Oklahoma suspends coach
NORMAN, Okla. – Oklahoma baseball coach Larry Cochell was removed from his position indefinitely Friday after school officials learned he used racially derogatory language during two separate interviews with ESPN announcers.
OU athletic director Joe Castiglione issued a statement Friday night that Sunny Golloway will be the team’s interim head coach until the matter is resolved.
“This university is a place where everyone is respected,” Castiglione said in a statement. “Clearly, if these comments were made, they run contrary to the core values of this institution and we will treat them very seriously.”
OU players were summoned off the field about 15 minutes before Friday’s game against Nebraska. The Sooners were informed of the situation during a team meeting, and Cochell then left L. Dale Mitchell Park. He could not be reached for comment.
Cochell issued an apology through the school saying, “I profoundly apologize for my remarks.
“I am deeply sorry for any pain or embarrassment I have caused for any individual or the university,” Cochell’s statement said. “Our university family is totally committed to equality and mutual respect. I personally hold those values and will always regret that my careless use of language did not reflect my own values.”
Cochell made the comments before Tuesday’s game at Wichita State, according to ESPN announcers Gary Thorne and Kyle Peterson. Thorne said he was talking with Cochell before in the dugout. Cochell summoned Joseph Dunigan, a 19-year-old black athlete from Chicago, to the dugout and complimented the freshman outfielder on his schoolwork.
After Dunigan walked away, Thorne said Cochell made a racial slur. According to the network, which first reported the incident on its 5 p.m. CDT edition of SportsCenter, Cochell said: “There’s no (racial epithet) in him.”
Cochell, who is white, was speaking with ESPN analyst Kyle Peterson sometime later before the game and talked about Dunigan.
ESPN reported that Cochell said to Peterson: “There are honkies and white people. And there are (racial epithet) and black people. Dunigan is a good black kid.”
Josh Krulewitz, ESPN’s director of media relations, said both interviews were considered on-the-record because the announcers were gathering information to be used during the broadcast. However, Cochell was not on camera. OU labeled the encounters as “a private meeting.”
Thorne said he and Peterson did not know Cochell had made similar remarks until they were talking Thursday. The two announcers discussed the situation and then informed ESPN producers about what happened, Thorne said.
“Because it was done in the course of doing our job for ESPN, we felt we had an obligation to tell people we were working with – the producers,” Thorne said after broadcasting Friday’s OU-Nebraska game on ESPNU.
“They felt necessary back in Bristol (Conn.) to think about ‘what do we do?’ It just doesn’t seem like the sort of thing you can condone.”
Dunigan told school officials Friday night he preferred not to comment.
Golloway said after Nebraska’s 8-1 victory that he has never heard Cochell use that type of language.
“No,” Golloway said. “That’s a simple no.”
OU senior Matt Bose said: “I’ve been here for four years, and I’ve never heard anything like that come out of his mouth. He’s a very nice Christian man, and that’s about all I’ve got to say about that.”
Cochell, who is 534-354-1 in 14-plus seasons at OU, ranks eighth in Division I in victories. His all-time record is 1,308-794-3 in 38-plus years. Under Cochell’s leadership, the Sooners won the 1994 College World Series and the 1997 Big 12 tournament title.