Citing alleged safety concerns within the University of Hartford’s men’s basketball team, head coach John Gallagher informed university president Greg Woodward Monday that he was resigning effective immediately.
Gallagher’s resignation came one day before the team’s first game of the season.
In his strongly-worded, two-page letter to Woodward, Gallagher wrote that coaching the team had become untenable.
“As I have communicated on numerous occasions, both directly and through my counsel, the University of Hartford has not only breached the material terms of my contract but has consistently and repeatedly undermined the men’s basketball program to the point where player safety and well-being have been jeopardized,” Gallagher wrote….. “I have repeatedly communicated my concerns regarding player safety, initially in February of this year in a whistleblower complaint and several times thereafter.”
Gallagher, 45, also alleged in his letter that he was told the university wouldn’t be providing a trainer to travel with the team to a pre-season game at Dartmouth College.
“As the director of athletics knows full well, and as any coach can attest, trainers are critical for injury prevention and, when injuries do occur, they provide immediate on-site treatment that serves to mitigate and lessen the extent and duration of the injury,” Gallagher wrote. “As I feared, one of our players was injured during the game – an injury that might not have occurred in the first place with trainer preparation.”
The resignation comes one year after the university announced it would be downgrading its sports programs from Division 1 to Division 3 in a cost-cutting move. Soon after, several current and former students filed a lawsuit in an effort to block the downgrade.
In a statement, the University of Hartford said Gallagher’s letter was “full of inaccuracies” and hinted that the matter might have to be sorted out in the courts.
“We are confident that these baseless claims and attacks will be disproved through the legal process,” the university said in a statement. “We wish Mr. Gallagher well and look forward to announcing interim leadership for our men’s basketball program.”
The university also said in its statement that student safety “is our top priority.”
“The university confirmed Dartmouth College would have an athletic trainer on site for our recent scrimmage, who could assist both UHart and Dartmouth student-athletes,” the university said. “This is an institution with highly qualified medical staff and facilities. Additionally, other members of our staff have always had a university-sponsored credit card for planner meals and expenses.”
