Northwestern Athletic Director Rick Taylor saw it coming, but never could have predicted the timing – in a span of five days, the school lost 42 years of coaching experience. Sharon Drysdale and Michael Kunert came to Evanston before many NU students were born and grabbed the reins of the softball and men’s soccer programs for the long haul.
They had reached separate points in their careers after taking very different paths, but Drysdale and Kunert resigned like veteran coaches – quickly and quietly. There was no drawn-out melodrama, no swirling rumors: Drysdale and Kunert solidified their decisions, informed players and administrators, and made a public announcement. That was it.
But for Taylor and others in the NU athletic community, the news was still hard to swallow.
“Believe it or not, we talk, and I knew in the last couple of years that both were looking toward the light at the end of the tunnel, ending their careers in coaching,” Taylor said. “But when it came – from a very personal and professional standpoint – it was tough. I’m going to miss them because they were both pros and joys to work with.”
Drysdale, who will finish out the 2001 season as softball skipper, molded her program into one of NU’s most successful. She came to Evanston late in the Carter administration and before Reagan’s second term had led her squad to the College World Series.
During her tenure at NU, Drysdale co-wrote the softball rulebook, reached 600 career wins and was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Last season, Drysdale’s inexperienced Wildcats squad reached the NCAA tournament for the first time in 13 years.
Drysdale maxed out at NU, and with a new professional softball league beckoning her, the decision to resign Feb. 12 was a no-brainer. Coaches and athletes pride themselves on raising the bar to meet new goals, but that bar wouldn’t budge much higher for Drysdale in Evanston.
“She’s Miss Softball of the country,” Taylor said. “She could have stayed here forever, as far as I’m concerned. She just felt that with 23 years and her stature, she could now make a national contribution to softball.”
But while Drysdale flourished, Kunert sputtered. Throughout his 19 years, Kunert had only three seasons with more than 10 wins, the last of which came in 1988. Plagued by scholarship restrictions stemming from Title IX, the men’s soccer program was a ship without sails, and Kunert couldn’t stop it from sinking.
The Cats hit the ocean floor last fall, going 0-17-1 for the season. It was the last straw for Kunert, who spent most of the season hunched over on the team bench, his head in his hands, shielding himself from the misery on Lakeside Field.
Although Kunert’s resignation came four days after Drysdale’s, his decision was made well before February.
“I don’t think it’s any secret – we needed the support to make the soccer program better,” Taylor said. “Mike could have caused all sorts of problems, but he was a pro about it, and I’ll miss him.”
Taylor added that Kunert wanted to help his wife, Louise, run her Montessori school. Although under very different circumstances, Kunert, like Drysdale, knew it was time to go.
With the duo departing simultaneously, Taylor must now evaluate both programs, guide them in new directions and mull over coaching replacements. While he “never discusses candidates,” Taylor said he has received several applications for the positions. There are no frontrunners for the men’s soccer job, but Kate Drohan, NU’s associate softball coach, will most likely take over for Drysdale.
Drysdale’s and Kunert’s successors will be hard-pressed to match their success and avoid their failures. But the greatest challenge for the new coaches is to attain what this duo earned at the end of their tenures at NU – respect.
