SEQUENCE OF EVENTS
Parties involved: Athletic Director Mike Alden, former men’s basketball coach Quin Snyder, UM System President Elson Floyd, MU Chancellor Brady Deaton
Feb. 8, 2005: Deaton, Floyd, Alden and MU general counsel Bunky Wright meet to discuss parameters Alden has set for Snyder in order to retain his job beyond the next season, and they agree to those terms. Alden and Snyder meet, and Alden states Snyder will stay on for the following season. Alden also tells Snyder he must finish in the top half of the Big 12 Conference and make the NCAA tournament for the 2005-06 season, or he will be terminated.
Alden told Snyder in that meeting that if things were going poorly at any point during the next season, Snyder could resign and would be taken care of financially.
April 2005: Alden gives Snyder a written evaluation again stating the expectations for the following year.
Oct. 3: Snyder meets with Alden and Deaton at Snyder’s request. He asks for a public statement of support — saying that he will finish out his contract set to expire in 2008 — and is denied. Alden reiterates the expectations for the 2005-2006 season.
Oct. 19: At the Big 12 basketball media days in Dallas, Snyder addresses the upcoming season. At one point, he is quoted as saying “they may can my a—” when asked about his time with Missouri.
Feb. 7, 2006: Missouri loses to last-place Baylor by 26 points. It is the Tigers’ sixth-straight loss, and they are below .500 in 11th place.
Feb. 9: Snyder tells media before his team’s practice that resigning has not been suggested to him as an option, and he intends to coach until he’s told not to.
After meeting with reporters and before practice, Snyder and Link meet. Link informs Snyder of his impending firing, and Snyder says, “I think I am better off resigning.”
Following practice, attorney Wally Bley again joins Snyder to meet with Link, at which point Snyder says his intent is to resign, but only after terms are agreed upon. Link informs Alden of this, who unsuccessfully tries to contact Snyder.
Feb. 10: Snyder tells his team that he is stepping down before the 2:30 p.m. practice. Media soon assembles and reports the story. Snyder contacts Alden later that afternoon, telling him he has done “just what you wanted me to do.” That evening the Athletic Department reveals only that Snyder will not coach that Sunday’s game and that then-assistant coach Melvin Watkins will replace him for that game.
Feb. 11: The UM System Board of Curators call a meeting of the board to discuss the coaching situation, a meeting that eventually adjourned until the next day.
Feb. 12: After the curators’ meeting finishes, Alden faces reporters for the first time since Snyder’s resignation. Questions focus, in part, on what he told Link to say in his meetings with Snyder.
Snyder is scheduled to speak that evening following Missouri’s game, but decides against it pending the finalized, signed severance agreement.
Feb. 13: Dennis Harper notifies the Athletic Department that its radio shows, “The Mike Alden Show” and “Tiger Talk” are no longer welcome at Harpo’s, the Columbia sports bar he owns. He cites the department’s handling of the Snyder situation in his decision.
Feb. 14: Deaton announces he is beginning an investigation of the process that led to Snyder’s resignation.
That evening, Snyder speaks publicly for the first time, saying that he was informed he would be terminated regardless of how the season finished out. Snyder says he was told Alden had Floyd, Deaton and a curator’s support.
Floyd releases a statement saying he was unaware of a decision having been made. Shortly thereafter, curator Don Walsworth does the same.
Feb. 15: Deaton, too, issues a release stating he was unaware of the meeting between Link and Snyder on the topic of resignation, however, his statement indicates there were expectations that were not being met.
Deaton verbally presents his complete findings to Floyd and releases a statement that he has concluded his investigation, but does not release the specific findings other than saying there were poor communications throughout.
Feb. 16: Curators David Wasinger and Doug Russell ask Floyd for a second, independent investigation.
Feb. 17: Board of Curators president Angela Bennett also asks for another investigation.
Feb. 20: Floyd initiates a second investigation, appointing MU alumni Jean Paul Bradshaw and Dalton Wright to head the inquiry.
Feb. 21: Deaton gives his notes to Floyd outlining his investigation of the sequence of events leading to Snyder’s resignation..
Feb. 27: Bradshaw and Wright begin their investigation in Columbia.
Feb. 29: Deaton’s notes on his initial investigation are made public following a Sunshine Law request.
*Source: Deaton’s notes to Floyd, The Columbia Missourian, The Associated Press