Press release more surprising than Samuel's release

Southeast Missouri State athletic director Mark Alnutt issued a press release Tuesday afternoon that said he "plans to replace" football coach Tony Samuel, who just led the Redhawks to another abysmal 3-9 season.

As far as shocking moves go, this was the polar opposite. Samuel was 31-60 in eight seasons, he never settled on a quarterback this year, couldn't find a kicker reliable enough to kick extra points and inspired little hope for the future.

Alnutt made what most would conclude was the obvious decision. Of course, firing someone isn't a pleasant task and Alnutt seems like a nice guy. I'm sure there was no joy in the process. Several assistants almost certainly will be looking for work as well, so if Alnutt were to say that it was a difficult decision to make, even with the lack of success on the field, I'd probably believe him.

But Alnutt won't talk publicly about the decision. He won't talk to anyone -- or at least that's what he said in the press release he had a member of his staff write.

"There will be no further public comment on this matter until we welcome our next head coach at Southeast Missouri State University," Alnutt said, or at least was typed as saying, in the release.

We're not talking about protecting secrets or confidentially or the reputation of some 19-year-old athlete who violated "team rules" here.

We're talking about a school administrator who just made a very public decision to fire a high-profile coach. Most would call a press conference. Alnutt lets his staff tell us he won't be available for interviews.

When Samuel's predecessor Tim Billings resigned near the end of his contract in 2005, then athletic director Don Kaverman spoke openly to the Missourian about the challenges the program had overcome and still had to face, about how he had addressed the team and outlined the process that would be used to find a replacement.

As best I can tell, the members of the current football team found out about Samuel's firing on Twitter like most of the rest of us.

When Kaverman was placed on administrative leave in 2008, signaling the end of his time at Southeast, university President Dr. Kenneth W. Dobbins answered questions.

Press conferences were held when former men's basketball coach Gary Garner's contract was not renewed and when baseball coach Mark Hogan retired.

The university issued a much more understandable "no further comments" statement when it fired embattled basketball coach Scott Edgar, who was being investigated by the NCAA.

Maybe this doesn't seem all that important to some of you, but let me explain why it is.

Here's another line quoted as being from Alnutt in the press release: "I appreciate the long-standing dedication and support of the Redhawks community as we move forward with our search for a new head coach."

Again, Alnutt's a friendly guy. I've enjoyed talking to him when I've had the chance. I can imagine him saying this with a smile, and I don't find it hard to believe that he genuinely means it.

But that community he would like to thank probably has a few questions today -- maybe something about the qualities he hopes to find in a new coach, maybe about when he hopes the process will be over, maybe about how the university will foot the bill for Samuel's six-figure buyout while simultaneously paying for a new coach, maybe about something else.

And maybe the biggest boosters will get a chance to ask him those questions at some formal gathering or when they see him out at a basketball game and he inevitability greets them with a smile and a handshake.

But certainly there will be plenty of members of the community -- fans, alumni, boosters and even players -- hoping to hear from Alnutt. When he says no to talking to us, he says no to talking to them. That's true whether he wants it to be or not.

This is the second time this month Southeast has issued a press release saying there would be no comment on a topic.

The athletic department released a statement saying men's basketball player A.J. Jones had withdrawn from the university and left the team on Nov. 8 -- the same day the team opened the season.

I know that release, which was emailed to media, said no one from the university would be commenting further, but I went back to get the exact words only to find the press release either has been deleted from or never has been posted to the athletic department's official website.

That situation was remarkably strange. It raised a lot of questions. What player withdraws from the university on the day a season starts? What would lead a person to do that?

It's really no surprise that Alnutt and men's basketball coach Dickey Nutt don't want to talk about it, although it only leads to assumptions that there is information they'd rather the public not have.

There are no such assumptions in the case of the firing of Tony Samuel. Alnutt made an easily understood decision. I can't fathom there's anything to hide or that anything he could say would be inflammatory. It's just not a complicated situation.

Yet he's staying quiet.

When Alnutt was hired in April of last year, he said he'd heard wonderful things about the Cape Girardeau community and that he wanted to build relationships "in the campus, the community, the region."

"You're in a position to be able to raise awareness, resources," Alnutt said to the Missourian. "It's about being a leader, taking us to the next level not just in the Ohio Valley Conference but from a national standpoint."

He also said people should expect for him to be a public figure.

"I have a lot of passion for what I do. I'm a people person," he said. "I don't feel like you can get the job done from behind your desk."

Perhaps he can start delivering his pre-written press releases in person.

Rachel Crader is sports editor of the Southeast Missourian.