Qualls' version of his ouster leaves many wondering why the Chaffee school board acted the way it did.

Given the unanswered questions swirling around the dismissal of Chaffee High baseball coach Bruce Qualls, the whole matter seems fishy -- pun intended.

Not that this is a laughing matter. A man's livelihood was at stake.

Everyone knows that the coaching profession is fickle. Winners stay and losers leave. It's the nature of the beast, no matter how few talented athletes you have to mold.

So, considering Qualls' past success, his dismissal raises questions about why his contract was not renewed and whether or not the school board was just and ethical in its decision.

Qualls and three other Chaffee coaches were not rehired for next year in a clean sweep of the athletic program's major sports. The football and basketball programs have floundered in recent years, but Qualls guided the baseball team to an 89-57 record over the past eight-plus seasons.

The board -- completely within its right -- refuses to discuss what transpired in executive session concerning Qualls' fate. But if what Qualls and his supporters claimed at last Thursday's board meeting is true, the five board members who voted not to renew his contract misused the power that voters entrusted to them.

Qualls told me after the meeting Thursday that he was let go as a coach -- as a tenured teacher, he will remain at Chaffee as a physical education instructor -- because board members got word of a rumor that he was going to quit to become a professional fisherman.

He also said the board never even contacted him about his plans. To me, that is the most unethical aspect of this entire mess. Whether Qualls was going to quit or not is not the issue.

The issue, essentially, is that the board appears to have made a decision that profoundly altered a man's life based on hearsay.

Did the board forget that the baseball team has compiled a .610 winning percentage (a better percentage than the San Diego Padres had last year in their drive to the World Series) under his leadership?

Did it forget that the man had been at the school for eight years?

If the board was concerned about Qualls' leaving, why didn't it simply ask him about it? His experience and record alone demand, at the very least, that much respect.

And why not just let him quit if he's going to quit?

Maybe the board was worried that Qualls would wait too long to make his decision (again, maybe he would've given an indication if he'd been asked) and leave them with little time to hire someone else.

But how difficult is it to find a coach to take over a prosperous baseball program?

There must be more to this story.

Granted, I've only heard one side -- the one presented by Qualls and several of his supporters last Thursday. The board is trapped -- or protected -- by silence in this matter. Discretion, in this case, only fuels rumors.

Meanwhile, many in this tight-knit baseball town are wondering why their Red Devils (who are 5-1 with wins over Class 4A schools Cape Central and Jackson) will have a new coach next year. Gossip spreads quickly in a town of less than 3,000 and the talk in the coffee and barber shops is that Qualls was given the hook because he likes to fish.

Obviously, there must more to the story than that.

I admit that I don't know Qualls all that well. I've talked with him maybe seven or eight times in my five months at this newspaper. I have no idea what he does in his spare time other than fish. I don't know the nature of his relationship with his players, other than the glowing endorsements from his backers -- including two parents and a former player.

What I do know is that there is no ground for letting Qualls go based on his win-loss record. And if Qualls' account of what happened is accurate, the five board members who voted not to renew his contract should be ashamed. Not only for letting him go, but for not showing him the respect that he earned in more than eight years of service.

Bob Miller is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian