A hiring committee has began the search for a new head softball coach, following the June termination of former Head Coach Jason Anderson’s contract, said UNA Director of Athletics Mark Linder.

After a 40-20 season, Anderson’s contract was terminated after one season on June 12.

His contract was terminated because of allegations made by players whose scholarships were not renewed, he said.

“In May, at the end of the year, we made the decision to part ways with certain girls we inherited,” Anderson said. “After that was done, apparently we got rid of some girls that weren’t too happy about it so a few them came together and decided I was kind of hard on them and I complained all of the time. They got a meeting with the president and I guess an investigation was done. Throughout the investigation I was interviewed twice.”

The investigation took two weeks to conduct and at the end of it university officials gave him the option to resign, he said.

“They gave me a two hour window to decide — it was about five o’clock and they gave until seven to decide and I decided I wasn’t going to resign,” he said. “They effectively terminated my contract and basically that was it.”

UNA President William Cale said that he could not comment on personnel matters due to university policy.

“I will say that the university accurately follows its’ policies and procedures in all situations,” he said.

Anderson is being represented by Florence attorney Tony Hughes, who said he had requested a meeting with President Cale.

“Coach Anderson has never been afforded a meeting with President Cale,” Hughes said. “We have sent a letter to ask for a meeting with President Cale, so we can sit down. We want to know specifically what we did wrong.”

The request was denied by Cale, who did not comment on why he denied the meeting.

Anderson said he never coached in a way that did not represent the university as expected.

“Not at one point did I cross the line,” he said. “I was very very adamant about that when I talked to them in the investigation. Trust me, I consulted both of my assistant coaches; I even consulted with people who were around me 100 percent of the time and they agreed that I never crossed the line. I asked both of them, ‘Have I ever done anything to cross the line?’ and they said absolutely not.”

He said the termination caught him off guard.

“If I was doing something that was obviously threatening to my job, you would think I would have been warned at some point in the year,” Anderson said. “Would I have not been called in to talk to (Mark Linder) or anybody? That is another thing that bothers me, that this was done totally out of left field.”

University officials renewed his contract in the midst of the investigation, he said.

“At the end of May was the first interview; they renewed my contract on June 1,” Anderson said.

Linder said he would not commit on Anderson’s termination, citing the same university policy as Cale.

Anderson said some players’ scholarships were not renewed because they did not fit into the system he ran.

“Yeah, we won some games and we had a great year, but we did not win the national championship and I feel that is what I was hired to do,” Anderson said. “And in order to do that, I have to have kids with that mindset and that attitude in here.”

Mallory Patterson, a catcher for the Lions last season, said Anderson was a good coach and she liked him as a coach.

“He just did what was best for the team,” she said. “Yes, he was hard, but that is called good coaching.”

Multiple returning and former players did not respond to requests for interviews by The Flor-Ala.