Georgia Players Threatened Boycott If Coach Not Fired

by Mulligan Stu on May 15, 2007 12:18 PM EDT

Via T. Kyle King at Dawg Sports, SB Nation's Georgia Bulldogs blog, I found Golfweek's article on the Todd McCorkle situation at the University of Georgia. He's the 2-time national championship-winning coach of the Georgia women's golf team who resigned just before the NCAA Regionals as a result of, it turns out, player allegations of improper sexual comments and conduct.

todd mccorkle According to Golfweek, even though Georgia's internal investigation revealed allegations of disturbing patterns of conduct by McCorkle, the school was originally only going to suspend him for a month and require sexual harassment counseling.

That wasn't enough for the players whose been targeted by the alleged misconduct:

According to Art Leon (ed.: father of Georgia star Taylor Leon), when parents learned that McCorkle would receive only a one-month suspension in the offseason, they voiced their displeasure to athletic director Damon Evans. Top players threatened to skip Georgia's NCAA regional.

"I can categorically tell you that that Taylor, Mallory (Hetzel) and Whitney (Wade) were not going to play in NCAA regionals," Art Leon said.

We pointed out in our original post that McCorkle is married to LPGA Tour player Jenna Daniels. Daniels was on the University of Arizona team coached by McCorkle that won a national championship in 2000. Golfweek reports:

Controversy began not long after McCorkle took over in Athens. According to sources inside the Georgia golf circle who requested anonymity, the sequence of events reads like this:

McCorkle led Arizona to the NCAA title in 2000, helped by senior Jenna Daniels, who won the individual title. Longtime Georgia coach Beans Kelly retired after nationals; McCorkle, accompanied by his wife, traveled to Athens to interview for the job.

McCorkle was hired at Georgia in June 2000. He moved to Athens without his wife (they would divorce). Rumors were swirling about McCorkle's close relationship with Daniels, who had one semester left at Arizona. By spring, Daniels was attending practices in Athens, and she played qualifying rounds with the Bulldogs. She married McCorkle in January 2004.

Not everyone, however, believed McCorkle had started a relationship with Daniels while coaching her, and there was no official investigation.

"I never thought the situation was handled inappropriately," said LPGA player Angela Jerman, who played for McCorkle at Georgia. "Obviously, it was talked about."

Daniels, 29, was mentioned several times in current players' testimonies. Players said McCorkle told his players he and his wife "would go out and play for sexual favors." Because Daniels once played under McCorkle, the comments made current players uncomfortable. McCorkle said he only told players he and Jenna "play for dinner."

After all of this, it's amazing to consider that while McCorkle resigned from his position as coach of the women's golf team, the university is still saying he can remain with the school in a different position.

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