A strange story arose from Toledo today: five-time MAC Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year Kevin Hadsell abruptly resigned from his position with the university. Per the release, Hadsell admitted to violating some university policy, but they did not get into what the violation was. They stressed that there was no NCAA violation.
To say the least, this is huge news for the conference. I wish I had more time to delve into the non-revenue sports on a regular basis, but one of the more impressive teams among all MAC programs has been Toledo women's cross country. They have won the MAC in the last three seasons and finished 28th at NCAAs this year. Hadsell's five MAC Coach of the Year honors and five MAC championships are both second most in conference history. Also of note: Hadsell hosted a weekly podcast/radio show centered around cross country on campus radio, as well as color commentary on UT women's basketball games. I am guessing that won't be happening anymore.
We may never know the reason behind the resignation. It's probably up to Hadsell to explain what happened, should he so choose. Bonus points go to him for owning up to some type of mistake and resigning, at least. If he wants to coach in the future, it may be in his best interest to come clean. Or maybe it's too embarrassing. Who knows — but the intrigue is there, even if it doesn't have the gravitas of a a revenue sport coach. Hadsell effectively sculpted an NCAA Division I program into a national contender, so I have to imagine more than a handful of people are curious as to what happened here.