SALT LAKE CITY — Facing a crisis that could jeopardize his 25-year reign as Utah’s athletic director, a humbled and subdued Chris Hill begged off offering any counters on his connection to the outrageous charges that are swirling around his former swim coach.

Three days after Yahoo Sports reported the sordid details, Hill spoke Monday morning on the DJ and PK radio show and basically deferred answering any questions until the university-appointed investigation is completed. With the number of claims and potential paper trails piling up against him and the athletic department, Hill is left twisting in the wind until that information is released.

All he can do is stay the course and hope for redemption from the investigation’s results.

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Parents claim U of U covered up coach's abusive behavior

Amid allegations of sexual abuse by University of Utah head swim coach Greg Winslow, former athletes and their parents are claiming the university knew of inappropriate behavior for years but failed to do anything to stop it.

“We want to make sure we get this right,” Hill said. “If we didn’t do things right we’ve got to make sure we fix them.”

For some, especially the parents who believe their children were physically and emotionally abused by coach Greg Winslow, it’s too late. The time for action was several years ago, when they contend the complaints were brought to Hill’s attention.

In the Yahoo story, Eric Adelson stated several parents went to the Utah athletic department in 2008. Speaking on the DJ and PK show, Adelson said he saw several pieces of correspondence that were sent to Hill.

Based on his research and interviews, Adelson can’t fathom how Hill remained clueless about Winslow’s alleged abuse all this time.

“I don’t see how he could have not been aware of this,” Adelson said. “I suppose it’s possible that another member of the athletic department completely kept this out of Chris Hill’s mind and Chris Hill’s attention.”

Point taken.

It boils down to what Hill knew and when did he know it.

The Yahoo story clearly suggests that Hill never acted on the information he had about Winslow, who was fired recently after a report surfaced connecting him to having sex with an underage swimmer on his club team in Arizona before he got hired at Utah.

“Every single swimmer or parent I spoke to had some email or some sort of note-taking as far back as 2008,” Adelson said. “It’s clear the parents were approaching him and asking for him and emailing directly to him.”

During the radio interview, Hill said he got the some of the allegations and passed them on to the university’s legal counsel. After the Yahoo story was published, Hill and university President David Pershing authorized an independent investigation.

Hill refused to directly address any timeline questions.

“Anything I could say now could be interpreted as trying to influence some kind of investigation,” he said.

One possible explanation in Hill’s favor involves former athletic administrator Pete Olsachek, who supervised the swim program and reported to the athletic director. Hill, who directly oversees football, both basketball programs and gymnastics, wouldn’t comment if Olsachek’s departure from the university late last year was related to the Winslow situation.

“That’s really something I don’t’ feel comfortable talking about for a little while,” he said.

Ignorance is Hill’s best alibi. It’s hard to think he would consider deliberately overlooking any wrongdoing to protect the swim program.

This isn’t to excuse inappropriate behavior at any level, but there’s no reason to cover up misdeeds in a non-revenue program that generates no public interest. What incentive does Hill have to risk his career for the swim team?

At the same time, why did it take so long for the athletic department to recognize the problems? As the director, Hill is responsible for all that goes on in his department.

Given Hill’s salary ($587,481, according to the website utahsright.com), the buck stops with him.

“Even if all of these stories are lies, I just don’t see how . . . there’s not a thorough looking into this before 2012,” Adelson said.

He’s not alone. But until the report is released, Hill’s track record should earn him for the benefit of the doubt.

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