Last week, Southern Oregon University’s Brent Ericksen, Head Coach of Cross Country and Track and Field fired his assistant.
Travis Floeck, a senior majoring in Communications with an emphasis on Journalism, is finishing up his last term at SOU, but planned on continuing his education through June, while coaching, by taking prerequisites in pursuit of a Master’s degree.
Floeck, the former associate head coach was fired last week after a meeting requested by Ericksen.
During the meeting, which was held at 1 p.m. on Mon., Nov. 9, Floeck was informed he was no longer on the team.
“He told me he was releasing me and I said, “So you’re firing me?”
“Yes,” said Floeck of Ericksen’s response.
According to Floeck, no reason was given for his termination. However, when asked for an explanation behind being let go, Ericksen told him he was “recommended to say it was a coaching decision.”
Ericksen, when asked why Floeck was fired simply stated, “There’s nothing to say,” and would not comment further about the decision.
“It’s nothing we’re happy about and I’m sure it’s nothing that Travis is happy about, but it just didn’t work out,” said Interim Athletic Director Matt Sayre.
When asked questions surrounding Floeck being fired, Sayre repeated, “It just didn’t work out.”
SOU’s cross country team, which held on to their No. 1 ranking after the Cascade Conference Championship on November 7 will be traveling to the NAIA National Championships on November 21 in Vancouver, Wash. without Floeck.
“What they promised me verbally was $8000, food, housing and between $1000 to $1500 in tuition remission each term.”
“I was going by word of mouth,” said Floeck. “That was my biggest mistake,” he added.
“Part of the discussion I had included me finishing [his degree] and then taking some prerequisites for the grad program. I was planning on taking one or two classes a term [after fall term],” said Floeck.
Floeck arrived in late August and temporarily stayed in Madrone, but said he was not given food or reimbursement for buying food during the first two weeks at SOU.
Though he wasn’t paid until September 1, Floeck donated his time in preparing athletes for the upcoming season.
“It cost me money to work for the school.”
“He’s a terrific young coach,” said Grady O’Connor, Director of Men’s and Women’s Track and Field and Cross Country at Lane Community College, who hired Floeck as an assistant coach of Cross Country and track in 2007.
After one year, he was promoted to head coach of cross country and assistant coach of track and field, where he led the men and women to the Southern Region Championships and Floeck was voted Southern Region Coach of the Year.
On October 23, Sayre and Floeck met to discuss his working performance.
“The AD had this meeting with me saying I wasn’t working enough, putting in enough time and that the coach’s expectations were reasonable on top of practice.”
Floeck said on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays he was in the office from 10 a.m. to 3:30 a.m., then went to practice and got done around 6:30 p.m., would have dinner and spend an average of an hour or two hours recruiting each night.
“I have classes on Mondays and Wednesdays so I didn’t get in until 12:30 p.m.,” Floeck said.
On average, Floeck said he put in 10-hour workdays on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, including practice hours, but less on days he had class.
With meets held across the west coast, Floeck also spent roughly every other weekend with the team.
“I’d say I was working between 40, sometimes 50 hours a week and sometimes more.”
“And I was officially getting paid for 21 hours a week.”
Floeck is accustomed to long hours, traveling away from home and working hard.
“Travis is a good guy,” O’Connor said. “He went above and beyond what I asked.”
“We think very highly of him as do many around the northwest; he’s a good person and he’s a great recruiter,” he said.
Ericksen may have been within his right to fire his assistant, but Floeck believes the terms in which he was fired are questionable and raise some ethical concerns.
“I played my roll as an assistant coach,” said Floeck. “I did what the coach asked of me and never vocalized any disagreements; only when he asked my opinion did I give it.”
While verbally promised $1500 in tuition for each term, Floeck said his continued pursuit in getting it was difficult.
“It took a lot of awkward conversations and arguments,” said Floeck. Adding, “They ended up telling me they were giving me $1500 in tuition remission for the year and not the term like I was originally told.”
At the end of his first week he said he had a meeting with Sayre and members of Resident Life where he was told he would be part of a new program.
“It was called a Graduate Peer Advisor Program and I wasn’t told about this program until I already arrived in September.”
Floeck said the first time he heard about the program was when he was sitting down with Residential Life and Sayre, who informed him that he’d be expected to work with the other members and insinuated that the tuition remission would be tied to his work with Cross Country, as well as, the GPA Program.
“The last few weeks they tried to get the ball rolling with it and I was supposed to have a meeting, but it was cancelled, because I was fired,” he said.
Though he had arrived in August to start work, Floeck said there was no written document listing his exact duties or expectations, other than ones that were told to him by Ericksen.
“I was given a list of duties exactly one week before I was fired.”
Concerned with the student-athletes, Floeck said he didn’t think it was a good idea to be released so soon before Nationals, but was told by Ericksen that he had already thought of that and made his choice.
“You know, when you hear about a coach being let go mid-season, the impression is that I screwed up,” said Floeck.
“That’s simply not true,” Floeck adamantly said. “It was a drastic move.”
According to O’Connor, Floeck has always had the student-athletes interest at mind.
“He took no time for himself whatsoever,” said O’Connor.
Floeck spoke to Marion Boenheim, Associate Vice President of Human Services who informed him she would look into the situation.
“He’s [Ericksen] told me its not personal, but with two weeks left before Nationals, it feels very personal,” said Floeck.
As of Fri., Nov. 13, Floeck’s coaching biography and contact information was no longer available under the “Track and Field/Cross Country” category of Athletic Staff on the Raiders website.
“They act like and say I’m not working enough.”
Floeck’s experiences at SOU go beyond coaching. He was a runner here from 2000 to 2005, before leaving to work for Nike then on to LCC as an assistant coach and head coach, before returning to SOU.
“I’ve gone to school here. I ran for the program. I’ve bled for them,” said Floeck.
“At no point have I ever felt like they were taking care of me,” he said.
In the end, O’Conor believes Floeck being fired is not the end of his coaching career.
“Travis is going to bounce back,” he said. “He’s a great coach; somewhere, somehow, he’s going to end up succeeding.”
Still, many questions have been unanswered and Floeck agrees that all coaches are different.
“I know they aren’t bad people and they’re trying to be creative; they’re trying to get as much as they can out of the money they have,” said Floeck.
“But they aren’t accounting for the fact that these are people’s lives.”
“You’re always going to have different philosophies,” he said.
“I didn’t think it was so bad; I didn’t think we had to be best friends, but I’m not in his head so I don’t know why he made the decision. Only he knows that,” said Floeck.
“It’s going to be really hard not being able to go to Nationals with [the athletes],” said Floeck.
“They’re the best I’ve worked with and I really think they’re doing great things and going to do really well,” he added.
“I just hope it’s not going to be a distraction,” said Floeck as the team gears up for next week’s meet in Washington.
