The University of Missouri has promoted interim head coach Andrew Grevers to the permanent head coaching position, ‘reassigning’ suspended coach Greg Rhodenbaugh from his position.
Rhodenbaugh was placed on paid administrative leave last fall as the school investigated what it called “team management allegations.” The school wouldn’t and hasn’t given any further details on Rhodenbaugh’s situation, and our Sunshine Law request for disciplinary or investigative records was denied. But The Kansas City Star reported last fall that Rhodenbaugh was under investigation by the school’s Title IX office after “multiple current or former members of the women’s swim team came forward with issues about Rhodenbaugh’s management of female athletes.”
The school named Grevers, then an associate head coach, to the role of interim head coach, and he led the men’s and women’s programs through the remainder of the 2018-2019 season. The school announced Grevers as its permanent head coach in a press release today. The release made brief mention of Rhodenbaugh, saying he had been suspended last October, and that “In accordance with the terms of his contract, he has been reassigned from his coaching position.” That reassignment appears to be a removal from the program, as Rhodenbaugh is no longer listed on the team’s roster.
Missouri didn’t seem to miss a beat in the pool with Grevers in charge, as the men’s team came up with their highest SEC finish in history: 2nd overall behind champion Florida. The women finished 7th as a team. On the men’s side, Mikel Schreuders won the first SEC event title in program history. The women ultimately placed 22nd at NCAAs and the men 11th.
His base salary will be $170,000, which is more than the $140,000 that the Columbia Tribute reports that Rhodenbaugh made in 2017-2018. Grevers will also receive a car as part of the deal. If either the men’s or women’s team finishes in the top 25, he receives a 5% raise, presuming the team had a multi-year APR of at least 930.
Grevers has coached at Missouri since 2010, and Missouri calls him the program’s “lead sprint coach.” He was only recently promoted to associate head coach – during the 2017-2018 season. He’s the older brother of Olympian (and still-active professional swimmer) Matt Grevers, and has also coached at Northwestern University (in a volunteer capacity) and the Wildcat Aquatics club in Evanston, Illinois.
Two thoughts:
1. Greg is a fantastic human – husband, father, coach, etc. etc. etc. That this happened to him, of all people, is sad. Swimming needs more Greg Rhodenbaughs, not fewer.
2. Where was the Missouri Sports Med staff in all of this? The majority of coaches are not licensed counselors or cognitive/psych therapists – nor should parents/student-athletes expect them to be. Mental health challenges are real, of course – but we shouldn’t look to coaches to solve them.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Two thoughts
1) you act like Rody actually talked to and worked with support staff (news flash, he didn’t care at all what they had to say) but sports med staff were ALWAYS there supporting the athletes but when the coach sends the message mental health is not important they can only do so much
2) if rody actually even cared or actually believed mental health was an issue/ something to care about things would be a little different
Maybe three thoughts
3) swimming needs less Greg Rhodenbaugh
IMHO the head coach sets the tone. If he sends the message that mental health struggles can be treated with something other than medical health professionals, what is support staff to do? Also, this is a Title IX issue, leading you to believe that women were treated differently than men under similar circumstances. The conversation is going to focus on this until there is some closure, but Andrew’s appointment to head coach is an indication that circumstances surrounding Rhodenbaugh’s treatment of members of the women’s team was not appropriate under the circumstances.
To bad an article about Andy has turned into this. As a former Tiger parent, I did not like Rowdy’s antics and how my swimmer was treated, but this shouldn’t be about him and should be about Andy and his achievement. Mizzou is in great hands moving forward, congrats to Andy, he is a great coach and a better person.
Andy Fan/Former Tiger Dad – please adhere to SwimSwam commenting rules by only using one username within a given commenting thread. Thanks.
I read three things I agree with
1 witch hunt…. What else do you call the piling on of former swimmers and those who thought it was ok to throw Sasha back into what had already been investigated. If your case was strong you didn’t need it and …How dare any of them think using Sashas story in that way was appropriate
2 dumpster fire….Rhody IS the reason Missouri has an NCAA caliber team. The assistants HE hired /brought with him were excellent as well
3 Andy will be a Great head coach
Spot on.
Which hunt? You have no idea why this investigation opened. You have no idea what the CURRENT female athletes have put up with. No one has brought up Sashas name.
The University would not have named Andrew head coach if they haven’t felt the need to. Rody may have built up the program but is constant refusal to work with anyone that has a different opinion than him created hindered the team. Why do you think the diving coach left? One quick look at Jamie’s facebook and you can see how much Rody didn’t work with the dive coach. One quick conversation with any support staff, past or present, they will tell you Rody never wanted to work with… Read more »
I think it is absolutely unnecessary to bring Lisa into the discussion. As a current parent ,I am extremely grateful for the support and care she has shown my daughter . She goes above and beyond to make everyone welcome to the team and hasn’t faltered in that, even going through what must have been a very tough year.
