Minnesota fires wrestling coach after athletes drug scandal

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Longtime Minnesota wrestling coach J Robinson was fired Wednesday, after the university said an investigation into an alleged drug ring within the program revealed he wasn’t forthcoming to school officials and made unauthorized promises of amnesty to his athletes.

Robinson coached the Gophers for 30 years and led the team to three national championships, developing a reputation as a hard-nosed, outspoken and occasionally combative figure on campus. His teams had as much success as any Gophers coach of his era, but he became embroiled in the drug scandal this spring when police investigated allegations that more than a dozen wrestlers sold and used Xanax.

Police previously declined to file charges in the case, citing a lack of evidence.

In a letter sent to Robinson on Wednesday, new athletic director Mark Coyle said Robinson directed his wrestlers to turn the drugs in to him and disposed of the pills. Coyle also said the coach “disobeyed reasonable directives from me and university to share information” regarding the drug activities.

“You have not accepted responsibility or expressed remorse for your conduct,” Coyle wrote to Robinson. “As a result, I cannot trust you to refrain from such conduct in the future.”

Robinson signed a contract extension last summer that ran through 2020, paying him $146,000 annually. Coyle said at a news conference that the coach was fired “for cause,” meaning no settlement agreement was reached with Robinson and his representatives. Coyle declined to speculate about whether Robinson could have kept his job if he had fully cooperated with the investigation.