By Dave Stewart
MaxPreps.com
NEW CANAAN, Conn. - Howard Benedict, the man who made the New Canaan Rams synonymous with lacrosse success in Connecticut for the past 34 years, will not be returning as head coach of the high school’s varsity boys’ lacrosse team this season.
New Canaan Athletics Director Jay Egan released a statement Wednesday morning indicating that Benedict, an English teacher at the school, had resigned his position with the Rams on Jan. 14. Benedict reconsidered his resignation a few days later, but the resignation had already been accepted by the athletic department, which declined to reinstate the veteran coach.
The job was officially posted on Monday, Jan. 28, and the search for a new coach is ongoing. An announcement regarding the position is expected the be announced within the next two weeks. The preseason begins on March 18.
According to Egan’s statement, “Coach Benedict recently tendered his resignation, which was accepted. While the decision to resign was Coach Benedict’s alone, it came after months of differences voiced by Coach Benedict in regards to athletics at New Canaan High School. In resigning his position, Coach Benedict stated, ‘The autonomy and leadership role that I require and have enjoyed have been undermined.’ Clearly, there was a significant philosophical difference between Coach Benedict and the administration of New Canaan High School.
The statement continues, “Although Coach Benedict has now requested that he be reappointed to the position of Head Lacrosse Coach, this will not happen. As he himself has acknowledged, there is major disagreement between Coach Benedict and the New Canaan High School over athletic issues. The situation has not changed, and the disagreements between Coach Benedict and the administration have not been resolved. Under these circumstances, we have decided that it will be in the best interests of the New Canaan Public Schools to post the position and appoint a new boys lacrosse coach.”
Benedict, who became head coach of the lacrosse program when it was a club sport in 1973, admitted he tendered a resignation out of frustration via e-mail, but when he wanted to reconsider, he was denied.
“This is a firing,” Benedict told the New Canaan Advertiser. “This is from Jay Egan and I have not resigned.”
“The resignation was out of frustration and that frustration lasted for three days with an agreement with the athletic department to communicate, but there was never any communication. There was no communication, it was just a decision."
As for “autonomy” in the program, Benedict told the Advertiser that he wasn’t referring to freedom from working outside the auspices of the athletic department.
“By autonomy, I meant the ability to continue to develop the character and skills of adolescents without things being run by a committee — a committee of parents,” Benedict said. “I think there should be autonomy in sports for coaches and sports as well as in classrooms. Certainly, it’s not about my willingness to collaborate and work with him. That’s not it. I’m certainly willing to continue to work with the athletic department. It’s not about any of that.”
“All of our coaches have autonomy with respect to what they do on the field and with respect that decisions that they make,” Egan said to the Advertiser. “But there’s certain responsibilities that are shared responsibilities between the athletic director and the head coach, as they are anywhere. I can’t read his mind and I’m not sure what degree of autonomy he felt was lacking.”
Egan also pointed out that parents do not influence decisions made involving the athletic programs at NCHS.
Benedict’s New Canaan teams helped put boys’ lacrosse on the map in Connecticut, and, along with Guy Whitten’s Wilton Warriors teams, developed a storied rivalry which has lasted more than three decades. At one point, the state tournament was jokingly referred to as the “New Canaan-Wilton Invitational.”
During his time with the Rams, Benedict led the team to 18 appearances in the State final, winning championships eight times: In 1982, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 2001 and 2003. New Canaan also appeared in 23 FCIAC finals and won seven times, second only to Wilton’s 13 county titles.
In 1996, after the Rams won the state championship, Benedict was named the CHSCA Outstanding Coach of the Year. The Rams’ last FCIAC and State championships came in 2003, when the team was 22-0 and defeated rival Darien three times.
New Canaan reached the FCIAC title game in each of the past three seasons, but finished runner-up each time, losing to Darien in 2005 and 2006 and to Greenwich in 2007.
Dave Stewart, the Sports Editor of the New Canaan (Conn.) Advertiser, is a MaxPreps.com writer and photographer. He may be reached at 203-966-9541 or at sports@ncadvertiser.com
