Even in his final days as coach of the Penn gymnastics team, Tom Kovic insists that he should not be the center of attention.
Kovic announced his resignation over the weekend, but maintains that "it was a decision that obviously I had been contemplating but one that I didn't want to make until after the season was complete. And the reason ... was that I wanted the focus and the attention to be on the team and not drawn in any way towards me."
But now, whether he wants it or not, the attention will be on him and on the giant question mark his absence leaves at the heart of Penn gymnastics.
Kovic's resignation will force Athletic Director Steve Bilsky to select a new gymnastics coach for the first time in 19 years -- longer even than men's basketball coach Fran Dunphy's celebrated tenure.
"In my heart, ... this decision was the best one for the program," Kovic said. "The important thing to me is that I look back and I remember my years at Penn -- 19 years as head coach -- as years that I made [an] impact."
"It's best now for the program to get some new blood [and] new direction."
And though the decision came as a surprise to most people affiliated with the program, few will likely question the wisdom of Kovic's choice.
According to Kovic, Bilsky "appreciates the fact that his coaches have to make certain decisions and move in certain directions."
By his own admission, the coach's stay at Penn was not as flawless as his 140-76 career record might indicate.
In an e-mail sent to program alumnae and supporters, Kovic apologized for falling short of some of the goals he had set.
"I really want to be able to look back at this and say that I reached for very lofty goals," he said. "Maybe I didn't hit the mark on all of them, but I struggled well."
Not that his personal "struggle" didn't produce tangible results. Penn remains the only Ivy League team to win an East Coast Athletic Conference title. And the Quakers did it twice -- in 1998 and again in 2004.
When asked about the greatest source of pride in what he built at Penn, though, Kovic cited "the academic excellence that [my players] have portrayed."
Soon-to-be graduate Becca Aronson described Kovic's philosophy as one where excellence both in the classroom and in the gym was the norm, not the exception.
"Just because we're Ivy League doesn't mean we're not Division I," she said. "Coach Kovic always instilled that confidence in us."
"We need someone who dreams just as big as we dream."
That standard will likely be a difficult legacy for his successor to continue, as Penn's 2005 squad boasted the fifth-best cumulative grade-point average in the nation in addition to an 11-2 record.
"Tom has done a wonderful job mentoring true scholar-athletes," Bilsky said in a statement released by the athletic department.
But despite the fact that Kovic is a leading authority on gymnastics in Philadelphia -- having graduated from Temple's program and coached at the local Germantown Friends School for seven years -- he expects to remain largely neutral in the search for a replacement.
"I know [the program] is going to continue ... the commitment to the true student-athlete," he said.
And Kovic himself will be continuing that legacy outside of the University. He plans on beginning a small consulting service that aims to educate prospective student-athletes regarding the recruitment process and the realities of collegiate athletics.
He will also provide pro bono informational seminars on college opportunities, directed primarily at underprivileged families.
