Swing resigns as head coach

If the Muskies are going to go far in the WHSFL playoffs this season, they’ll have to do it without head coach Bob Swing.
Swing resigned early last week, citing his displeasure with how an internal incident was dealt with by Fort High’s administration.
While Swing declined to comment on the specifics surrounding the incident in question, he was eager to dispel any rumours circulating around his departure.
“There was, after the game on Friday [Oct. 13 against Oak Park #2], an incident that got under my skin,” Swing recounted.
The head coach then addressed the entire team, as well as two former Fort High students who were on the bus at the time, to voice his displeasure.
“I’m not going to get into the specifics of what I said, but I could understand how the first part of the communication, how that could land to the listener,” he said.
Swing stressed no foul language was used in addressing the team and that he was aware the first part of his speech could be interpreted in a negative fashion, but that he immediately took steps to clarify his meaning.
Despite his explanations, word of the incident got back to some parents, who expressed their concern to Fort High principal Gord McCabe.
“On Monday [Oct. 16], I was contacted by the principal [and told] that there was some concern as to what I said in addressing the team and that there would be parents coming to meet with me on the field so that I could get this to resolution.”
Shortly thereafter, Swing received a second call informing him a meeting—at which his presence would be required—was to take place in McCabe’s office with the concerned parents.
It was the course of events at this meeting that eventually would lead to Swing’s resignation.
“The reason I resigned was when I go into a meeting with the principal, I would expect, and I trust, that the principal would have gathered all of the information and would have all of that information available to him in the meeting,” Swing said.
“And if it isn’t available, that we would slow things down, come to a resolution, and ensure that we have all the information available. That wasn’t done,” he charged.
“Being a parent, I apologized immediately to those parents [at the meeting] and I will yet apologize to the boys that I addressed, who weren’t a part of the team, when I see them next,” he said.
“It’s very important for everyone to understand that I support the parents that brought this forward,” Swing stressed. “It was a legitimate issue.
“It did affect one person on our team—and I understood how it could affect that one person—and I didn’t mean for that to happen so I apologized to that player, as well.”
For Swing, the problem wasn’t that his actions had been called into question but instead how the incident was handled by McCabe.
“My principles on trust and respect stand alone at the top compared to everything else and I don’t trust, nor do I respect, the principal for how this whole thing was handled,” he said.
Swing’s sudden resignation was a surprise to McCabe, who only learned of the decision from a story appearing in the Oct. 19 edition of the Daily Bulletin.
“I’m sorry that Bob feels that it wasn’t handled well,” McCabe said in an interview yesterday.
“He’s not spoken to me about that. . . . I honestly don’t think I’d have handled things any differently.
“All I can tell you is I am comfortable with the way it was handled,” he added.
McCabe went on to laud Swing’s contribution to the Muskie football program over the past 15 years.
“I would like to focus on the positives,” he said.
“I mean, Bob has done a lot for this program. He was instrumental in Fort Frances, Dryden, and Kenora getting involved in the Winnipeg High School Football League, which I think has been wonderful for the program here,” McCabe remarked.
Interim head coach Shane Beckett said Swing will be missed on the sidelines throughout the playoffs.
“It’s tough in preparation and it’s going to be tough on the field. I mean 15 years,” Beckett said.
“He’s given so much to the program. He’s the one that got us into this league,” Beckett continued. “He bleeds black-and-gold and it’s tough to not have that on your sideline.
“The kids will pull through but we’ll miss him.”
Swing addressed the Muskies last Thursday night and explained, in detail, the reasoning behind his decision. He also encouraged them to focus on the task at hand—namely winning their quarter-final game this coming Friday (Oct. 27).
“The message I gave to them—and I give to everybody else—is if everybody believes that the success or failure of this program is predicated on one person, then everybody has missed the message I’ve been trying to deliver for 15 years,” Swing said.
He urged the players to “get back up on the horse and get out there. . . . There doesn’t need to be any ‘Cumbaya’ or candlelight vigils for Coach Swing.”
The decision to leave a week prior to the playoffs was an extremely difficult one for Swing, but he remains confident the team will pull through.
“It’s excruciating,” he conceded, “but they’ll be successful.”