Jamie Batley won't be returning as head coach of the Colorado Mammoth.

Granted, we all knew it was coming when the Mammoth gave Batley permission last month to explore job possibilities where he could also be a team's general manager.

Mammoth general manager Steve Govett made it official today, announcing that the team would not renew Batley's contract, ending a two-and-a-half-year run in which the Mammoth went 27-16.

"Jamie Batley has been a very important part of this organization and we thank him for his leadership and hard work during the last three years," Govett said.

Batley took over as head coach midway through the 2003 season, inheriting a 4-5 team which finished 5-2, clinching the Eastern Division on the final day of the regular season.

In 2004, Colorado posted a league-best 13-3 record but was upset by eventual champion Calgary in the Western Division Final.

This past year, with arguably the league's best collection of talent, the Mammoth limped to an 8-8 record, finishing third in the West and dropping out of the playoffs quickly with a loss at Arizona in the Gary Gait Farewell Tour season.

Gait, the league's alltime leading scorer, had announced before the season that this would be his last, after eight years with the Mammoth organization (including stints in Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Washington) fifteen seasons of indoor lacrosse overall.

Ironically, rumors have long focused on Gait as Govett's choice to coach the team in 2006, going back all the way to midseason.

Speculation intensified after a Denver Post article last month, reporting on Batley's search for a GM gig, identified Gait as a leading candidate for a position which wasn't even open yet.

As for Batley, it's likely that his only shot at a combined coach/GM position in 2006 would be with the expansion Edmonton Rush, although former Knighthawks skipper Paul Day still appears to be leading the very competitive race for that job.

Portland and Rochester also officially have vacancies, but Derek Keenan has the Oregon job in hand and the spot with the Knighthawks would be as head coach only.