Rumors appear to be just that

Rumors of a possible John Mackovic dismissal as head football coach are just that, rumors. As of now John Mackovic will serve as head coach of the University of Arizona football team. Cat Tracks erroneously reported that Mackovic was going to be relieved of his duties based upon credible, reliable sources within and close to the football program, but these reports appear to have been premature and inaccurate.

A story describing these rumors was run by this site, but has since been retracted. Cat Tracks editor Brad Allis wrote the story detailing a number of incidents both fact and rumor. Reliable sources confirmed the incidents off the record and no official confirmation was given on the record.

The story was written at approximately 2:00 a.m. Saturday morning but was not run until after a decision was made by Cat Tracks Publisher Doug Carr to run the story a few hours later. In hindsight it was obviously a mistake to run the story without official confirmation or waiting for an announcement by the University.

The story was presented as rumor, but made the stance that Mackovic had been let go or could be let go and in effect was erroneous, irresponsible journalism. Cat Tracks has always prided itself on maintaining journalistic integrity and crossed the line in the reporting of rumors, no matter how much we trusted the off the record sources.

Cat Tracks stands by the description of the incidents leading up to the speculation, but jumped then gun when multiple sources revealed the same information.