University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football coach Lance Leipold met with students and administrators Thursday to discuss his controversial response earlier this week to an editorial published in the student newspaper that condemned the behavior of three student athletes.
When UW-Whitewater student Michael Daly published his editorial in The Royal Purple, UW-Whitewater’s student newspaper, he said he had no idea the response it would generate.
According to Daly, he had been working out at the weight room on campus one evening when three UW-Whitewater athletes, who are not allowed to work out without a fitness coach, came into the room. At first, they all refused to show their student IDs, resulting in the involvement of campus employees and eventually the police.
Daly said he felt this was another instance of privileged athletes trying to take advantage of university facilities due to their status as student athletes and decided to write the article.
“My original plan was to do a news article, but when the athletes wouldn’t talk, I had to turn it into a column,” Daly said. “I didn’t use names. I only used an example. I guess someone showed Leipold the column, and that’s what set him off.”
Leipold contacted the paper soon after.
“He first called the sports editor — I don’t know why, he had nothing to do with it — and he demanded a meeting with me, the sports editor and our adviser. He was upset and using profane language. Then he called again when our sports editor was in a night class, and he was just livid,” Daly said.
Leipold threatened to ban press coverage of the football team, saying The Royal Purple would no longer be allowed to attend games or interview him or the players, Daly added.
Paul Plinske, the athletic director at UW-Whitewater, does not agree with Leipold’s behavior but thinks that Leipold’s actions were out of defense for his team.
“I think his behavior was completely unacceptable,” Plinske said. “However, Lance (Leipold) is an exceptional coach and he was particularly concerned about holding our athletes to a higher level of behavior. He just felt that The Royal Purple inaccurately depicted our student athletes.”
Daly was pleased, however, that Leipold is taking full responsibility for his statements.
“They are not denying that it happened; they admit it happened [and] the reason they’re upset is that he doesn’t think that it was accurately portrayed. He tried to say he did discipline [the athletes and] that it wasn’t public,” Plinske said.
At this point, the university has publicly reprimanded Leipold and will follow up with the personnel matter when he returns to campus, Plinske added.
According to Plinske, the situation was only a minor event that became something much more.
“We are extremely disappointed that this situation occurred, and we’re hopeful that this will bring us closer together and help us to have better success working with our students,” Plinske said.
Leipold declined to comment to The Badger Herald Thursday.
