Wisconsin has fired associate head coach Troy Ward, per a report in the Wisconsin State Journal.
Head coach Mike Eaves told the newspaper that the decision to fire his longtime friend was based on Ward’s continual inquiries into other jobs and no on his performance behind the bench and with the team.
“In my mind, I’m relieving (Ward) of his duties and asking him to go and find where his passion is,” Eaves told the paper. “It’s a reflection of where (Ward) is in his life because he’s in between,” Eaves said. “He’s in between trying to figure out if he wants to be a businessman, if he wants to be a head coach. Where is the best place he can reach his maximum?”
Ward was an assistant under Eaves at Wisc.-Eau Claire and the two worked together from 1997-99 as assistants for the Pittsburgh Penguins. When Eaves was named the head coach at Wisconsin in 2002, he hired Ward to be his assistant.
Eaves is looking for a replacement and may promote his other assistant, Mark Osiecki, to the top assistant’s role.
