Freitag: People wanted me out

Twenty-five of Mike Freitag’s 51 years have been spent with the IU men’s soccer program, as a player, assistant coach and head coach.

But now, Freitag’s tenure as a Hoosier is done.

Fred Glass, IU vice president and director of Intercollegiate Athletics, told Freitag Tuesday that Freitag’s contract will not be renewed for the 2010 season. His contract expires Dec. 31.

“I feel pressure in this job all the time because it’s Indiana soccer, and I put pressure on myself to do the best possible job for this program and I have for all my adult life,” Freitag said. “I felt there were some people that probably wanted me out of the position.”

Freitag, who served as the second coach during the program’s 36-year history, played for the Hoosiers from 1976-79, served as a graduate assistant from 1983-86, was an assistant from 1993-2003 and won an NCAA Championship in 2004. He spent 25 years in all with IU soccer.

Freitag posted a 86-32-19 record as head coach.

“I’m very fortunate because I’ve lived out one of my goals of being the head coach here and help this University win a national championship,” Freitag said. “I’m very, very proud of that. I trust in my ability as a coach and my integrity, and I know good things will happen for me and my family in the future.”

Glass also announced that fourth-year assistant Phil Presser and first-year assistant Aleksey Korol will also be let go effective at the end of the month.

Glass said Tuesday that IU’s 12-10-1 record was not the sole reason for Freitag’s dismissal.

“If we felt the program was going in the right direction, I could handle the record,” Glass said. “But, we ultimately concluded that the program was not going in the right direction and that we needed new leadership.”

The decision comes as Glass’ first firing and inevitable hiring, a decision he said he does not take lightly.

“It’s the first hire that I’ll make and it’s really with our premiere program,” Glass said. “I take this responsibility very seriously.”

Junior midfielder Andy Adlard said the firing came as a bit of a surprise.

“It all happened so fast, and it hasn’t quite settled in yet,” he said. “I can’t really comment if it was a good decision or not. Things needed to be figured out, apparently, because things happened so quickly, so that was the time it needed to be done.”

Junior midfielder Daniel Kelly agrees. He was one of the players interviewed before Freitag's dismissal.

“Over my last three years playing for him it’s always been fun,” he said. “It’s just we haven’t gotten the results so I guess the administrative guys see it as we need to move on. Kind of a fresh start I guess.”

Although no decisions have been made in regards to Freitag’s replacement, Glass said “multiple IU alumni” will be considered in the search, a trend that has held true throughout the program’s history.

“For what it’s worth, renewing Mike’s contract would have been the easy thing and the safe thing,” Glass said. “But it would not have been the right thing, and I wasn’t eager to make that change but I’m absolutely convinced that it was the right thing to do and that’s why I did it.”

Sports editor Sean Morrison contributed to this report.