Michigan State Suspends Mel Tucker After Sexual Harassment Accusation

By Dan Hope on September 10, 2023 at 5:14 pm
Mel Tucker
Nick King/Lansing State Journal/USA TODAY Network

Mel Tucker may have coached his final game for Michigan State on Saturday.

Michigan State suspended Tucker without pay on Sunday, hours after news broke that he was accused of sexual harassment by sexual violence prevention educator Brenda Tracy.

Secondary coach Harlon Barnett, who is in his 15th year on Michigan State’s coaching staff, will serve as Michigan State’s interim head coach. Former Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio is also returning to the program as associate head coach.

Tracy filed a complaint with Michigan State’s Title IX office in December, but the university’s investigation had not been reported on publicly until early Sunday morning, when USA TODAY’s Kenny Jacoby published a story outlining the allegations made by Tracy against Tucker. Tracy accused Tucker of making sexual comments about her and masturbating during an April 2022 phone call. (Warning: The USA TODAY story includes graphic details of alleged sexual harassment.)

Tucker told a Title IX investigator in March that he had consensual “phone sex” with Tracy, but Tracy told the investigator that Tucker’s romantic interest in her was one-sided and that she attempted to set boundaries with Tucker multiple times prior to the April phone call.

In a statement released by Tucker’s attorney on Monday, Tucker asserted that “Tracy’s allegations of harassment are completely false.” While Tucker did not dispute the reported details of the April 2022 phone call, he described it as a “mutual, private event between two adults” and said “never once during the 36 minutes did she object in any manner.”

Tracy responded to Tucker’s statement with a statement of her own Monday night in which she said “Coach Tucker has been delaying and trying to stop the investigative process since the beginning.”

Per USA TODAY’s report, Tracy – a rape survivor who speaks to athletes throughout the country about sexual assault prevention – initially met Tucker in August 2021 when she visited Michigan State for an educational presentation to the MSU football team. Over the next year, Tucker and Tracy reportedly spoke on the phone at least 27 times, and Tucker became romantically interested in Tracy during that time.

Tucker, who is married, said in his statement Monday that he and his wife have “been estranged for a long time.”

An investigation report delivered to MSU in July by Title IX investigator Rebecca Leitman Veidlinger did not issue a finding of fault, instead referring the case to a hearing, which is scheduled to take place during the week of Oct. 5. Michigan State athletic director Alan Haller described the investigation as “active and ongoing” during a Sunday afternoon press conference.

Tucker had coached the Spartans in their first two games of the season despite the ongoing investigation. A Michigan State spokesperson told ESPN’s Dan Murphy on Sunday that Haller and other university leaders were unaware of the details of Tracy’s allegations until USA TODAY’s story was published, and said Tucker was suspended due to "unprofessional behavior and not living up to the core values of the department and university."

While no final decision on Tucker’s future with the program has been made, ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg and Pete Thamel reported that Tucker’s “job status going forward is in doubt.”

Hired as Michigan State’s head coach in 2020 following Mark Dantonio’s retirement, Tucker received a 10-year, $95 million contract extension from MSU in 2021, when he led the Spartans to an 11-2 record. Tucker followed that up by going just 5-7 in 2022, however, before starting this season with wins over Central Michigan and Richmond.

While Tucker’s $95 million contract extension was fully guaranteed, it included a clause that MSU could fire Tucker for cause if he “engaged in any conduct which constitutes moral turpitude or, which in the university's reasonable judgment, would tend to bring public disrespect, contempt or ridicule,” according to ESPN.

Tucker is the second Big Ten coach to be suspended due to an off-field investigation this year. Former Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald was suspended and ultimately fired by Northwestern in July following an investigation into hazing within the Northwestern football program.

Michigan State, which plays Washington at home on Saturday, is scheduled to play at Ohio State on Nov. 11.

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