MCC coaches fired, then reinstated

Tony Cirelli wasn't just getting fired.

He was being forced to pay money to find out his fate.

The Mesa Community College baseball coach received a termination letter on June 20 after 15 years as coach of the Thunderbirds.

In that time, he had amassed the most wins in Mesa history and had 27 players drafted by major league baseball teams.

Track and field coach Steve Jacobs received a similar letter one day earlier.

In a message to current and prospective baseball and track athletes, first-year athletic director Jeff Fore said: "We have decided to move in a different direction" in regard to the track and baseball programs.

Adding insult to injury, Cirelli had to give the postman spare change to learn his fate.

"They didn't put enough postage on it," he said, laughing. "I had to pay 44 cents to find out I was fired."

The coaches can joke about it now.

In a matter of days after the dismissals, both were rehired.

After Fore sent out the letters announcing the firings of Cirelli and Jacobs - a duo with a combined 36 years of head coaching experience at the school - word spread quickly throughout the track and baseball communities.

Phone calls and e-mails poured in to the Mesa athletic department. A Web site - www.keepstevejacobs.com - was set up in support of the track coach.

Samantha Henderson, a Mesa track athlete who earned a scholarship to Arizona State this fall, couldn't understand the decision to let Jacobs go.

"I was floored. I was speechless," Henderson said. "Everybody loved him. Even the athletes on the other teams wished they would have went to Mesa."

Cirelli, who has a 527-351 record as MCC's coach, was the first to get his job back.

He had a quick meeting on Monday, June 22, with Fore to confirm the dismissal. By 6 p.m. that day - after the public outcry reached a fevered pitch - Cirelli was told to return on Tuesday, where preliminary efforts were put in place to reinstate him.

Later in the week, Jacobs had to sign a piece of paper conceding mistakes he made as coach this season - some of which he disagreed with - and then was given his job back, as well.

Fore declined to comment about the rationale behind the terminations and subsequent rehirings but said the outpouring of feedback from the community did not affect his decisions.

"I don't look at that stuff, don't read hardly any of it," he said.

Jacobs seemed most upset at the notion that he was being fired for underperforming.

Fore's letter to the athletes said the track program underachieved "because they do not have the leadership in place that will allow us to compete for a national championship year in and year out."

Last season, the women's track team finished fifth nationally in the NJCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships and seventh in the outdoor championships. The men were 11th and 14th, respectively.

Mesa doesn't have dormitories for students or scholarship money for track athletes, which makes it harder to compete with some of the elite junior-college programs.

"Coach Jacobs is the reason track does so well," Henderson said. "If (Fore) is trying to put his imprint on the program, he's going backward."

Recruiting has taken a hit as athletes continue to ask whether the coaches will be returning next season. Cirelli's prospective players were sent the letter about his dismissal. The coach was told to call and tell them to disregard it.

"It's made an impact, and it's going to have an impact," Jacobs said. "We'll get through it, but it sure hasn't helped the program any, I guarantee you."

Fore doesn't believe anything damaging will result from the situation.

"I see nothing affecting the program negatively whatsoever," he said.

One positive has come out of the saga for Jacobs and Cirelli. They had no idea this many people were in their corner.

"You try to teach (the baseball players) life lessons, because how many guys are going to play in the big leagues?" Cirelli said. "When they come back and tell you, 'Thank you for my success,' it really is touching. When they give you and the program so much credit for their success, that was really overwhelming to me."

Said Jacobs, "I knew the track family was close, but I didn't realize how close. Just tremendous support."

"It's like being at your own funeral."