Post by ideamark on Jan 7, 2007 23:00:11 GMT -5
From Dan McCool and the Des Moines Register...
www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070107/SPORTS020503/701070360/1003
Zalesky: I've lost respect for Gable
Ex-Iowa coach upset with way he was fired, singles out ex-AD Bowlsby and his special assistant Gable.
By DAN McCOOL
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
January 7, 2007
Oregon State coach Jim Zalesky is cool with being fired as wrestling coach at Iowa shortly after the 2005-06 season concluded with Iowa’s fourth-place finish at the NCAA Tournament.
He doesn’t appreciate the way his dismissal was handled.
“When you go in and the first words out of their mouths are, ‘We’re making a change’... no one ever said thanks for putting your time in, nobody ever said thank you for anything,” Zalesky said. “I don’t respect a place like that, so I really lost a lot of respect for the University of Iowa as an institution.”
Zalesky said he lost respect for former Iowa athletic director Bob Bowlsby and particularly his coach, Dan Gable, who is now an assistant to Tom Brands, who replaced Zalesky at the helm. Zalesky said Gable “lied through his teeth most of the time in the papers. I just don’t respect those guys.
“I’m big on respect. You treat how you want to be treated. If you’re going to fire me, at least do it in a class way instead of calling me in, not giving any warning,” Zalesky said. “I was on the road recruiting and working hard, all of a sudden ‘We’re going to make a change’ no thank you, no nothing.”
Gable, reached Saturday night at his home, said he could not recall making extensive public comment at the time of Zalesky’s dismissal. Gable was a special assistant to the athletic director when Zalesky was fired.
“I don’t think coach Zalesky and myself had been too close for a number of years,” Gable said.
Gable coached Zalesky to four all-America honors, three NCAA championships, a 132-7-1 career record and an 89-match winning streak between 1981 and 1984.
Zalesky was a longtime No. 1 assistant under Gable, served as interim coach when Gable took a season’s leave of absence after leading Iowa to the 1997 NCAA title, then was head coach for nine seasons.
He was 127-34 and led Iowa to three NCAA titles, but the Hawkeyes have not had either an NCAA or Big Ten champion since 2004. The Hawkeyes placed sixth at the Big Ten tournament last season — their lowest mark since placing eighth in 1967.
Zalesky brings Oregon State (7-0) to McLeod Center in Cedar Falls today for a double-dual with No. 17 Tennessee-Chattanooga (5-0) and Northern Iowa (0-3) that begins at noon. Oregon State meets Tennessee-Chattanooga in the opener, then Northern Iowa faces Chattanooga at 2 and Oregon State at 4.
Tennessee-Chattanooga is coached by Chris Bono, an NCAA champion and former assistant coach at Iowa State.
Oregon State beat No. 20 Nebraska 21-15 in Lincoln Friday night. The Beavers’ record is their best start since opening with 10 victories in the 1993-94 season.
Zalesky was hired April 14 to replace another former Iowa wrestler, Joe Wells, at the Corvallis, Ore., school. Wells was 161-94-3 in 14 seasons at Oregon State.
Troy Steiner, who was on Zalesky’s final coaching staff at Iowa, is assisting Zalesky at Oregon State
When he was fired, Zalesky had one season remaining on a three-year contract extension he received after leading Iowa to a runner-up finish at the 2004 NCAA Tournament. Zalesky said he should have been allowed to see the contract through.
Zalesky said firing is a fact of life in coaching.
“You’ve got to play the hand you’re dealt sometimes,” Zalesky said. “If I would dwell on (the fact) I got fired, I wouldn’t be practicing what I preach. Sometimes in life you’re going to go through adversity, not just in wrestling but in life. How you battle back and how you handle it is what you’re made of.”
Zalesky said he got rid of his Iowa coaching shirts after he was dismissed.
“I did the right thing and took them to Goodwill,” Zalesky said.
Donning Oregon State’s orange and black colors is not a stretch for Zalesky. He won two Class 3-A state championships for Cedar Rapids Prairie, another program with orange and black hues.
Colors have changed and location has changed, but Zalesky’s wrestling philosophy in Corvallis is similar to Iowa City: heavy on fundamentals and toughness.
“My big thing I’m pushing is that you fight hard for 7 minutes. If it takes more than 7 minutes, you fight harder for more than 7 minutes,” Zalesky said.
Zalesky expects McLeod Center to be as close as he’ll get to Carver-Hawkeye Arena anytime soon.
“I don’t think I’ll ever coach back there. I don’t have to wrestle Iowa to prove something to me,” Zalesky said. “If Iowa wants to come out to Oregon State someday, that’s fine. But otherwise we’ll see them down the road — nationals, National Duals — that type of thing.”
