Junior Askold Kohlmann Leaves Football Varsity

Junior fullback Askold Kohlmann has left the varsity football team following a dispute with head coach John Yovicsin.

Kohlmann said yesterday that he and the coach quarreled shortly after the Penn game about the amount of action the fullback has seen this year, and that Yovicsin finally told him he "had better turn in" his equipment.

Yovicsin said yesterday, "Askold Kohlmann was not dismissed from the football team; he withdrew. We spoke about his situation last week and he agreed it would be better for him under the circumstances to withdraw.

"There has never been a fellow dismissed from our squad since I've been here," Yovicsin said. "Plenty of people withdraw every year."

Yovicsin added that at a meeting he and Kohlmann had discussed the possibility of the fullback's playing next year.

The argument between coach and player arose when an alumnus from Kohlmann's home state telephoned Yovicsin after the Penn game and said that Kohlmann had told him he was not being treated fairly. Yovicsin called the fullback into his office the next day and, according to Kohlmann, said, "If you have any problems, talk to the coaching staff and don't go behind my back."

Kohlmann said that he had complained to Yovicsin during their discussion that he had "not been given a chance to play this year." He had seen action only in the Penn game, when he had played two minutes on offense.

A leading ground gainer and scorer with the J.V.'s last year, Kohlmann was placed on the fourth team in this summer's pre-season depth chart, behind fullbacks Pat Conway, Stan Yastrzemski, and Lloyd Macdonald.

Kohlmann said he had hoped he would move up in the rankings after his performance in the preseason New Hampshire scrimmage, in which he gained close to 100 yards and scored a touchdown. He said he was disappointed at being shifted only to alternate third-team halfback.

Later he was moved back to fullback and in the 34-0 win over Penn, when Conway was hurt, Yastrzemski, Macdonald, and Tom Choquette played ahead of him.

Kohlmann added that when he challenged the evaluation and suggested to Yovicsin that the two review the films of the New Hampshire scrimmage, Yovicsin said, "This is getting out of hand. Now you had better turn in your equipment."