Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 22

A22 The Arizona Republic Friday, October 15, 1999 FIRING OF A LEGEND: 20 YEARS AFTER Xisli ctiansea coacbm coitroversy i yer Hing so much that he wrote a letter to President Lattie Coor. CCD Fi tut -CXSK Hi Signs supporting Frank Kush were everywhere on the Tempe campus when the coach was fired over Kevin Rutledge's allegations that Kush had punched him. Rutledge never won his lawsuit. He moved to Tucson to get out of Kush's shadow and to this day won't talk to reporters about the controversy. J-.

from Page Al surrounded and pounded on by his teammates. Helmets were slapped and players were belittled in front of their peers. "I really believe he didn't ask the players to do anything they felt was inappropriate or beyond their physical ability," said Dan Mardian, a member of the Sun Angels executive board at the time of Kush's firing. "He was a hard taskmaster, but he was fair, he was honest, he was a producer. That's how you get players to play." Toward the end of Kush's career, his coaching methods were being scrutinized.

Ohio State Coach Woody Hayes had recently been fired for hitting an opposing player during a bowl game. "I know I've changed the way I've coached over the years," ASU Coach Bruce Snyder said. "Student athletes have rights now. When I started, they had none. It's a different world today, and not to say one is better or worse.

You just have to adjust and coach to the best of your ability." Did Kush go too far? To this day, he denies the The incident His downfall began nearly a year before his firing, on Oct. 28, 1978, when Rutledge shanked a punt in a game at the University of Washington. The player alleged that Kush grabbed his face mask, pulled it up and punched him in the face. A Kf tit I PT run I fed s7 ti i W( ft A -J i Associated Press The aftermath Kush, now executive administrator of the Arizona Boys Ranch, continues to maintain his innocence. "In my conscience, I didn't do anything wrong," he said.

"There were some things I was responsible for that I lost control of, recruiting and such, but I have no regrets. I know what really happened." Kush said he is no longer bitter about the incident and is actively involved with the university. But the aftermath was painful all. Rutledge moved to Tucson to escape Kush's shadow. To this day, the insurance agent turns down media interview requests.

Miller was fired in January 1980 in the wake of an NCAA investigation into rules violations at ASU. The Sun Devils were found guilty of 30 rules violations, including athletes receiving credit for bogus correspondence courses, during Miller and Kush's tenure. "I have no regrets about the decision," Miller said. "With the hand we were dealt at the time, I thought we took appropriate action." Said Cure, "The whole thing was a human tragedy. It just tore Frank's heart out.

He loved that university like nobody can imagine, "I think everyone involved would have changed the way they did some things. I'm sure Frank would have. Not that he did anything wrong, but he would have changed the things he said, because people would misinterpret things and they'd make a mountain out of a molehill." Rutledge never won his lawsuit. Nearly a decade after the incident, a federal Appeals Court in San Francisco struck the final blow, upholding a dismissal of the lawsuit. "I always felt it was blown out of proportion," Coach Peru said.

"In my opinion, he never did it. I was redshirting the year before, when it happened, so I wasn't there. But when I go back and look at the situation, Kevin Rutledge lived near my apartment, and I never saw any marks on him. "I always felt it was a setup. I'll believe that forever.

The devotion Public opinion still weighs heavily in Kush's favor. Sun Devil Stadium's playing surface is named Frank Kush Field. A bronze statue of him was recently erected outside the stadium. That decision infuriated law- Kush still attends many ASU functions and travels to numerous road games. It's a curious relation- ship the former coach and the uni- versity that once dumped him have forged.

"Where in public life has anyone been so visibly separated from an organization, yet 20 years later continues to be passionately devoted to the institutional mission?" ASU Athletic Director Kevin White said. "He is an immeasurable asset and a tremendous ambassador. "His successful 22-year run as head coach was in direct correlation with the national emergence of this institution." One of his biggest supporters is Bruce Snyder, who, from all accounts, has played a role in making sure Kush's contributions are not 1 forgotten. Danny White, who played for Kush from 1971 to 1973, also stands behind his coach, though he now subscribes to gentler coaching methods with the Arizona Rattlers. White, playing for the Dallas Cow- boys at the time of the furor, re- turned to Phoenix to testify in (t; behalf of Kush.

"With Kush went a lot of the ASU tradition," White said. "I don't think they ever got it back. "We do desperately need more tradition at ASU, But when you compare it, there are no ties with the past. Kevin White has made at- tempts, but, unfortunately, the dam-1 age was done, and it was done by people 20 years ago." Danny White acknowledges that lf(, Kush's methods are a thing of the "It's too bad," White said. "The way things have changed in our society, coaches can't coach that way, and players suffer.

