combating hazing.
The KSPR report says there isn’t a time-table for when he’ll return to his regular coaching duties with the Drury swim & dive teams.
Stepping back? Until the university develops a new anti-hazing policy?? Is this for real?!? So, taking this at face value, Coach Reynolds is doing what now, walking the earth in deep reflection on his and the university’s poor judgement, or reading a good book (and might I recommend Crime and Punishment). If this is accurate, it comes off like he is showing up his department and university for all their poor judgements in handling of this situation, which I can’t imagine would go over well.
But this probably isn’t accurate, because what person that won’t admit they made a mistake would willingly step away? So if he was advised by the department or university to step away for however long,… Read more »
Not good enough in my opinion. Second offense in 8 years….the coach failed to do his job as an educator/mentor to promote a positive and healthy culture. This is a fireable offense won’t but the university won’t because “they are the protecting the coach”. Brian Reynolds will be on deck at the NCAA Championships in Birmingham, Alabama…mark my word.
oh i see, you are the HR and ethics specialist now. Get off your high horse sir!
A shame if this is the end of a great coaching career. If teams do not learn from this we will have more of these situations in the future. The line between team bonding and hazing is more and more blurred everyday.
There is no room for this childish and stupid crap. I can tell you what policy would be effective. While the coach has some responsibility, the real onus is, and should be, on the athletes. These are not children; they’re legal adults. So the policy is simple; any athlete caught hazing gets instant and permanent discharge from the school. So they would have to risk ruining their own lives in order to ruin someone else’s. And if the NCAA wants to man up and do something about this issue, they could tack on immediate forfeiture of any future eligibility. See if they think that is funny…
Good but not good enough. Reynolds should step up and take full responsibilities for his shortcomings as a coach, and even a human being.
Do you even know the man? How do you know his short comings? You hide behind social media only to be known as Jeremy.
SWIMFAN… I know the man and his family. The problem goes much deeper. He should not be heading any ‘anti-hazing’ initiative. Having bullies lead ‘anti-bullying’ programs is completely unacceptable!