When women’s basketball coach Chris Kosiba resigned last Thursday, it was so unexpected that Athletic Director Chris Bledsoe had to hear it again.
“After he told me that he was resigning, I asked him what he was saying, and he repeated himself,” Bledsoe said in an e-mail.
The next morning, Kosiba’s name was gone from the NYU Athletics website, and his name tag was taken off his door. Several of his friends in the department said he literally disappeared, 48 hours before the first game of the season.
Instead of announcing Kosiba’s resignation, the department simply announced a new interim coach — Stefano Trompeo, a former assistant coach.
“When Mr. Kosiba resigned on Thursday, my response was basically: You resigned, out you go,” Bledsoe said. “We have to move forward.”
The team won its first game, but something nasty was still left behind from the Kosiba resignation. It is not just that Chris Kosiba quit. It is that he quit two days before the first game. It is that the Athletic Department made no announcement. And it is that when there is silence, people can’t help but whisper.
Was he fired?
Did the pressure get to him?
Was there a scandal?
When WSN contacted his players, they gave no answers. WSN has been unable to reach Kosiba. Without even the slightest clue of what happened, rumors and questions filled the gap. On several websites, including WSN’s, people posted comments speculating about the circumstances. No one had real evidence.
On Monday, I went to Coles Sports Center to see what people were talking about. I looked for someone to tell me what happened.
Near the locker room, two men talked about the situation.
“You hear about the women’s coach?” one man asked.
“Yeah, it’s weird. Something weird’s going on.”
“I hate to say it, but I think he was fired.”
A few people told me the situation was “fishy.” They all had their own theories, but no one knew for sure.
My last stop was the Athletic Department offices. I had a simple question: “What’s going on with Chris Kosiba?”
“We know nothing,” one employee said.
“Then who knows?”
“None of us know — really, we know what you know.”
“Do you know anything about this?”
“Just the rumors.”
It was the same conversation with several people. And as far as I could tell, it was genuine; many in the department were as clueless as I was.
Some speculated he quit because of internal politics. Others said it was the pressure: Not only was Kosiba replacing a legendary basketball coach in Janice Quinn, but he was also the men’s and women’s golf coach.
Rumors, rumors and more rumors.
Finally, I e-mailed Bledsoe, the man in charge. He said, “I just don’t have an answer for you on his motivations. You will have to speak to him about them.”
He added: “I am very disappointed with the way this has gone. Interim coach situations are not easy, but I didn’t expect this. I gave him a lot of responsibility. I thought he was ready for it. In hindsight, I gave him more than I should have.”
Of course, some people will have crazy conspiracy theories of why he quit. It is what happens when the person who replaces a coach who won 453 games quits two days before the season. People expect an explanation, even at a Division III program.
So why did Chris Kosiba resign? Kosiba holds that secret, however boring or spectacular it may be. And until he tells us, there will be nothing but silence — and those damn whispers.
Alvin Chang is a columnist and former editor-in-chief. E-mail him at achang@nyunews.com.
Washington Square News > News > Campus
Why did Kosiba quit?
Published: Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Updated: Tuesday, November 18, 2008
 "Photo: Illustration by Lucas Pattan")
Illustration by Lucas Pattan
16 comments
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Agree with 'knowledgeable'. The real story here is the mistreatment of both players and staff by Quinn. The fact that you're reporting on Kosiba-gossip is a testament to Quinn's ability to control information flow into and out of the NYU athletic department. She's a master manipulator that *takes in* strays and *takes care of* threats. Kosiba is a very capable coach, and a good man. Though I'm sure he wouldn't believe it now, he's better off getting out of there - bad press and speculation, or not. Good Luck, Chris. It is a fact that the smell here is coming from rotten administration. Bledsoe + Quinn = Dysfunction. You want to report the real story, start with Quinn. If you dare.
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I agree with Sad Supporter...Chris Kosiba is not a good guy...and from reliable resources I've been informed of his relations with former players.
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better be coaching a boys team
knowledgable
Kosiba is a good guy. He finally realized that no matter how well he did or hard he worked, this would never be his team, it would always be quin's. No one wants to work under someone who constantly second guess them, interrogates them to no end, and still does not give them any ounce of trust despite having worked dilligently under them the past several years. Quinn did not want to give up the team, she had to for health reasons, and because of this she still thinks of herself as the head coach, only lacking the title. She wanted to make Kosiba her little puppet and he simply had enough of it. Good for him. He is keeping quiet about this out of respect to Quinn. He will undoubtedly succeed wherever he chooses to go from here.
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It is totally the culture of the athletic department @ NYU that this non sense goes on. It is completely known and covered up by the AD and the Senior Assoc AD. Keep asking questions. The culture and the cycle have to stop. The University should be looking out for the best interest of the girls...which is not the culture. It's laughable that the resignation "was a total surprise" as Bledsoe said.