Different anonymous than the two above me, but would just like to say…
If Lisa did not want to be brought into the matter, she wouldn’t constantly be texting parents about how unfair the situation is. You reap what you sew.
Just saying.
You can use a different username and still be “anonymous.” Maybe try “anonymoustwo” or “Swimanonymous” or really anything – that would probably make it easier to keep the conversation straight.
Our swimmers experience was not remotely similar to your description. She found in her coaches tremendous support and success during her career at Missouri.
I do not know Mrs Rhodenbaugh. My thoughts are my own.
Congratulations Andy! Couldn’t have hired a nicer guy. A class act just like the whole family.
You had the best coach you’ve ever had, had more success than ever. Now you can go back to being the dumpster fire you were previously. Who would want to work under that administration?
If you knew half of what he has been accused of you wouldn’t be so supportive. The reason this investigation is taking so long is because of the number of complaints. This is not a witch hunt by one girl, but numerous different situations. The reason he has been assigned as an “administrative consultant” is probably because they have to pay him until the investigation is completed, plus his contract was up, so they simply did not renew it but had to pay him until they complete their investigation and give him time to review the findings. The program was also successful because of the supporti staff of coaches of which two of them are now head coaches, so probably… Read more »
I don’t know what he is accused of but I do know Greg is a class act. My question to you if the accusations are bad and from so many people, why did they give Greg a new contract in the athletic department with a raise?
Super fan, they have to uphold Greg’s contract. Since the investigation is not over, they don’t technically have grounds for firing him, so they moved him to a new position-same salary. We will see what happens when the title IX investigation finishes. Also, someone who is a class act to you may be completely different to others. Please don’t undermine the athletes who came forward based on your own personal experiences with Greg. People can be completely different depending on who they’re dealing with/ the power structure of a relationship. Thanks.
I’m not sure where you got the idea that he was given a new contract. His contract, which you can access on the Mizzou athletics website, shows he signed a contract in 2017 that runs through April 2022. The contract also lists his base salary as $170k, and in the event that he was reassigned from his coaching position, his compensation would be his base salary until the expiration of the contract. https://mutigers.com/documents/2018/4/12//contract_rhodenbaugh.pdf?id=14705
He did not get a new contract with a raise. His contract ended at the end of this year and it was not renewed, thus why Andy is the new head coach. He was “reassigned” as an “administrative consultant” until the investigation is completed. Which means he has to be paid until the investigation is over per the terms of his contract when the investigation began and probably by NCAA rules for any ongoing Title IX investigation. I heard that the actual investigation is over and he and his attorneys are reviewing the findings and have until about mid June to respond. The reassignment is a temporary on paper position until the investigation is completed.
This is no place for ‘I’ve heard’ speculation.
Let let the investigation come to its full completion, with a response from Greg’s side, then you can pick the bones.
🙄🙄🙄 Grevers will be amazing in this new role and will keep the program far from being a “dumpster fire”. Keep your pointless negativity to yourself.
It is possible to be a good person with good intentions and be a good coach, but also make egregious mistakes. You could believe you were doing the right thing based on your personal beliefs, but it could be really, really wrong in an environment outside of your personal belief bubble. Just sayin’…
Where Mizzou is going: places
Think you got the salary mixed up with Rhodenbaugh’s new position.
“Rhodenbaugh, the men’s and women’s teams head coach since 2010, has not been fired but “reassigned from his coaching position,” the school announced Friday. He remains employed by Mizzou as a senior administrative consultant in the athletic department, a school spokesman said Friday. He’s under contract through April 2022 with a base salary of $170,000. ”
https://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/mizzou/mizzou-makes-coaching-change-for-swimming-programs/article_324d59fe-c896-5a01-922b-ed7c5fde05d6.html?fbclid=IwAR1BDOSHgzi-OHA_nifpMwsZsanKv_Opzuw0TzDb-RL4E16Wkp-e2f4lvSI
Here is Grevers’ MOU: https://swimswam.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Grevers-MOU.pdf
$170,000.
Wow, are those termination payments (both prior to signing the definitive employment agreement and after) typical of college coaching?
Wow 170,000 and a car, are most head coaches compensated like that? Higher than I expected.
Compensation for swimming is getting better. I’m surprised they gave him a raise over Rhodenbaugh. I would guess that has something to do with the number of open positions this year and the desire to keep him. He might have been short listed somewhere else. But I’m not surprised about the car. Almost all coaches get a car lease since at least the 1990s. Usually there are several car dealerships in college towns fighting to be the “official car dealership of University X.” Great for marketing.
Kudos to swimswim for filling the FOI request. Keep digging.
SEC $
Mizzou revenue share from the SEC last year was over $40,000,000.00. Yet the swimming budget was cut the last two years and they had no travel funds other than SEC’s & NCAA’s. Overall the Missouri sports facilities are just average to the other member schools.