Brent Lundell, the girls tennis coach who guided Minnetonka to team state championships in his only two seasons, told the Minnetonka School Board on Monday why his removal as coach should be reconsidered.
Lundell and a wide network of his supporters spoke at a hearing. Lundell's attorney, Eric C. Arch, presented facts in Lundell's favor, then yielded to Lundell, who spoke for about 45 minutes, laying out his philosophy as a tennis coach, his reasons for disputing his removal and the timeline of the communication with the school regarding its desire to change coaches.
Lundell was notified in late April by Minnetonka High School that his contract would not be renewed. The Minnetonka School Board approved the decision. Under Lundell, Minnetonka won back-to-back Class 2A girls tennis state championships in 2021 and 2022.
Lundell is also the boys tennis coach for Eden Prairie, but he did not coach Tuesday in the team portion of the Class 2A state tournament, leaving that to assistant coach Dan Richards. He believes his role as coach at another school is partially responsible for the decision not to renew his contract. Lundell also disputes a claim made by Minnetonka administration that he violated a portion of a Minnesota State High School League bylaw that governs coaching out of season when a boys player from Eden Prairie helped him coach the Minnetonka girls team.
Lundell said the player had the duties of a coach and was not being coached. He said Minnetonka had approved the player's involvement and had put the player on its payroll for the season.
Before the hearing, which ran the full 75 minutes allotted by the board, Lundell addressed why he chose to dispute his dismissal.
"I probably have about a 1 percent chance of winning," he said. "But I just want the story to be accurate. I want to get the facts straight."
