I question the reasons and methods used for the recent dismissal of two long-time coaches at Haverford High School. If the reasons cited were complaints registered via a questionnaire sent to parents/players of the two coaches, the coaches should be able to have their so-called day in court. There's more to this than meets the eye because if the reasons cited for these coaches dismissal is strictly due to parents dissatisfaction with a particular coach, then I expect many more coaches heads to roll. These firings were not handled in an honest and mature way and I question the adults involved in this process beginning with the Athletic Director, High School Principal and finally the Superintendent.

Dedication to his players and the game are Terry McNichol's legacy to Haverford High School. As a Coach, he made the difference in my sons life both on and off the court and influenced him greatly on his way to becoming a fine young man. He also was an outstanding Representative in all that is good about Haverford Township School District. By giving years to Haverford, He took from his own family so that others could benefit. So long to Terry......So long to a friend! Its a shame that Haverford Township School District has forgotten how to say a proper good-bye

I am a Haverford alumni and I gotta be honest this whole system of anonymous questionnaires scares me. Haverford has many great coaches whom I have met these past years, and Coach McNichol was one of them. Its hard for me to see a great coach like him be treated this way. Its also hard for me to see the school I was really proud of doing something like this. Best of luck coach, RED & GOLD FOREVER!

Not everyone holds Terry McNichol in high regard as a coach. His records of 6 wins this year, 2 wins last year, 3 wins the year before, demonstrates a coach unwilling to change. Yes, he is a really good guy who contributes to the community, but if the kids are expected to excel, why should the coach be held to a lower standard? He simply didn't earn the right to be renewed. Getting fired stinks, but where I work, if I continue to fail, my contract isn't renewed either.

Haverford school dist. is a joke...unionville-chadsford here we come....people act like haverford is such a great twp.....3 years too long ranked 71st in the state not so good

A team's record should not be the focus of a HIGH SCHOOL's coaches dismissal. Every year changes as for the record. If the program has the players it will have a good season. If the program doesn't have the players, of course it wont have the great season. Most players who know they are great at one sport and that is their main focus usually go to a private school. Haverford is a public school that does NOT recruit their players, as some other public schools I KNOW for a fact do. As for the "complaints", these coaches (i.e McNichol and Severini) should have every right to see them. As a coach, you expect complaints. Not everyone is going to be happy, whether it is a good season or not. People think their kids are the next Kobe Bryant or Maradona, and they get a rude awakening when they realize it's not true, that's when you get the complaints. As long as the student builds his/her character on and off the field, and learns something about the sport, then the coach has done his job. To dimiss two coaches without a proper explanation is inexusable. These coaches love they're jobs and the sport. They love the students who play as if they were their own. To dismiss them without the dignity or respect they deserve is wrong. They should have made a deal with both coaches go one more year and then retire on their own, so they can have the dignity of leaving, instead of being casted out like a stray dog. Maybe we should be rating the Administration??

I think there are a lot of assumptions in these comments. And clearly when we don't understand the 'why' we lash out. However, I worked with the administration regarding the health and safety of student athletes regarding concussions this past year (ImPACT testing). I found that Dr Nesbitt, Joann Patterson and Steve Quinn put no restrictions on our interviews with their trainers despite knowing they might get criticized for past decisions or inaction. They were willing to have conversations with us about past shortcomings or views. They embraced the idea of putting the health and safety of the student athlete first. Of course, I did my homework before I approached them, thanks to a brilliant fellow HHS parent. Our goals were to implement ImPACT, to address what we called the coaching culture (praising kids as 'tough' for playing through injury) and to formalize efforts to integrate the child back into the classroom (BrainSTEPS). I'd encourage you to think objectively about your concerns and go talk to the administration honestly. After my work on this project, it's hard for me to believe they are ogres.

