I am not concerned about any beaks and I am not being backed into a corner. I am not stupid nor am I scared of the bullying tactics some of you chose to attempt to use. Was my comment sarcastic, it was but it had a point! It is a BAD DECISION to keep Coach Renfro in his position if he is leaving for a competing entity. Now get over it and read below to understand why this is so!
It is laughable that all of the diehard alumni are jumping on me when my stance is to protect your beloved program. There have been rumors circulating throughout the Kansas wrestling community for several weeks now. The fact is that Coach Joe Renfro has verbally accepted the head coaching position at Northeastern Oklahoma JC. The fact is he has notified the legend, Jody Thompson, and the administration at Labette that these are his intentions. The rumors are that Coach Renfro has expressed his intentions to his team as well. Where there rumors get cloudy is whether or not he explicitly expressed that he would like for many of his wrestlers to follow him to NEO. Either way what these facts add up to is a prima fascia case example of conflict of interest. Coach Renfro will coach these wrestlers to best of his ability, no doubt, as he seeks another national title. There is NO question that his heart would be into winning this season. Where the conflict comes in is the future of this storied program. Will wrestlers follow him? Without a doubt! Will he be recruiting for LCC this season? I don’t see it! Knowing he will be at NEO next year puts him in an awkward position. I don’t care how great of a coach you are, and there is no doubt that he is a great coach, you cannot recruit and promote to the fullest of your capabilities for two competing programs at the same time. It is IMPOSSIBLE! I don’t know who makes the decision to keep him but it is bad business! Wrestlers will leave and he will not recruit for LCCC. This damages the program. To what extent there is no way of knowing. The right answer is to give Coach Renfro a big party, thank him for all he has done for LCC and escort him to the door with only his personal belongings. There are hundreds of coaches looking for head coaching positions. Get the best one in there PRONTO and he will have a chance to bond with the existing team and save as many wrestlers as possible and he will give 100% of his effort to winning as well as to the future of LCC wrestling. I am sure many of you have been in this situation, I know I have. A valuable employee has found greener pastures. You have options: 1) THE BEST ANSWER! Find out what he needs to stay. I assume in this case it is pay, better facilities, dorms, better scholarships to work with, or just the promise to throw some money at a National Championship program. 2) THE WRONG ANSWER! Keep him, maybe win a championship this year but throw away at least the next two or three seasons. 3) THE RIGHT ANSWER IF THE BEST CANNOT BE ACHIEVED! Thank him, celebrate his accomplishments, and wish him luck as you immediately show him the door with his box of personal belongings. After that you can cry about what has happened or you can put your energy towards finding a better coach. Honestly, the winning attitude will look at a departure as an opportunity to IMPROVE! I don’t care who you are, there is someone out there that is better.
I pulled my comment out of respect for the Thompsons and not for any other reason. All of the Redbird nation can waste your energy threatening me and being stupid or you can do everything you can to the train back on its tracks. Right now it is a messy situation in Parsons, KS and it doesn’t have anything to do with my comment about setting up an information table! Raise some money and keep Joe or start the search NOW for the new Cardinal Wrestling Era.

Good luck to the Cardinals!