They can't de- velop the same mental toughness rr and discipline. Former guard Avianantos said players understood and adapted to Kush's style. "For some people, you have to lead by putting a carrot in front of them," he said. "Some, you have to whack on the rear end. "I don't know if there were a lot of carrots.

But there were a lot of whacks on the rear end." HI- Republic writer Richard Obert contributed to this article. the summer. Lynch played Miller a tape of a player who described how Kush punched Rutledge. Miller got other corroboration as well. "Once you have six players with nothing to gain who were eyewitnesses to the incident, you take action on it," Miller said this week from his home in Sun Valley, Idaho.

Two days later, Miller learned of a sworn statement by offensive line coach Bob Karmelowicz that said Kush told his assistants, "If I go, we all go. We have got to make sure we're all saying the same thing." The confrontation Miller planned to fire Kush after the next day's game against the University of Washington, but the coach caught wind of the news and confronted Miller in his office. The athletic director told Kush he would be suspended after the game pending litigation, so the next day, in a bizarre news conference, the coach announced his impending firing at a hotel on Van Buren Street. Miller suspended Kush immediately. But Kush showed up to coach the game anyway before a Sun Devil Stadium crowd of confused and upset fans.

And players, who responded with an emotional 12-7 upset of the sixth-ranked Huskies, then carried Kush off the field. Anti-Miller signs were everywhere: "Wanted: Athletic director. No experience needed." And up for Kush." "The game was amazing," said attorney Harding Cure, who was an assistant to Kush's lawyer, Harry Cavanagh. "I've never seen such emotion in my life. Players were standing up offering prayers.

There wasn't a dry eye in our place." "As we came to the stadium to dress out, he called us into one of the classrooms," said Reynaldo Peru, a sophomore tackle on that team who now coaches at Morenci High School. "Frank comes into the room and looks us in the eye. He says, 'I'm not guilty of what they're accusing me of and he started crying. Every player was crying, too. You could pick up the emotions.

He said he was going to coach us one last game. "We all escorted him up to the field, surrounding him. You could see everybody supporting him as we went up. It was a heck of a game. Two days after the game, Miller held a press conference to explain that Kush was not fired because of the Rutledge incident, but because he attempted to cover it up.

The statement did nothing to appease fans, who saw Kush post 19 winning seasons, win nine conference championships and run up a 6-1 bowl record in 22 years. The Sun Angel Foundation called for Kush's return and said it would suspend funding of a new golf course for the campus. Death threats were made against the key figures in Rutledge's case, and extra security was provided around their homes. "It was the only time in my career that I had to get an unlisted phone number," said Hing, Rutledge's lawyer. Even though Rutledge eventually lost his case, Hing said, "That was one of my contributions to sports in America.

Maybe coaches started thinking about what they could do. "I once asked (former ASU Coach) Darryl Rogers if he'd ever grab a player by the face mask. He said, 'Oh, no, not after your I must have done some good." Rutledge never played at ASU again and said he was subjected to relentless humiliation by the coach and harassed into transferring. In 1979, he sued the university. "Everyone thought it was about 'Did Frank Kush punch Kevin said Hing, Rutledge's attorney, who still practices law in the Valley.

"That wasn't it. It was about NCAA rules. You can't take away a scholarship for athletic reasons. But Frank Kush had a way of getting rid of players, by intimidation and such, that didn't measure up to his standards of performance." Nearly a year after the incident, the ASU student newspaper, the State Press, ran a story quoting an unidentified player saying that he saw Kush hit Rutledge. That day, Athletic Director Fred Miller received a call from Rick Lynch, a local drag strip owner, who had employed ASU players during 'C-t A Introducing Dillard's Big Everything.

OQbh from Underwear '1 to Outerwear for Men. I 4 Sizes 1X-4X, LT-3XLT. mmm v' is 1 AHr 1 usl' r' jK -'-o-v 'X'i 1 'v V- 1 1UMIOS1 1 Shop Monday-Saturday 10-9 and Sunday 12-6 in Phoenix at Arrowhead, Metrocenter, Paradise Valley, Fiesta Mall, Scottsdale, Desert Sky Mall and Superstition Springs. Shop Monday-Saturday 10-7 and Sunday 12-6 at Chris-Town. We welcome your Dillard's Credit Card, The American Express Card, Diners Club International, Mastercard Visa and The Discover Card..