“Obviously, we got hit. We got blind- sided. We had no idea this was going to happen, no indication. It was a cheap shot.”
- Mike Denney STARTING OVER
Mike Denney led Nebraska-Omaha to seven national titles, but his pro- gram was still dropped this past spring. Now he’s the new head coach at Maryville (Mo.) University.
By Leo Adam Biga OMAHA, Neb. - The “For Sale” sign spoke volumes. Planted in the front yard of the home Mike and Bonnie Denney called their own for decades, it served as a graphic reminder an Omaha icon was leaving town. The long-time University of Nebraska at Omaha wrestling coach and his wife of 42 years never expected to be moving. But that’s what hap- pened in the wake of shocking events the past few months. Forced out at the school he devoted half his life to when UNO surprised everyone by dropping wrestling, he’s now taken a new opportunity far from home — as head coach at Maryville University in St. Louis, Mo. The sign outside his home, Denney said, reinforced “the finali- ty of it.” That, along with cleaning out his office and seeing the mats he and his coaches and wrestlers sweated on and achieved greatness on, sold via e-Bay. On his last few visits to the Sapp Fieldhouse and the wrestling room, he said he couldn’t help but feel how “empty” they felt. “There’s an energy that’s gone.” It wasn’t supposed to end this way. Not for the golden wrestling program and its decorated coach. But this past spring the winningest program in UNO athletic
history, fresh off capturing its third straight national champi- onship and sixth in eight years, was unceremoniously disband- ed.
Denney’s teams won two-thirds of their duals, claimed seven national team championships, produced more than 100 All- Americans and dozens of individual national champions in his 32 years at the helm. At age 64, he was at the top of his game, and his program poised to continue its dominant run. “Let me tell you, we had a chance to make some real history here,” he said. “Our team coming back, I think we had an edge on people for awhile. We had some good young talent.” A measure of how highly thought of Denney is in his profes- sion is that InterMat named him Coach of the Year for 2011 over coaches from top Division I programs. In 2006, Amateur Wrestling News made him its Man of the Year. That same year WIN Magazine tabbed him as Dan Gable Coach of the Year.
18 USA Wrestler
Mike Denney spent 32 seasons at Nebraska-Omaha. Three times he’s been voted Division II Coach of the Year.
He’s an inductee in both the Division II and UNO Athletic Halls of Fame. UNO awarded him its Chancellor’s Medal for his sig- nificant contributions to the university. Yet, when all was said and done, Denney and his program were deemed expendable. Suddenly, quite literally without warn- ing, wrestling was shut down, the student-athletes left adrift and Denney’s coaching job terminated. All in the name of UNO’s it’s- just-business move to Division I and the Summit League. The story made national news.
Response to the decision ranged from incredulity to disap- pointment to fury. To his credit, Denney never played the blame game, never went negative. But as print and television coverage documented in teary-eyed moments with his wrestlers, coaches and wife, it hurt, it hurt badly.
“I suppose you’re bound to have a little anger and bitterness, but it’s more sadness,” he said.
The closest he comes to criticism is to ask accusingly, “Was it worth it? Was the shiny penny worth it? Or are people worth it? Continued on page 19
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