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Head Coach Ben DeLuca Dismissed From Cornell

Ben DeLuca was dismissed as the Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach at Cornell University today. The school issued an ambiguous statement thanking DeLuca for his work (he was there for over ten years as a player and coach), and stating that the program needed new leadership. They then promoted assistant coach Matt Kerwick.

Neither Cornell, nor any media outlet, has mentioned the hazing incident as cause for the dismissal, but the below statement was also included in the release:

University policy mandates that personnel issues are not shared so detail relative to the coaching change will not be provided to the public.

Perhaps this is just boilerplate language. Perhaps it is mentioned to stave off deeper inquiries.

I got in touch with former Cornell players, and as they get back to me with quotes on the situation, I’ll update the post, but won’t give out their names unless they want me to:

I greatly respect and appreciate everything Coach DeLuca has done for Cornell University, the lacrosse team, and me personally. I am disappointed to hear the news, but am confident that Cornell’s loss will be another top program’s gain in the near future.

Whatever the reason, we’re seeing another case of a coach fired as quietly as possible, this time at the college level. It’s doubtful we’ll ever know the full story in either case, but the above move by Cornell is a big one. It will be interesting to see how it pans out.