Was Michael Lotief's Firing Bogus Or Justified? UL Players Speak Out

Was Michael Lotief's Firing Bogus Or Justified? UL Players Speak Out

Was Coach Michael Lotief's firing bogus or justified? FloSoftball interviews UL players and staff.

Nov 20, 2017 by Chez Sievers
Was Michael Lotief's Firing Bogus Or Justified? UL Players Speak Out

In an offseason full of softball coaching changes, the latest shoe to drop was Michael Lotief at Louisiana University in Lafayette.

Coach Lotief was dismissed from the program on November 1 after being placed on administrative leave in October.

The decision followed an investigation that seemed more like a witch hunt after the former Ragin' Cajuns coach raised concerns about inequality issues for his softball players. The university countered that the decision was justified because of allegations against Coach Lotief.

The overall result is a very difficult situation for the Ragin' Cajuns softball team, both for the 2018 softball season and more importantly if their Title IX concerns remain unaddressed.

How Did Louisiana Get To This Point?

Backing up to earlier this year, Louisiana was snubbed as a Regional host in the 2017 NCAA Tournament. But, the Rajun' Cajuns nearly beat in-state rival LSU in the Regionals. It was a difficult end to another successful season in Lafayette.

Looking ahead to 2018, ULL was set to make a deep postseason run led by slugging senior D.J. Sanders. Now, Louisiana has to start over with a new coaching staff while still waiting for their concerns to be addressed.

How did things unravel to reach this point? Let's first examine what happened with Coach Mike.

Was UL Trying To Fire Coach Lotief?

One side of the issue is the belief that ULL administration and the athletics department were trying to find a reason to fire Michael Lotief.

Coach Lotief spoke out against the athletics department, alleging that his female softball players were being treated unequally, which would be a Title IX violation. 

According to Coach Lotief's attorney, the former softball coach raised the following concerns to the university:

- Cutting the softball field grass.

- Having an athletic trainer at practice.

- Pay for the assistant coaches.

- A functional assessment of the players prior to weight training.

ULL player Alissa Dalton, who transferred from Oklahoma this offseason, captured the big issue of the grass and trainer problems in an exclusive interview with FloSoftball.

"We had a scrimmage one day and Coach Mike was like, 'Hey, we need our grass cut,' and they wouldn’t cut our grass and this was for weeks at a time. He has pictures of our grass completely dead and nobody would cut it," Dalton said.

"And we’d go to the football field and every single day, I’m not kidding, every day their grass is cut and painted and they don’t even practice on it (sometimes)—they have two fields, a practice field and a football field—so they would cut and paint it and not even practice on it and we were wondering why we couldn’t even get ours mowed. Also, we were without a trainer—we still don’t have a trainer—we haven’t had one all year I haven’t seen them push to even get one or bother to get one."

Current outfielder Aleah Craighton added her perspective about the glaring issue of field conditions in an interview with FloSoftball.

"The grass is terrible," says Craighton. "Some days there are patches in the outfield that are completely missing. Sometimes the ball will zig-zag. It's really bad. And there are people on our staff who are our volunteers who have to fix it. No one from our university will fix it."

The issues highlighted by Alissa and Craighton reflect poorly on Louisiana Softball -- a program that reached elite status as a mid-major under Coach Mike. Actions from ULL administration suggest they did not have the best interest of the program in mind.

When Coach Lotief was placed on administrative leave in October, the softball players spoke out in a letter released to the general public. Included was their belief that the athletic department was "conducting an unjust and uncorroborated investigation of our softball head coach."

The players went on to say they believed the athletics department was "intentionally trying to destroy our program" by targeting Coach Lotief with "slander and untrue comments."

UL Players Speak Out In Droves

In the time since the ULL administration made the coaching change, FloSoftball has received 26 letter from current or former players defending Coach Mike. Players focused on his teaching ability, dedication to the program, commitment to hard work, level of care to see them grow as people and players, and fighting for them to the end.

26 Letters From UL Players

D.J. Sanders, the senior leader who is the face of the Louisiana Softball program, wrote this letter to FloSoftball:

"A 'thank you' simply cannot express the gratitude I have for Coach Mike and his family. Not only did he teach me all-American worthy hitting mechanics, but most importantly he also taught me to be passionate about a sport I had previously played carelessly.

He taught me how to be my most competitive self, how to be compassionate, how to use my voice and platform for good, how to be a strong and confident woman, and to not be afraid to stand out against injustice.

I adore the fact that even while coaching at an elite level he never cared about how we performed as much as he cared about making sure we were developing into women that were ready to conquer life after college. He is the true definition of a player's coach. He dedicated so much of himself to this program. He went above and beyond so much for us that it became the norm.

Our time together has not been all sunshine and rainbows but I know the tough times has helped shape me into the person I am so proud to be. I will always stand with you."

So, what is the other side of the story that ULL used as the basis to remove Coach Lotief?

Was ULL Justified In Firing Coach Lotief?

Louisiana University conducted an investigation into allegations against Coach Lotief based on verbal and physical incidents.

The allegations included Coach Lotief trying to motivate players through harsh talk, embarrassing non-starters in front of starting players, screaming at representatives from other schools, and pulling hair to address players.

