Girls basketball coaches asked to resign

Coaches, players and parents came to the defense of Whitefish High School girls basketball coach Sean Duff at Tuesday’s school board meeting as he and his staff battled to keep their jobs.

Duff and assistant girls basketball coach Megan Pepe were recently asked by high school principal Kerry Drown to resign from their coaching posts. Duff asked the school board to reconsider the decision.

“I was told to save face and resign, and that this would be best for everyone,” Duff told the school board. “Yes, that is true, except for the players and me. I’m always going to fight for what is right, and this is right.”

The girls basketball team has won eight games total in the four seasons Duff has been head coach. They finished the 2013 season 1-19 overall and 1-7 in the conference.

He said that while the team continues to struggle, the coaches and players have been working hard to return the program to a winning tradition. Duff said when he was first hired, he was told it would take years to turn the program around.

“We’re finally turning the corner,” he said.

“I continue to believe in our program and I know the girls believe in our program, and the girls in themselves and in me as well. It seems to me it’s the administration that doesn’t believe.”

Public comment was taken for more than an hour from the standing-room-only crowd. A handful of current girls basketball players came to the defense of their coaches.

“No one is as committed like coach Duff and coach Pepe,” sophomore Jess Baldonado said. “They put their heart and soul into this program. You won’t find anyone who cares as much as they do.”

The standout soccer player said it’s tough to transition from a winning soccer team to a struggling basketball program.

“But I wouldn’t trade it,” she said. “I care about these coaches so much because I know they care a lot about me. The coaches are the reason we keep coming back.”

Pepe has been involved with basketball as either a player or coach for 30 years. She said being a coach takes heart, soul and a “level of commitment that is unparalleled.”

“I’ve never played for or worked with anyone who has the level of commitment Sean has,” she said.

Former boys basketball coach Julio Delgado said judging a coach solely on wins and losses is unfair.

“Let’s get real,” Delgado said. “Wrestling hasn’t won for decades. Softball hasn’t won anything. Football isn’t what it used to be. [Boys] basketball had as good of talent as I’ve seen in years, and they didn’t win a divisional title. Those coaches aren’t getting fired.”

“Something is wrong here and maybe I’m not privy to some of the information, but obviously things are not being handled fairly.”

Delgado went on to say the fundamentals of basketball aren’t being taught at the youth level like they once were, which shouldn’t be a reflection on the high school coach.

“You could have brought in John Wooden, Bobby Knight and Rick Pitino and they would not have done any better than what Sean Duff has done.”

He said in the heyday of Whitefish basketball the Little Dribblers program instilled the basics.

“Those kids knew how to pass, dribble and shoot,” he said. “Those kids had the basics they needed.”

“You can’t wait until they are freshmen in high school to teach them basketball. [Duff] is not a magician.”

Delgado went on to say there is a “specialization problem” with Whitefish sports and pointed the finger at the soccer program. His numbers cited that of 19 players on the boys state championship soccer team, five play other sports. Of the 21 girls soccer players, four play other sports.

“In boys basketball, out of 18 you had 18 play other sports,” he said. “When are we going to have the guts to say, ‘This is wrong.’ Our philosophy is supposed to encourage multi-sport athletes.”

“We allow an organization to hog all of the kids that they can get, and we give them school facilities to do it. Those coaches should be evaluated and held accountable if they’re not gong to follow our philosophy.”

Other current players on the girls basketball team defended Duff, saying the losses aren’t necessarily a byproduct of coaching techniques.

Micah McFeely said coaches can’t drag players to open gym.

“It’s time for [the players] to put in the effort,” she said.

Senior Ashlee Brewer added that the coaches go above and beyond what is expected.

“They put so much time into this,” she said. “You can’t blame everything on the coaches. It’s us. We need to start playing basketball in the off-season.”

Junior Varsity volleyball coach Courtney Ferda said a coach’s time put into a program should be valued more than anything.

“That’s what it’s going to take to get us back to where we need to be,” she said. “We are never going to be like we used to be — but we can be better and different.”

School board trustees didn’t make any comments or decisions about whether to renew the coaching contracts.

“Your concerns are taken seriously and will be looked at by the board,” chairwoman Pat Jarvi said.