Karen Brandon what the hell does any of what you said have to do with this article?? What does Terry McNichol have to do with Concussion Testing?? The fact of the matter is, Coach McNichol got a bad deal from the adminsistration; an administration that chose to listen to the TERRIBLE opinions of Haverford High School parents who HAVE NO IDEA what is good for the sports teams at their child's high school.

I say this to any parent who has a negative opinion of McNichol: SHUT THE (YOU KNOW WHAT) UP! Your kid isn't good at basketball, and he wouldn't be good even if Bobby Knight took over at Haverford. I find it HILARIOUS when parents try and act like they know ANYTHING about sports, especially at Haverford. Haha you parents are all jokes. If you have a problem, have the balls to say it to the coaches face. Filling out an anonymous survey is the most comical and soft thing you parents could do. The only sad part is that the administration cared about what you said...

Again, everyone is anonymous on line just like the parents who complained. What has happened to our society? Of course the administration won't speak publicly because their biggest fear is litigation. Litigation rules our society in every phase of our life; people who spill hot coffee and then blame McDonald's for hot coffee. What did they order? Didn't we realize these parents would be this way-have you ever watched little league?They are not concerned with their child learning good sportsmanship and working to their ability. People have forgotten that there is someone smarter or better and that hard work should be the answer. Our societymust blame someone else if their child gets a bad grade-it must be the teacher; they don't get playing time-it must be the coach. Ms. Brandon is correct in her dealings with HHS regarding the safety of the athletes and I commend those involved at HHS but this is completely different. We are discussing two long standing coaches. If the administration wants to go in a different direction that is their decision BUT let's stand up and be the ethical upstanding people we know they can be. Would anyone in administration like to be treated this way? Why have we forgotten the Golden Rule? You tell me. Yes, change occurs but it is the way in which we implement that change that will affect everyone.

Actually you are completely wrong Bryan Ramona. There are 3 other posters on here, including myself, that have had direct involvement with the Haverford Basketball Program and Coach McNichol. So maybe get your facts straight before you say we don't know what we are talking about. What's your beef with McNichol? Did he cut your kid or something, maybe not give him enough playing time? Did you ever think that the reason Haverford has been so bad recently is because the kids over the past 3 seasons were some of the worst basketball players I have ever seen? What do you expect a coach to do when his players suck and they don't do anything he's trying to tell them to do? Hold their hands on the bench and tell them its OK they just turned the ball over? You were probably one of the parents who forced McNichol out. If you want to see what real berating is, go to a college basketball practice at any school in America. I'm going to take a pretty educated guess and say you never were a part of a high school or college basketball team, Bryan Ramona. I have been a part of both, and I can tell you that Terry McNichol and his staff were NOT the problem over the past few years at Haverford High. Why don't you get a clue before you start telling us we are clueless.

Actually Bryan Ramona has a point no one had direct experience with Mr. McNichol except the players. So we have no clue of what went on in the Haverford Boys Basketball locker room or the practices. What we do know, is that that Fords won 5 games in three years. Sounds like the coaches problem to me. There also had to be a problem with the coach if the kids were filling out anonymous surveys. There was also some politics involved, if one player stood up for the coach. That kid must've been getting all the playing time, which could have been what all the raving was about. I watched the fords play a couple of time and honestly Mr. McNichol did not seem like he had a clue what was going on. His pants were above his ankles, he didnt match he looked like Krusty the Clown trying to coach a bunch of athletes. Hiring a new coach isnt a bad idea for that program.

Actually Ricky Bobby, I am a former player for McNichol many years back. So like Mr. Ramona, get your facts straight before you start making assumptions. You are both clueless. McNichol was far from a great coach, but he was pretty good as high school coaches go. The problem at Haverford the past 3 years was that the players (probably your guys' sons) are god awful at basketball. There hasn't been a good player at Haverford since Mr. Mingey's son graduated, and Coach McNichol did very well during Jakes time at HHS. Larry Brown wouldn't have been able to coach these recent teams to a winning record because the players have been so bad. So stop being one of those parents who tries to blame everyone else for why your kid sucks at basketball.

