CSUN’s Webb Hired to Coach at Tennessee

Bill Webb, former head coach of the Cal State Northridge men’s track team, has been hired as an assistant coach by the University of Tennessee.

Tennessee Coach Doug Brown said Webb will work with decathletes and coach the field events.

Webb, 36, coached CSUN to Division II top 10 finishes in each of his seven years as coach. He was fired in May, 1985, for reasons that were not publicly announced by Northridge administrators.

Contracts of CSUN coaches are renewed annually. Lennin H. Glass, dean of the School of Communications and Professional Studies at Northridge, said coaches, in a review for reappointment, are judged on more than their winning percentage.

“Whether the program is successful in wins and losses is only one consideration in the process,” Glass said last year. “We also have to consider how well an individual works within a team framework--in this case, the team being the athletic department. Does he work well with other coaches? Does he get along with other people in the department? A lot of factors are involved.”

Webb filed a grievance over his dismissal, but settled out of court in January for an undisclosed amount of money after a 10-month battle with CSUN administrators.

One source close to the situation estimated that the settlement was worth about $40,000.

In an interview after the two sides had come to terms, Webb said: “I feel that all the time and energy we spent fighting this thing was worth it. I now have an opportunity to expand professionally. I have the time to devote and I am also financially able to do what I want to do.”

Webb spent the last year as a consultant for the U.S. Olympic Committee. He is the national development coordinator for The Athletic Congress and is the personal coach of Tom Petranoff, the American record-holder and a former world record-holder in the javelin.

Webb was unavailable for comment Friday.