Content warning: This story is about allegations of sexual harassment. It can be difficult to read and emotionally upsetting.
Michigan State has sent Mel Tucker a written notice of intent to terminate his contract for cause, Michigan State athletic director Alan Haller announced Monday. The news comes amid Michigan State’s investigation into sexual harassment allegations against the football coach.
“This notification process is required under his existing contract,” Haller said in a statement. “The notice gives Tucker seven calendar days to respond and provide reasons to me and the interim president why he should not be terminated for cause.”
If Tucker fails to provide the school with reasons why he should not be dismissed for cause within seven days, he will be dismissed on September 26th. The school’s investigation will continue regardless of Tucker’s attendance at the upcoming hearing or his employment status. Tucker could lose more than $70 million of his $95 million deal.
The school said Tucker’s “admitted conduct” violated the terms of his contract, which requires him to behave professionally and ethically at all times. MSU also said that Tucker engaged in conduct “that constitutes moral turpitude or would, in the reasonable judgment of the university, be likely to bring public contempt, contempt or ridicule upon the school.”
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Timeline of sexual harassment allegations against Mel Tucker, MSU investigation
The sexual harassment allegations were made public in an article published September 9 by USA Today. According to USA Today, Brenda Tracy — a rape survivor and activist — accused Tucker of making sexual comments and masturbating during a phone conversation with her in April 2022, after the two developed a professional relationship as a result of their advocacy work. Tracy filed a complaint against Tucker with the school’s Title IX office in December, and MSU hired an outside Title IX attorney to investigate.
According to Haller, the attorney filed her report on July 25 and Tucker faces a hearing to determine whether he violated school policy. That hearing is scheduled for Oct. 5 and 6 — when the football team has a bye week. Haller said publicly that he found out about the investigation at the end of December.
After the allegations became public, the state of Michigan suspended Tucker without pay.
A day after his suspension, Tucker denied Tracy’s claims, calling them “completely false.” He said Tracy “initiated the discussion that evening, sent me a provocative picture of the two of us together, suggested what she might look like without clothes, and in 36 minutes she never objected once, let alone put the phone down.” .” .”
Tucker argued that Tracy didn’t tell anyone she was offended until four months after the call. During that time, he claimed she gave him “every sign that everything was OK,” which included texting him on Father’s Day and repeatedly expressing a desire to return to college, his statement said Explanation.
After meeting Tracy and bringing him to campus in 2021, Tucker said he and Tracy developed a personal relationship “that developed into an intimate, adult relationship” that began in fall 2021 and winter 2022, a time when Tucker had done this, involving dozens of phone calls, becoming estranged from his wife.
Tracy, who survived a gang rape by college football players in 1998, visits universities to raise awareness about sexual assault through an activism platform called Set the Expectation. Michigan State named Tracy an honorary captain for a spring game in 2022.
On September 12, Tracy stated in a letter released by her attorney that she had no intention of publicly revealing her identity while the investigation was ongoing and had only agreed that USA Today would publish her story before the investigation was completed after her name was leaked be local media.
USA Today said Tracy agreed to be named in her story and share over 1,200 pages of case documents. USA Today added that it does not typically identify people who allege sexual harassment.
Michigan State is known for its missteps in its handling of sexual abuse allegations against Larry Nassar, the disgraced former USA gymnastics and campus doctor. Nassar sexually abused over 300 gymnasts; He pleaded guilty in 2018 to seven counts of criminal sexual conduct and was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison. The then school president, Lou Anna K. Simon, resigned in the wake of the scandal, but the criminal charges against Simon were dismissed. During this period, sporting director Mark Hollis also resigned. It was never alleged that Hollis knew anything about Nassar, but a 2018 ESPN report described a pattern of sexual assault within MSU athletics.
Michigan State signed Tucker from Colorado in February 2020. In November 2021, he signed a ten-year, $95 million contract extension in an 11-2 win. The 51-year-old’s contract runs through the 2031 season unless he is released for certain reasons: material breach of contract, conviction of a felony and “any conduct that constitutes moral turpitude.”
Tucker is between 19 and 14 years old as a head coach. Two donors, including Phoenix Suns and Mercury owner Mat Ishbia, will pay $24 million of the contract; The school will pay $71 million.
Why the State of Michigan has now begun the termination process
Michigan State had to pursue several possible paths after USA Today’s explosive report. It could have waited until the grievance process was completed, or it could have taken action against Tucker for breaching the terms of the contract. The latter is the path MSU has chosen – and one that allows the school to move forward much more quickly. Otherwise, it would have had to wait for the October hearing and then a final written decision, which could have taken another month. That determination could have helped the school fire Tucker for cause, but it would have taken much longer.
MSU clearly believes it has more than enough evidence to fire Tucker with cause based on his own admitted conduct, without waiting to see whether he violated the school’s sexual misconduct policy. The hearing will happen even if Tucker is fired by then, and with or without his involvement, because it’s important that the process produces a result, Title IX experts told me. Otherwise, there would be no formal record of misconduct if investigations like this were closed the moment a university employee was fired. In situations involving lesser-known figures than the football coach, this could be a big problem. Another university might hire a professor who has a history of sexual misconduct without knowing it. — Auerbach
If Tucker gets fired, who could fill the job?
Since it’s September, Michigan State will have time to put out feelers and gauge interest. When Tucker was hired, signing day in February was a hectic race, and the timing hindered some potential hires. Potential names to keep an eye on this time around include Kansas State coach Chris Klieman, Kansas coach Lance Leipold, Colorado offensive coordinator Sean Lewis, Duke coach Mike Elko, Iowa State coach Matt Campbell and Oregon, among others State coach Jonathan Smith.
This is a Big Ten job that has a lot of resources and a program that has played in four CFP/NY6/BCS games since 2013, so it will attract a lot of interest.
It is the first time for Haller that he has taken on a football contract. He recently hired new women’s ice hockey and basketball coaches, and the hiring of Adam Nightengale for the ice hockey team quickly implemented that program within a year. This will also be the first hiring of a football coach since MSU hired Mark Dantonio in late 2006, with hiring becoming more regular in the fall. – Vannini
(Photo: Mike Mulholland/Getty Images)