The key to this issue, though, is context. When you walk by a parent disciplining their child harshly in the parking lot, is that just one moment in a series of 1,000 parental decisions made over the course of the day? Or, is that a sign of a larger issue related to abuse?

The latter question is why the university says they conducted an investigation to evaluate Coach Lotief's motivational techniques and whether he crossed the line from trying to make his players stronger to being mentally and physically abusive.

There is concern about the nature of the investigation, though. Specifically, did university investigators use proper interview techniques to obtain evidence from former and current players during their investigation?

A report from The Daily Advertiser noted that former ULL player Corin Voinche was interviewed by assistant athletic director Jessica Leger about a teammate. Topics during the interview included Lotief's approach to his players. Voinche was then surprised that her answers were included in documents related to the investigation, implying that she was not informed of the true purpose of why she was being asked questions.

"After a while, it became apparent that there was an attempt of a type of coercion with the nature of the questions being asked that included negative speculations about Coach Mike and the program," said Corin Voinche.

"Mrs. Leger never asked any questions about sexual abuse, assault, rape, or any other topics that could be referred to as sexually manipulative acts. If I were to be asked about any of those topics, I would disagree wholeheartedly that anything of that nature had ever taken place in this program."

The disagreement extends to current players, who said in their letter that they believe Coach Lotief created a "competitive environment" to hold players to a "championship standard." The university disagreed, calling it a "hostile environment," which contributed to the public decision to fire Coach Lotief.

In the eyes of Aleah Craighton speaking to FloSoftball, the investigation was a "reach." She added that she believes the allegations were "false and falsely interpreted."

Read the statement from Coach Mike Lotief, made through his attorney John E. McElligott, dated November 19, 2017

Former Players Address The Allegations

The collective thought from former players who wrote letters to FloSoftball is that Coath Lotief's passion for his players was suddenly used against him to justify firing him.

Former ULL slugger Lacey Bertucci passionately addressed Coach Mike's methods of pushing the team, keeping the end goal in mind of seeing his players grow.

"Sure he pushed me until I wanted to quit but I never did," Lacey wrote. "I persevered and I did that because he taught me to. I owe this man and his wife so much. I felt so loved while I was at UL.

"They always made sure I was taken care of. Always stayed on me when I got lazy in the classroom. Always made sure I was icing my shoulder after games and practices. Always made sure my cleats weren't worn out. Always made sure we had food to eat. Always made sure we had money. He always has cared about my well being as a player but most importantly as a person."

Former ULL player Ciarra Cherry had a brief experience at Louisiana. Cherry transferred after her redshirt sophomore year, but she took away a life-changing experience that impacted her beyond a brief time in the program.

"He took young girls and turned them into rock hard, strong, and confident, women and true students of the game. The ULL environment may not have been for everyone but it was far from the HOSTILE place that he was accused of making it. It was a place where pure competition, passion, hard work, excellence, and responsibility could be felt throughout every corner of the stadium. He taught his players that nothing less than those values would be accepted between the chalk lines," Cherry wrote.

"Coach Mike was never in the business of babying his players, he only was interested in the progress of his players and making THEM better on and off the field. His methods of coaching may not have been the norm and they may not have been for everyone but for those that benefited from it, they got results. Coach Mike turns good athletes into excellent athletes and phenomenal people. The values as well as the skills a person takes away from ULL softball under Coach Mike."

The picture that you're seeing is a program full of confident, strong women who were mentally and physically tough. That's why Louisiana was so successful as a nationally-relevant mid-major program under Coach Lotief.

What Happens Next For Louisiana?

The next steps for Louisiana include finding a new coaching staff to take over for the 2018 season. There might also be a Title IX investigation based on what has come out during this situation.

Gerry Glasco was just named UL's new head coach. Glasco was recently hired as an assistant at Auburn and this will be his third university in 2017. He was the associate head coach at Texas A&M for three seasons prior to taking the Auburn position.

The softball players wrote in their public letter that they believe their coach was "being targeted and retaliated against for standing up for us as female athletes."

The players added that they believe "we have been mistreated and Title IX issues have never been addressed or discussed with us as athletes."

It's a very difficult situation for everyone involved. One perspective on discipline and motivation is different than another. One perspective on the true nature of an investigation looks different from one person to the next.

The biggest concern, though, is whether there was a Title IX violation and how this situation will affect the players.

Even after firing Coach Lotief, Louisiana should still have to answer for whether they violated equal rights requirements for their softball players.

Former ULL player Megan Waterman wrote to FloSoftball: "The issues regarding the treatment of female athletes at UL are real and valid. When I was a senior, Coach Mike also took a stand for gender equality. He has been fighting for his players for years, and this time, it’s our turn to fight for him. Our program brings the university national recognition, and we have never missed the NCAA Tournament under Coach Mike. I can’t think of any other mid-major program that has had that level of success."

Now, the current players will have to push through an uncertain future after their coach was fired, the program was turned upside down, and their concerns remain unaddressed.

In the weeks and months to follow, there will be more to this story. ULL and Coach Mike have legal issues to sort through, the NCAA needs to decide whether to investigate, and there is a very uncertain 2018 college softball season for the Rajin' Cajuns.


Written by James Caldwell