A top college football coach could be fired once a team finishes its investigation. Mel Tucker, the head coach of the Michigan State Spartans football team, has been suspended without pay while the university completes an investigation into claims that he sexually harassed a sexual assault awareness speaker after she was hired to address the team. ESPN and USA Today reported the alleged harassment over the weekend, and Michigan’s State athletic director Alan Haller announced the suspension on Sunday night.ย
“The university’s objective has been and remains focused on conducting a fair, thorough and unbiased investigation and allowing the processes to play out,” Haller said. Brenda Tracy told university investigators that Tucker sent her gifts and asked if she would date him if he wasn’t married, according to USA Today. Tracy, who runs a nonprofit company that tries to raise awareness about sexual misconduct, says Tucker masturbated while on the phone with her with her consent. Tucker told investigators he took part in the behavior, but it was consensual.ย
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Haller said he was made aware that Tucker was accused of violating the school’s sexual misconduct policy in late December, shortly after the claims were filed by Tracy. The school hired a third-party investigator, and she completed her report on July 25. The investigator told Michigan State that it should hold a hearing on Tucker, and that will take place in the first week of October. Tucker’s fate with the football team and university won’t be made until the hearing ends.ย
Tucker, 51, has been the head coach at Michigan State since the 2020 season. In his three-plus seasons with the team, Tucker has posted one winning season, which was in 2021 when he led the Spartans to an 11-2 record and a Peach Bowl win. Before the 2021 season ended, Tucker signed a 10-year, $95 million contract extension and was named Big Ten Coach of the Year.ย
This season, Tucker led the Spartans to a 2-0 record with victories over Central Michigan and Richmond. With Tucker suspended, Haller announced that longtime assistant Harlon Barnett will serve as the interim head coach. Additionally, former Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio is returning to the team as an associate head coach. Dantonio announced his retirement in February 2020 and led Michigan State to three Big Ten titles.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.
