After eight years, Kerry McCoy is saying good-bye to Penn State. McCoy - one of the most successful wrestlers in Nittany Lions history and a member of the U.S. Olympic freestyle team that will compete in September in Sydney - is leaving his position as coaching assistant to take a similar post at Lehigh University in Bethlehem. "Certainly we've enjoyed having him here as he was training and preparing (for the Olympic trials) and helping us with the coaching aspect," said Tim Curley, Penn State's director of athletics. "I'm sorry to see him move on (but) I think it's a good opportunity for him. Hopefully we can get him back here sometime down the road." McCoy is planning to move Monday. "It's a good opportunity (at Lehigh), but I'm not happy about leaving," McCoy said. "It's one of the hardest things I've ever had to do." Said John Fritz, Penn State's head coach during McCoy's college career: "I'm sad. I'm really down in the dumps about it."
The relationship between McCoy and current Penn State head coach Troy Sunderland may have developed a rift. Asked if he was sad to see McCoy go, Sunderland said: "He's definitely contributed a lot to the Penn State wrestling program as an undergraduate and to me the past few years as a volunteer. (He has) a presence and reputation in the wrestling world." Said McCoy: "The past couple years have not been the best situation here for me." McCoy has been in State College since the fall of 1992 when he was a 190-pound freshman. Since then, he has won two NCAA heavyweight titles, three Big Ten crowns, strung together 88 straight victories and emerged as one of this country's finest freestyle wrestlers. Among his many notable triumphs were winning the U.S. World Team Trials in 1998 and capturing a gold medal at the World Cup. On Saturday, needing to emerge from a best-of-3 series, McCoy secured the United States' 286-pound Olympic freestyle spot by defeating top challenger Stephen Neal in back-to-back bouts in Dallas. "I wouldn't be where I am without Penn State," McCoy said. "I wish them the best of luck."

McCoy said he will miss working out with the Nittany Lions, particularly heavyweight Kevin Shippos, with whom he has trained most often. "Nothing would make me happier than to see Kevin Shippos win NCAAs," McCoy said. Shippos, who has two years of eligibility remaining, said McCoy will be hard to replace. "It's very disappointing any time you lose a coach of Olympic caliber," Shippos said. "And we don't have that many heavyweights in the (wrestling) room as it is. I'm going to miss him a lot." Shippos called McCoy "a team person." "The program's going to miss him," Shippos said. "He's always willing to give help to anyone who asks him for it. A lot of guys will miss him as much as I will."

At Lehigh, McCoy will coach under Greg Strobel, who also coaches the U.S. Olympic team and the New York Athletic Club. McCoy trains with the NYAC. "I've been after Kerry for quite a while now," Strobel said. "I wanted to hire him last year." McCoy will remain in the "volunteer" coaching position at Lehigh - the same role he has filled at Penn State. "To be a coach, it's good to get exposed to other styles so you can grow as an individual," Strobel said. "This will expand his world. He will still have his fans at Penn State and his friends there."

Given a choice, McCoy would have remained at Penn State. And, should McCoy go on to win the gold medal in Sydney, it's hard to believe the university or the wrestling program could have received better exposure and publicity. But McCoy said he suspects he was not entirely wanted back at Penn State. "I believe that if it was a priority, there's some way to get things done," he said. Sunderland said he and McCoy have engaged in "long discussions" regarding what is expected of McCoy and his position on the staff. "It's not really the case that he wasn't wanted," Sunderland said. "It was a case where we weren't able to do, I think, what he needed - in his words - to make ends meet or pay his bills."

Curley said he was not involved in any effort to retain McCoy. "I'm assuming Troy and Kerry have had discussions," Curley said. "I don't know." "I can only speak from my standpoint, and Kerry and I have had a wonderful relationship," Curley added. "I'm a big Kerry McCoy fan. He's an outstanding person and someone who loves Penn State. Hopefully we can get him back to Happy Valley one of these days." McCoy - who in his "volunteer" capacity is not paid by the university - said he could entice neither Sunderland nor Curley to commit to his having a position at Penn State next season. "There was really no concrete position (offered)," he said. "You have to go where you're going to be taken care of."

Sunderland said McCoy was welcome to return in his previous role. "In terms of a volunteer, he had the position," Sunderland said. McCoy desired a modest salary and the means to pay for his graduate schooling. Lehigh and the University of Pennsylvania - which made an offer McCoy declined - were able to meet those wishes. "I don't think what I asked for was outrageous," McCoy said. Sunderland said the additional financial commitment was not possible. "We were not able to do some things I thought we might be able to do to help him financially," Sunderland added. McCoy, who graduated in 1997 with a marketing degree, served as vice-chairman (1997-98) and chairman (1998-99) of the NCAA's Division I Student Athletic Advisory Committee. By many, he is as respected off the mat as he is on it.

"I would think everybody would want him here. Why wouldn't you?" said Fritz, who blames the NCAA's cutbacks on wrestling coaching positions for McCoy's departure. "He's too great a person not to want. I can't imagine him not being wanted. It's just a shame there are those rules that keep a good person like Kerry from staying where he wants to stay." Fritz is a native of Bethlehem. "It's going to be good for Lehigh," he said. "It's a loss for us and a gain for them." In recruiting and in the wrestling room, McCoy could be an invaluable asset to Strobel. And next season, when Lehigh visits Penn State, McCoy will find himself on the other side - until now, the wrong side - of the mat. "The last eight years, I've tried to contribute to a program that I believed in and had my heart in," he said. "(Coaching against the Nittany Lions) is a real tough situation." McCoy managed a chuckle. He wondered aloud about the possibility of getting booed in his home gym - something Sunderland said "would never happen." "Kerry could be in an Iowa shirt and still not get booed by Penn State fans," Shippos said. " He's one of the most popular wrestlers ever to wrestle at Rec Hall. Everyone likes him."

Thanks to Kimberly Jones and the "Centre Daily Times" (State College, Pa.) for the article

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