Recording sounds off on UALR

UALR athletic department officials received an audio recording June 6 of a profanity-laced tirade believed to be made by former baseball coach Scott Norwood, the day before he decided to resign after six seasons.

School officials won't say if the recording is the reason Norwood resigned or even acknowledge whether it was Norwood on the recording.

But Deadspin.com, a sports web site, posted an audio recording Friday afternoon in which a man believed to be Norwood berates players during a profanity-laced rant that lasts for almost seven minutes.

UALR Athletic Director Chris Peterson did not return a message Friday seeking comment on the audio recording. Richard Turner, UALR's senior associate athletic director for compliance, said Friday that Peterson is on vacation in California until next week.

Turner confirmed that UALR was provided with a copy of the audio June 6 and that Norwood informed Peterson of his resignation the next day. UALR officially announced the resignation two days later.

Turner declined to say who provided UALR with the audio recording, how it was delivered to the school, or if Norwood specifically cited the recording as a reason for his resignation.

An e-mail, with the audio recording attached, was sent to the Democrat-Gazette, deadspin.com, perfectgame.org and various members of the UALR athletic department, including Turner. The email originated from an address identified as belonging to Don Hudson, who has made numerous accusations against the UALR baseball program.

Hudson, reached for comment Friday night, said he was responsible for sending the email with the audio.

Among the accusations made by Hudson:

• Norwood assaulted former UALR player Kaleb Jobe during a practice session when Jobe was a freshman.

• Assistant coach Chris Marx's scheduled practices in violation of NCAA rules.

• Players and volunteer coaches were given discounted housing rates.

"[The NCAA] is aware of what the issues are," Turner said Friday. "We've discussed with them what the issues are, but we have not sent any information to them."

Jobe, who played for UALR in 2010-2013, said Friday that he spoke with Turner on Wednesday and said he was asked about an incident during his freshman year in 2010, when he said Norwood grabbed him by the face mask and "threw me to the ground."

Jobe said "it wasn't a big deal to me," and that he did not report the information until Turner called him this week. Jobe said he had listened to the audio recording Friday and that he was not surprised by what he heard.

"That's actually a good one," said Jobe, who did not play for UALR in 2014. "There's been plenty of times when we come home from road trips, we'll be in the parking lot, sitting on the bus for an hour-and-a-half listening to him do that."

The tirade was recorded sometime after UALR defeated Southeast Missouri 1-0 on Feb. 18 to start the 2014 season 4-0 and before a 3-0 victory over Bradley on Feb. 21.

Reasons for the outburst aren't entirely clear from the recording. It begins with the man who is believed to be Norwood calmly addressing how players weren't hanging up their uniforms properly, but he quickly loses his temper.

"If you think you're f*** big s right now because you're 4-0, you haven't beat anybody yet," the man says before a player identified as "Travis" responds.

"Don't you f talk back to me today," Norwood said. "Get out -- hey, you want to look down, get the f out of here. I'll find some one else to pitch tomorrow. You want to f go now? There's the f*** door, son."

UALR beat Bradley to improve to 5-0, with senior Travis McDonald striking out seven over 6 1/3 innings.

Norwood was cleared by UALR's department of human resources May 30 of any wrongdoing after an investigation into a formal complaint filed by Cole Gordon, a former assistant coach who resigned during the middle of the season. Gordon accused Norwood of physical and sexual harassment and of buying alcohol for players.

Documents obtained by the Democrat-Gazette through the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act said that UALR's investigation could not prove any of Gordon's allegations and that Norwood was not disciplined.

Turner said Friday that UALR is holding another investigation of its baseball program after receiving additional information, but he would not say what part, if any, the audio recording played in the inquiry.

UALR self-reported minor NCAA violations in April after the school said Gordon committed two violations by bringing a recruit to campus during a dead period and failing to report the violation. Turner said Friday that UALR has not self-reported any additional violations to the NCAA.

UALR finished 25-29 overall and 11-19 in the Sun Belt Conference this past season. Norwood led the Trojans to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2011, but his teams failed to win a conference tournament game in any other season and failed to reach the tournament in four of his six seasons. He compiled a 148-178 record at the school.

In his resignation letter dated June 9, Norwood said he was resigning to "pursue other opportunities." Peterson said following the resignation that Norwood had become exhausted with the events of the season, which included a benches-clearing brawl April 2 during a game against the University of Central Arkansas.

"It was a long season," the athletic director said. "Losing isn't fun."

Sports on 06/14/2014

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