After 45 years creating a legacy for Eaton’s high school, baseball coach Jim Danley’s iconic run is officially over, the small town’s school district announced Friday afternoon.
About a month ago, the district gave Danley a 13-point improvement plan for the upcoming season, saying he needed to sign it or he would be removed as coach.
“After giving Mr. Danley a reasonable opportunity to consider his position regarding the performance improvement plan, Mr. Danley did not respond within the communicated deadline,” the district said in a statement.
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District officials say they are moving forward in a search for a new coach.
“I’m disappointed to hear of the decision to post the opening for the head baseball coaching job at Eaton High School,” Danley said in a statement. “I have believed over the last few weeks that a process was in place through which an agreement could be reached in which I would be able to remain as head coach.”
Danley also said “alternative language for a performance plan had been discussed in which I was in agreement,” adding that he’s still open to a “mutually satisfactory agreement.”
He called his coaching career in Eaton “a great privilege” and something he would like to continue .
“It’s too bad,” said Steve Schlotthauer, a Danley proponent who has vocally supported the former coach. “He was there so long.”
Schlotthauer, who owns a popular Eaton restaurant where photos of Danley watch over patrons, said the news is still settling in for the town.
“As a parent who drove her son 45 minutes to Eaton every day to play for Jim Danley, it’s not the direction that I thought would happen,” said Sara Mondragon, a parent of a senior player on the team who called for changes to the baseball program. “I don’t think any of the parents wanted him to be fired or any of the students wanted him to be fired.”
Mondragon says she has been upset by the elongated way the school district has handled the situation. The goal, she says, was just to improve the team.
“I think that the kids are sad,” Mondragon said. “They just wanted some change.”
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Carmen Edens, whose twin sons graduated in 2014 but quit Danley’s team after their freshman season because of the coaching staff, said she too feels the unrest was handed poorly. However, she says, Danley could have just opted to adhere to the plan.
“He chose not to step up to the plate and do what was best for him and his boys,” Edens said. “He quit the team.”
Danley, the winningest baseball coach in Colorado history, had said he would not sign the plan, whose stipulations included that his son, Kirk, a longtime volunteer assistant and coach on other Eaton levels, be barred from the program.
The improvement plan, the district says, was prompted by parent and player complaints. Superintendent Randy Miller did not make himself available Friday afternoon to speak with The Denver Post.
Danley’s career record is 807-163-2, and he has been inducted into multiple halls of fame. Over each of the past 37 years, the Eaton Reds have won either a league, regional or state championship.
In the 2015 season, Danley led the Reds to their 11th state championship in the Class 3A division, an American Legion A varsity tournament win and a MaxPreps ranking of 17 among all schools in the country.
WATCH: Jim Danley talks about the improvement plan
The controversy surrounding Danley had split the town over the past several weeks into pro- and anti-Danley camps. At a September school board meeting, the turmoil boiled over and each side presented its case.
State Sen. Scott Renfroe, R-Eaton, told the board during the meeting he was disgusted by the plan they presented to Danley, saying “you should know better.”
“Your actions are embarrassing,” he said. “You’re embarrassing this town.”
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or @JesseAPaul
