Bill Howard was not pushed out...

In August posed the question on whether Bill Howard was forced out in Madison. It appears that 60 minutes was right, Howard left the University of Wisconsin on his own volition.

UW hockey: Howard's decision to resign his alone
By ANDY BAGGOT

Bill Howard was sitting on the terrace of a Far West Side eatery, nursing a cup of strong coffee, trying to bring some closure to his departure from the University of Wisconsin men's hockey program.

He made it seem easy, belying the fact Howard spent the last 36 years tutoring UW goaltenders to the tune of six NCAA titles and widespread acclaim.

UW announced late last month that Howard was resigning as assistant coach, a role he's had since 1973 when he was hired out of Madison Memorial High School by the late Bob Johnson.

Howard acknowledged having less personal enjoyment and more frustration in recent years working for Mike Eaves, his third head coach, who took over the program in 2002.

Howard said he "could have parted maybe on better terms" with Eaves.

But Howard also made it clear he wasn't pushed out the door, that the decision to resign was his alone, and, more than anything, emphasized the time seemed right for a change.

"Some people said I should have done it when we won (the NCAA title in 2006) with (Brian) Elliott," Howard said, referring to his eighth All-American. "I was still enjoying coaching.

"After a while, you just reach a point where it's not as enjoyable; it's more frustrating than you want it to be. You look at other things you can do.

"I don't have any hard feelings or anything like that. I'm fine with the way it went."

Eaves said this week that Howard, a volunteer since the early 1990s when the NCAA limited the number of paid assistants to two, had talked multiple times in recent years about stepping down and that the process involved a lot of give and take.

"In our conversations, he wasn't angry, he wasn't upset," Eaves said. "It was just a resolution that now's the time."

Eaves said the situation was dictated in part by a recent mandate from UW Athletic Department administrators that the summer hockey schools be moved on campus.

Howard has overseen the camps since the Johnson Era — they were staged most recently at the Capitol Ice Arena in Middleton — and that would change under the plan to move them to the Kohl Center.

"Nobody told Bill that he had to resign," Eaves said. "He came to that realization because of the fact we were looking at (Howard stepping down) anyway, and with this step to take the camps back on campus, it seemed like the right time."

Eaves confirmed that a violation of NCAA rules took place during the latest round of camps, which he said accelerated the decision by UW Athletic Department officials to move the camps and place them under greater scrutiny.

"A secondary violation happened," he said. "We reported it. Because of that, the administration said, 'You know what? We have to be intelligent here and we need to do something.' They need to show the NCAA that they're taking steps to fix the problem that existed."

Eaves said responsibility for the rules infraction falls to himself and his staff.

Steve Waterfield, the UW assistant athletic director for compliance, said two incoming freshmen work