Ricky Benitez, the head basketball coach at Ave Maria University, was fired for using profanities during a scrimmage:
Benitez said his understanding was a player's parent complained about his profanity to Ave Maria founder and chancellor Tom Monaghan. Benitez asked for more details about the complaint, but wasn't given any. He was asked to resign but he refused.
"I was floored," Benitez said outside of a team meeting he held with his former players at Ave Maria on Tuesday night. "I'm still floored. I'm still shocked."
Ave Maria is a Roman Catholic university in southwestern Florida. It was founded in 2003 by the guy who founded Domino's Pizza.
This has set off a firestorm at the University for several reasons. One, none of the players admitted to being offended by Benitez' foul language. The players' parents are also outraged by how Benitez was treated during this. Well, one parent wasn't so outraged, I guess. Also, the athletic department told the players that if they mentioned any of this to the media they'd have their scholarships revoked.
Don't feel too bad for Benitez. On his way out the door, he got off this blast:
"This is one of the main reasons Catholic people have a bad reputation," Benitez said. "They don't abide by the rules in the bible."
Sports
This isn't the first time that this small school has had issues with a firing. The Domino's Pizza guy (Tom Monaghan) canned the provost of the university, citing "irreconcilable differences over administrative policies and practices." That set off a firestorm which led to the provost getting reinstated and reassigned with the school.
The school also drew some heat earlier this year for leaking students' federally protected information.