You just revealed why Mr. McNichol was fired because he was far from a great coach. I've been to a couple of games and the guys on the team are far from awful. Its that far from awful coach which caused them to lose. The JV coach, (Mr. Sherry) was a great coach he led the Jv team to a winning season. Mr McNichol should take a few tips from him. He should also take a few tips from his wife who has better coaching skills. By the way John Smith you probably sucked, you probably shined Mr. McNichol shoes before every game. What was your record playing for him?

I agree with John Smith, having spent three years as both a player and manager in Coach McNichol's program. If anyone actually watched one of his practices they would see that coach completely knew what he was doing and did his best to train and work his players into men on and off the court. My greatest peeve with the whole situation was how it was handled by the board, who has shown absolutely no responsibility in this matter and refuses to acknowledge it. I fear this may become a very bad trend at Haverford, and I do not want to see my alma mater suffer because of it

Actually I was a 2 year starter, made the district playoffs twice, and was all central league. So once again, get your facts straight. Have you ever played basketball, Ricky Bobby? Based off of your comments, I would guess you have not because you clearly do not know what you are talking about if you think Haverford has had any good players recently, and you think they would have been able to win with someone other than McNichol coaching. Haha clueless dopes like yourself make me laugh.

Yo John Smith I don't know who think you are passing judgement. Your a loser! You got nothing else to do but wait until someone post something to get your 2 cents. You wanna say these players are god awful. Terry's system didn't work for these players and didn't realize that. So you go ahead a pass judgement on these kids your a grown man who has nothing else to do you clown.

John Smith u say u played for terry several years back but I dnt see you on facebook and John is very generic, you could of done a little better with a more unique name. Lets be a man say who you really are aint no grown man gonna use suck like that. Once again your a clown

Sorry I don't have a facebook, you are pretty lame for trying to look me up. Funny how you try to call me out for being anonymous, but the reason McNichol got ousted was anonymous parent surveys. I agree with you, shouldn't the parents be man enough to tell McNichol directly to his face what they didn't like about him? And I'm sure Ricky Bobby is a real name too. Fact of the matter is, you and the rest of the parents who forced McNichol out don't know anything about basketball and should stay out of the athletic programs. Your kids aren't good at basketball, none of them will play in college, and you still think McNichol is the sole reason Haverford has been so bad lately. As I've said before, McNichol is far from great, but he is a pretty good coach for the high school level. Your kids could do a heckuva lot worse as fare as coaches go. I hope they hire some clown as his replacement so you will see that you actually had it pretty good with McNichol.

Aron smith, great grammer kid. Maybe you should have spent more time trying to get your English teacher fired instead of your basketball coach.

Guess what John Terry's fired so you and his other pet dogs need to deal with it. If he has another coaching job why is he still crying over the situation its obvious he cant coach.

Oh my, all of these comments ranting and raving. Brian Clancy-I commend you and agree with you. The most important and disturbing part of this is the unprofessional way in which this was handled. The superintendent did not attend the meeting which conveys to the community that it wasn't important to him. I thought these meetings were part of his job? This saddens me to think he had something more important to do. Brian you are correct; as part of this community we should all be upset with the unprofessional handling of the situation. Please stop arguing over the decision. We must realize the school district is entitled to make unpopular decisions but we want them to hold themselves to a higher standard than we have recently encountered.

I changed it cus i aint got nothing to hide. Everyone needs to get with the face he is gone aint coming back. So John Smith get your sneakers and come see me cus. Keep running your mouth! See me on the Haverford basketball court.

John Smith are ypu still running your mouth? your boyfriend Mr. McNichol is fired. So you need to go tell him to move on. That Morgan kid was probably the reason for all of this.He probably never got taken out of the game which caused parents to complain its obvious he was the only player to speak up.

