‘He ruled by fear’: Head coach of Cal Poly swim and dive team on leave, under investigation

Cal Poly’s head swim and dive coach was placed on paid leave while the university investigates allegations of misconduct, according to the university.

Phil Yoshida, who had been hired as head coach in April 2022 after spending 19 seasons as an assistant coach, was placed on leave on Aug. 25, Cal Poly spokesman Matt Lazier said.

The university has been investigating Yoshida since the springtime and placed him on paid leave when it “became clear that the investigation would not be concluded by the beginning of the academic year,” Lazier told The Tribune in an email on Tuesday.

Lazier did not provide further details about the allegations of misconduct raised against Yoshida. And Yoshida did not respond to requests for comment from The Tribune.

The Tribune reached out to several current student athletes, but some responded saying they could not comment.

However, a former coach and athlete told The Tribune that Yoshida had created an unhealthy and toxic culture in Cal Poly’s swim and dive program.

“He coached by fear and intimidation,” said Jerry Damron, the team’s former diving coach, who said he spoke on the record to give a voice to students and coaches who couldn’t speak.

“They (Yoshida and Cal Poly Athletic Director Don Oberhelman) can’t retaliate against me anymore, they already did,” he added, saying that he was fired shortly after going to university administration to lodge a complaint against Yoshida.

Since Yoshida was hired, many of the swim and dive team members complained repeatedly about his leadership style to Oberhelman, according to Damron and a former athlete.

The former athlete, a fifth-year student who was a diver on the team when Yoshida was hired as head coach, spoke to The Tribune on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation from Yoshida and issues finding a job after graduation.

Athletes’ parents also went to Oberhelman to complain about their kids’ experience on the team under Yoshida, the former athlete and Damron said.

However, Oberhelman allegedly threatened to eliminate the swim and dive program should people continue to complain about Yoshida, the former athlete and Damron said.

Near the end of the previous school year, swim and dive athletes spoke to Keri Mendoza, a senior associate athletic director of compliance at Cal Poly, and emailed individuals from the university’s Title IX department, the student said. They again raised complaints about Yoshida’s leadership in hopes action could be taken, she said.

Yoshida, who swam for the team as a student-athlete from 1999 to 2001 while getting a degree in biological sciences, was able to continue coaching until he was placed on leave in late August.

Oberhelman declined to comment.

Former coach said he was fired after lodging complaint with Cal Poly administration

Damron said he was fired by Yoshida and Oberhelman in March after working with the team since August 2022.

The firing came as a surprise, Damron said.

Earlier in the year, Damron said Oberhelman told him he was doing a fantastic job as diving coach.

However, shortly after Damron reached out to Cal Poly’s vice president for student affairs, Keith Humphrey, to raise concerns about Yoshida’s leadership style, he said he was fired, Damron told The Tribune.

Dozens of athletes quit Cal Poly swim and dive team under Yoshida

In about a year and a half, about 40 athletes have left Cal Poly’s swim and dive program since Yoshida became head coach, according to Damron. Typically, a university team will see fewer than than five athletes quit during a year, Damron said.

The swim and dive team currently has a roster of about 58 athletes.

The former diver who spoke to The Tribune on the condition she would not be named in the story said that during winter quarter last year, she was struggling to maintain her grades after going through multiple incidents of personal trauma.

So, she reached out to Yoshida and opened up to him about what she had undergone so he could better understand why her grades were suffering.

“He said, ‘It’s a part of life, it happens to everyone,’” she told The Tribune, “basically telling me that my trauma didn’t matter.”

After that, the student quit the team, she said.

“I love diving, so it was a really hard decision,” she said. “But I think of a coach as someone I’d want to go to, someone I could trust and feel good around. I just felt unsafe around Phil.”

The student later joined the Cal Poly club diving team, which was coached by Damron.

Damron said he saw how good the student was and asked Yoshida over text message to consider putting her back on the team.

To Damron, Yoshida responded in a text message that she was “an awful student full of drama,” the student told The Tribune.

On Feb. 8, Damron recounted confronting Yoshida on the university’s pool deck about the student. Yoshida allegedly began yelling at Damron in response to his suggestion to let the student back on the team.

“I told Phil, ‘A wise man hires somebody who can lift them up and you hired me for that reason,’” Damron said. “And he looked at me like I was crazy and kept screaming at me.”

Several students and other coaches witnessed Yoshida screaming at Damron, the former diver said.

But even if Yoshida had let her back onto the diving team, the student said she wasn’t sure she wanted to join.

“He ruled by fear,” she said. “He will threaten, he will yell at you in front of everyone, and he will do everything but be nice.”