It's Christmas Eve of 1999, and Scott Russell's family is gathered together at his house.

The phone rings, and it's Fritz Seyferth, Michigan's senior associate athletic director. He asks Russell to abandon his family gathering and come down to his office.

Russell, the men's and women's club water polo coach, is expecting to get an early Christmas present from the Michigan Athletic Department - a promotion. He expects to become Michigan's first varsity women's water polo coach.

"I was elated," Russell said. "I walked out of the door on cloud nine. It was Christmas Eve, so of course I thought he was calling me to offer me the job."

But when Russell met with the officials of the Michigan Athletic Department on that fateful day, there was no welcoming committee, no contract to sign, and no one to congratulate him.

They informed Russell, the man who had devoted his life to Michigan water polo, that his alma mater had decided to look elsewhere to fill the coaching position.

Hundreds of letters written by Russell's supporters to the Athletic Department were not enough. Ten years of tireless devotion to the program without one cent from the University was not enough (club programs receive no funding from the University).

"I was devastated, absolutely devastated," Russell said of the news. "Everybody who knew me knew that coaching Michigan water polo was one of the biggest things in my life. I lived in Ann Arbor my whole life, grew up there, graduated from U of M. I even moved back to my old neighborhood."

The timing of the decision is what has been criticized most by members of the program - not the eventual hiring of Amber Drury-Pinto as Michigan's head coach.

"I felt like the way they went through the whole process was not taken care of very well," said Eric Lancaster, who Russell coached for four years on the men's club team. "You don't call someone on Christmas Eve and tell him that he's not going to get the job. That's not very professional."

Michigan hired Drury-Pinto because of her experience as a player and coach in California, which also meant that she had the connections to recruit the top players from the west coast. Russell did not have the reputation or the recruiting capabilities that Drury-Pinto could bring to the program.

"I knew Michigan was into big names," said Delia Sonda, junior captain of the women's team. "He is a good coach, but I knew they could get people with bigger names than him."

Russell assumed that the reason he found out on Christmas Eve was so that he wouldn't have to read it in the newspaper the next morning - he thought it was courtesy. But the hiring of Drury-Pinto was not officially announced until the middle of January, calling the timing of the Athletic Department into question.

"Let's just say I won't ever be exchanging Christmas cards with (former Athletic Director) Tom (Goss) or Fritz," Russell said.

Although Russell was obviously disappointed that he didn't get his dream job, he didn't become bitter, and did not turn his back on his team or his beloved University. He even continued to coach the team in 2000 knowing that he would not be the varsity coach, demonstrating his commitment to his players and the program he started in 1988.

"Too much of my life was devoted toward Michigan water polo for me to be bitter to them," Russell said.

After forgiving the program, Russell made the ultimate sacrifice to remain a vital part of Michigan water polo. Once Michigan announced Drury-Pinto's hiring, Russell asked her if he could stay on as a volunteer assistant coach - unpaid once again.

"For me, just to even be on her coaching staff, at least I could still be a part of the program that I built from the ground up," Russell said. "I didn't need for her to give me a salary. I just wanted to stay in contact with the program. I had hoped that I could help Amber in her transition from California to Ann Arbor."

But Drury-Pinto, an established and respected coach nationally, declined Russell's offer. Coming into Canham Natatorium with Russell's presence hanging over her head would not have made her transition any easier.

In crunch-time situations, Drury-Pinto wanted to make sure that her players knew that she was the coach of their team.

"It's a new program and we're going in a new direction," Drury-Pinto said. "I just felt like we needed to start brand new. We were going to be carrying over players (from the club team), and I didn't feel it would be good for anybody to have him carry over with us."

"She didn't feel comfortable having me on the coaching staff," Russell said.