Skip to main content

Danna Durante Fired From Georgia

The drama in Athens continues as head coach Danna Durante has been fired.

On Sunday, the Red and Black student newspaper, stated that a source had said Durante was being let go and by Monday, the university confirmed it.

The news comes on the heels of the announcement that three gymnasts had ben set free from their roster.

After having a really rough start to their season, and then falling apart at NCAAs, finishing a mere 12th out of the 12 teams, their lowest finish since 2010 when they missed out on making nationals all together, placing 13th. Jay Clark was head coach at the time, and he resigned a couple of years later and in 2012,  Durante took the reins.


Durante's been (was) head coach for Georgia for the past five years, replacing. While she's lead them to the NCAAs, she's lead them into super six finals three times and in the past 3 years (2015-2017), she's only lead them to the Super Six once, in 2016, where they placed... sixth. With Durante gone, the athletics department is searching high and low for a replacement.

When Durante's replacement is found, he/she/they will be the third major coaching change in eight years. Legendary head coach, Suzanne Yoculan retired in 2009 after 26 years at the helm, 10 national championships and generally creating a program swirled in more myth and legend then the Olympians of ancient Greece. Georgia hasn't been able to re-create the Yoculan magic in either Clark or Durante.

Of course, that brings us to the million dollar question. Who will succeed Durante? Speculations are rampant on the gymternet. One such speculation is that Yoculan herself will resurface and reclaim her seat on the head coach throne. But, she's been retired for eight years now, would she want to come back? It's not like she's coming back to her old team of her girls. She'd be essentially rebuilding the team.

If not Yoculan, than who else could fill that role?

Could Georgia athletics entice someone like, I don't know, Courtney McCool to come be head coach?

Then, what will be the fate of the three dismissed gymnasts? Natalie Vaculik, Caroline Bradford and Jasmine Arnold. Bradford and Arnold were both walk-ons and never competed a single routine for Georgia. Vaculik was a regular contributor on bars in 2016, but was too bogged down by the sweating sickness or whatever to regularly contribute to the bars line-up more than twice.

Then there is Samantha Durante...the daughter of the now former head coach at Georgia...who was slated to join the team in 2018, but who knows what will happen with that now that her mom's not an employee of the University of Georgia.

So many questions so few answers...

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Elise Ray Officially Named Washington Head Coach

Elise Ray, 2000 Olympic Bronze Medalist,  US National Champion, NCAA champion, has been named the head coach at the University of Washington's gymnastics program, following the retirement of longtime head coach, Joanne Bowers.

Peyton Ernst Transfers to Alabama

 Peyton Ernst announced that she's transferred to the University of Alabama to complete her education and to continue her college gymnastics career.

Kyla Ross Out of Worlds Selection

Kyla Ross has ended her bid for a  spot on a third world championship team and withdrawn from worlds selection camp for the world championships in Glasgow, Great Britain. USA Gymnastics released a statement earlier today confirming Kyla's withdrawal from the selection camp, which starts Oct. 6th.