I think it's wrong that the majority of the bickering in these comments is about Coach McNichol's coaching ability. As a former player, I believe he is a very good coach, who over the past several years has not had a high talent level. Without him, I think the last several teams would have won less games (believe it or not). That is not to say that the players on these teams were bad, simply overmatched. The team returning next year was built for success and the program is full of young, talented players, many of whom Coach McNichol helped bring to Haverford from catholic schools. BUT NONE OF THIS MATTERS! A high school coach (ESPECIALLY AT A PUBLIC SCHOOL) should not be judged on wins and losses! They should be looked for as teachers and motivators, both on and off the court.The administration has admitted this. Yet, they do not disagree that Terry did a solid job in this regard. The main issue is the gutless chickens on the school board and in the administration refuse to say who made the decision. If it is about wins and losses, fine, I wouldn't agree with that decision but i could at least respect. The way things are now, I have no respect or understanding for what has happened.

Could not have said it better

How about everyone say who they really are John Smith aka Mr. Mcnichol.
Its funny how peopl are saying that he was fired over a survey. I doubt that was the reason, one survey cant lose you your job. It's obviously more to the story that know one is saying because they don't want to put Mr. Mcnichol out there as a bad coach. But things happen for a reason you live and you learn.

If there is something deeper, yes it would be better not to release that publicly. But there would be no reason for the administration to hide that from Coach McNichol. Yes, the public does not need to know why Coach was fired, but he does. And obviously since he's spent the last two weeks talking to the school board, he hasn't gotten one yet. What they are doing (whether you think it is right or wrong) is sneaky and childish.

i played for coach 2years and have known him off the court as well prior to playing for him at HHS. He is a good coach and very knowledgeable of the sport. Obviously we don't know an exact reason as to why his contract was not renewed, hence the arguments, but my belief is that it was based off his attitude. Listen, people can say what they want about him being a great coach and wins/losses shouldn't reflect his job security, and i agree, but playing under his system all four years at HHS, I have seen him mis-handle situations time in and time out. I, like many people who play basketball, started at a very young age and thoroughly enjoyed playing the game...then I got to Haverford and had to play for McNichol. He took the fun out of the game the second i stepped onto the court for him. Every year my desire to quit playing a sport i have played majority of my life grew, because of him. When i found out about the decision Haverford made, i nearly rejoiced. It was time for a fresh start and a new face. I commend the job that he has done at Haverford but i commend the school even more for having the balls to step up and finally do something. Criticize me as you want because i could care less. I usually don't chime in on these things, but reading some of these comments, people seem to have an uneducated theory about coach or a lack of experience with him. i have known him on and off the court, as a player and in a social setting.

Excuse me, Bryan but what is your role in the Haverford Basketball program? Patrick Morgan, Brian Clancy, John Smith, and I all played for Coach McNichol. And yet you speak to those "on the outside looking in"? Sounds like some hypocrisy to me. I was never afraid of a "tongue lashing" or had my "head on a swivel". Unless you played for Coach, don't act like you know what goes on at a Haverford practice or game. He can be tough, but no tougher than any high schooler should be able to take. Not even close. And as for a groudswell of support, did you see the back page of last Wednesday's (I think) delco times with an article and full page picture of coach? What about last Friday's philadelphia inquirer sports section with a long article? And maybe you didn't hear that this was talked about on 1210 am radio last week. Sounds like a lot for a high school coach.

sounds like a bit of outrage here. I love this topic and so I'm covering it on my radio program on ESPN this saturday at 9 am. It is apparently Taboo to post websites on Patch so google "heycoachtony" to check out more and to get a link to listen live on Saturday at 9 am eastern in you're outside the Northern NY or CT listening areas.

Dying to hear what you all think. Touchy topic at best.

