Breaking news out of Tennessee is that the University of Tennessee has dismissed men’s swim coach John Trembley, according to a press release on the official University athletics site. He will be replaced by assistant Lars Jorgensen, who will take over as interim head coach for the rest of this season.

It is exceedingly rare for a college swimming coach to be fired in-season, and according to local news affiliate WBIR, the reason for the release given by Athletics Director Dave Hart was “gross midsconduct:

WBIR has also posted a link to his contract, which defines gross misconduct as “theft or dishonesty; gross insubordination; willful destruction of University property; falsification of records; acts of moral turpitude; reporting for duty under the influence of intoxicants: illegal use, manufacture, possession, distribution, or dispensing of controlled substances or alcohol; disorderly conduct; provoking a fight; and other similar acts involving intolerable behavior by the employee.”

We won’t speculate on which of those categories Trembley falls under, but it would have had to have been something pretty bad to have fit that definition. As of posting, our query to Tennessee Athletics had not received a response (though it is 5 in the morning, so that is expected).

This was Trembley’s 23rd year as the head coach at Tennessee, in addition to 5 years as an assistant. He was also a 1975 Tennessee graduate. He took the Volunteers to a 12th place finish at NCAA’s last year, though they haven’t appeared as strong in the first semester of this season. Jorgensen has previously served as a top assistant at LSU and as the head coach at Toledo, though they only have a women’s program. At Toledo, he was the 2010 MAC Coach of the Year. He’s also a Tennessee alum.

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