Former Iowa assistant track coach Mike Scott believes he was unfairly passed over for a paid assistant position because the athletic department preferred a female candidate, the Associated Press reported. Iowa's Track and Field director, Larry Wieczorek , even went so far as to say Scott, who'd been working as an unpaid assistant, should "have an operation" if he hoped to have a chance at the promotion, according to the complaint.

The position opened up following the departure of Christi Smith, the only female assistant of a six-person staff in charge of both the men's and women's teams, the AP reported. Unable to find the ideal candidate, the school hired Scott on an interim basis for the 2012-13 season, throughout which they placed three different job advertisements designed to attract women, according to Scott's charge.

Prior to the first posting, the track and field department said they were seeking a distance specialist - Scott was a former sprinter at Missouri - which made little sense to staff given that two of the then five coaches already focused on distance, according to the AP. Perhaps to settle that confusion, Scott said Wiecorek sent an email clarifying that distance really just meant they were looking for a female candidate -- whether he believed advertising for distance would attract more women or if he did so just to disqualify Scott is unclear from the AP's report. Two women and one man made it to the final interview of that search, according to the AP; the two women declined and the man was not offered the job.

When the school re-wrote the next ad, Scott was eligible to apply and did, but he didn't even get an interview, according to the AP.

If some sort of arrangement between Scott and the school can't be reached (not sure what that would entail), Scott and his lawyer are prepared to file a discriminaton lawsuit, according to the AP.

"It needs to be a situation where they are hired or fired based on what they have done professionally and not based on attributes that are not in their control," Scott told the AP.

The thirty seven year-old quit his position before this year and took the same job at Missouri State University. Prior to accepting the Iowa post in 2011, he turned down a paid position at Graceland University in order to break into the DI level, according to the AP.

Scott will miss out on the opportunity to coach incoming recruit Brittany Brown, who as a high school senior last summer won gold medal in the 100 meters at the Junior Olympics and who's PR bested all of Iowa's current women's sprinters. The Iowa men's track team outperformed the women last year so perhaps the school took that into account during their job hunt.