Bryan Ramona you need to relax a little bit. I find it quite strange that a community member that doesn't seem to have any connection to the Haverford Basketball team can have such a vendetta against a coach. I played for McNichol a few years ago and he's a good guy that deserved to be treated better than this. Joe Santoliquito is correct in saying that the reason everybody is disturbed by this situation is because the School Board never gave McNichol a reason for being fired. Coach McNichol even said that if they just told him it was because his record wasn't good enough, he would accept that. While I disagree with "John Smith's" opinion that all of the players currently at Haverford are god-awful (and I find it a little offensive since I have a brother playing there now), I would agree that you can't place all of the blame on McNichol for why Haverford has been so bad in the 3 years since I graduated. The players aren't "God-awful", they were just young and inexperienced, and you take your lumps when you put so many underclassmen out there. They'll learn from the past few seasons and it will help them next year.

And for those of you who complained about Coach McNichol "Berating" players, go to a Temple Practice and watch Fran Dunphy. All Coaches yell, whoever they get to replace McNichol will yell too, so get used to it

Who would want to Coach anything in the School District anymore anyway. All these coachs getting fired says ALOT about how poor this District has become! One coach, then that could be understandable. so many coachs, that SHOWS a problem, be it the Superintendent of Schools? Athletic DIrector? Make this school District look like a Charter School?
SO rumor has it the former Ridley Coach is the new coach, they let a good coach go for a pip squeak of a coach who in seeing over the years at times can embarrass his school and players and refs with his childish antics!
Coach McNichol will coach again somewhere else and do an outstanding job, as always, Haverford, well can't say to much good about this, and RIdley, they got rid of a small problem, and they to will get better! People who are in charge of Haverford School District, do some soul searching, you went from good to bad, in a short period of time! Good luck with that!

All the haters out there about the players not being good are takeing a pretty hard beating this year, Haverford has a 17pt per game player in Kevin Gladstone who Mcnichol told not to ever shoot the ball and played him as a 6'6 guard... seems with this change the kid has been scoreing more then 5 pts a game. Haverford is 8-7 and just beat one of the top teams in delco in Marple Newtown, lost to Conestoga on a buzzer beater and gave Lower Merion a run for their money. If you still think the player suck come watch a game this year and its a complete differnt team with all of the same players out there. You obviously dont know anything about the sport, the haters have been proven wrong once again.

Nobody wants to be at Haverford who wants to work for a place where the kids run their parents and the parents run the school. Bunch of Bam Magera backwards thinking people.

Terry McNichol was a horrible coach, played favorites and like most haverford basketball coaches a bit bias... It is a shame the basketball program was run under such circumstances; forcing true athletes to play in the shadows of neighborhood courtyards, never given the chance to excel at the sport they loved most. At the time the program was not about winning; it was about satisfying a certain group of individuals. The invisible color line that existed amongst haverford basketball coaches was very REAL.

Anonymous sounds like the mother of somebody who got cut or buried on the bench haha and I actually think I know who she is. To be fair to McNichol, this woman knows nothing about basketball, and crazed parents can never seen how bad their kid really is.

I can't believe this discussion is still going on. There's a new coach now, can we all just move on?

McNichol's could not coach himself out of a deficit if his job depended on it, and this is proof. He deserved rightfully to be fired. I was actually the same student who ended up shortly playing division 2 ball, and also tried out to for a division I school where I received my bachelors, no thanks to haverford high basketball. I also played in the JCC community league where our team defeated Mr. McNichol's pre-hand picked varsity team. But, no matter, my point isn't just that he was a bad coach. These coaches were to put it lightly borderline racists. A friend at the time on the freshman basketball team back in '02, quoted the freshman boys basketball coach using the 'N' word during a halftime speech. Which pretty much concludes how 'minorities' were on the team at the time. This is firsthand experience; attended games and played with most players on the team. I have a high basketball IQ, have been watching the sport my whole life, the guy just was not a good coach. If you never tried out for the team, or played with any of the players, what input can you really make on the situation? But, I do appreciate the feedback. Ha