Reporter Dan McCool can be reached at (515) 284-8059 or dmccool@dmreg.com
www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070107/SPORTS020503/701070360/1003
Zalesky: I've lost respect for Gable
Ex-Iowa coach upset with way he was fired, singles out ex-AD Bowlsby and his special assistant Gable.
By DAN McCOOL
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
January 7, 2007
Oregon State coach Jim Zalesky is cool with being fired as wrestling coach at Iowa shortly after the 2005-06 season concluded with Iowa’s fourth-place finish at the NCAA Tournament.
He doesn’t appreciate the way his dismissal was handled.
“When you go in and the first words out of their mouths are, ‘We’re making a change’... no one ever said thanks for putting your time in, nobody ever said thank you for anything,” Zalesky said. “I don’t respect a place like that, so I really lost a lot of respect for the University of Iowa as an institution.”
Zalesky said he lost respect for former Iowa athletic director Bob Bowlsby and particularly his coach, Dan Gable, who is now an assistant to Tom Brands, who replaced Zalesky at the helm. Zalesky said Gable “lied through his teeth most of the time in the papers. I just don’t respect those guys.
“I’m big on respect. You treat how you want to be treated. If you’re going to fire me, at least do it in a class way instead of calling me in, not giving any warning,” Zalesky said. “I was on the road recruiting and working hard, all of a sudden ‘We’re going to make a change’ no thank you, no nothing.”
Gable, reached Saturday night at his home, said he could not recall making extensive public comment at the time of Zalesky’s dismissal. Gable was a special assistant to the athletic director when Zalesky was fired.
“I don’t think coach Zalesky and myself had been too close for a number of years,” Gable said.
Gable coached Zalesky to four all-America honors, three NCAA championships, a 132-7-1 career record and an 89-match winning streak between 1981 and 1984.
Zalesky was a longtime No. 1 assistant under Gable, served as interim coach when Gable took a season’s leave of absence after leading Iowa to the 1997 NCAA title, then was head coach for nine seasons.
He was 127-34 and led Iowa to three NCAA titles, but the Hawkeyes have not had either an NCAA or Big Ten champion since 2004. The Hawkeyes placed sixth at the Big Ten tournament last season — their lowest mark since placing eighth in 1967.
Zalesky brings Oregon State (7-0) to McLeod Center in Cedar Falls today for a double-dual with No. 17 Tennessee-Chattanooga (5-0) and Northern Iowa (0-3) that begins at noon. Oregon State meets Tennessee-Chattanooga in the opener, then Northern Iowa faces Chattanooga at 2 and Oregon State at 4.
Tennessee-Chattanooga is coached by Chris Bono, an NCAA champion and former assistant coach at Iowa State.
Oregon State beat No. 20 Nebraska 21-15 in Lincoln Friday night. The Beavers’ record is their best start since opening with 10 victories in the 1993-94 season.
Zalesky was hired April 14 to replace another former Iowa wrestler, Joe Wells, at the Corvallis, Ore., school. Wells was 161-94-3 in 14 seasons at Oregon State.
Troy Steiner, who was on Zalesky’s final coaching staff at Iowa, is assisting Zalesky at Oregon State
When he was fired, Zalesky had one season remaining on a three-year contract extension he received after leading Iowa to a runner-up finish at the 2004 NCAA Tournament. Zalesky said he should have been allowed to see the contract through.
Zalesky said firing is a fact of life in coaching.
“You’ve got to play the hand you’re dealt sometimes,” Zalesky said. “If I would dwell on (the fact) I got fired, I wouldn’t be practicing what I preach. Sometimes in life you’re going to go through adversity, not just in wrestling but in life. How you battle back and how you handle it is what you’re made of.”
Zalesky said he got rid of his Iowa coaching shirts after he was dismissed.
“I did the right thing and took them to Goodwill,” Zalesky said.
Donning Oregon State’s orange and black colors is not a stretch for Zalesky. He won two Class 3-A state championships for Cedar Rapids Prairie, another program with orange and black hues.
Colors have changed and location has changed, but Zalesky’s wrestling philosophy in Corvallis is similar to Iowa City: heavy on fundamentals and toughness.
“My big thing I’m pushing is that you fight hard for 7 minutes. If it takes more than 7 minutes, you fight harder for more than 7 minutes,” Zalesky said.
Zalesky expects McLeod Center to be as close as he’ll get to Carver-Hawkeye Arena anytime soon.
“I don’t think I’ll ever coach back there. I don’t have to wrestle Iowa to prove something to me,” Zalesky said. “If Iowa wants to come out to Oregon State someday, that’s fine. But otherwise we’ll see them down the road — nationals, National Duals — that type of thing.”
Reporter Dan McCool can be reached at (515) 284-8059 or dmccool@dmreg.com
