Michigan State coach Mel Tucker fired amid investigation into sexual harassment of rape survivor, per reports
Brenda Tracy, a rape survivor and well-known activist, revealed the details of her complaint on Saturday
www.cbssports.com
Secondary coach Harlon Barnett will serve as the interim head coach with former Spartans coach Mark Dantonio expected to assist the program in a presently undefined role, according to 247Sports' Justin Thind.
Tracy, who shared the details of the complaint with USA Today, visited MSU at least three times as an activist starting in 2021 -- including once in which she was recognized as an honorary captain at a Michigan State spring football game -- and built a relationship with Tucker as part of her work on campus.
Tracy also alleges numerous other inappropriate incidents.
"The idea that someone could know me and say they understand my trauma but then re-inflict that trauma on me is so disgusting to me, it's hard for me to even wrap my mind around it," Tracy told USA Today. "It's like he sought me out just to betray me."
Tracy was gang raped at the hands of four men -- three college football players and a recruit -- in 1998. She went public in 2014 and has since transformed that traumatic experience into a message she has sprawled across college sports: Violence against women must stop.
In statements provided to the Title IX investigator, Tucker acknowledged that the April 28 phone call occurred; however, he claimed it was a consensual encounter.
"Ms. Tracy's distortion of our mutually consensual and intimate relationship into allegations of sexual exploitations has really affected me," Tucker wrote in a letter to the investigator that was obtained by USA Today. "I am not proud of my judgement and I am having difficulty forgiving myself for getting into this situation, but I did not engage in misconduct by any definition."
Action Network's Brett McMurphy first reported Tucker's firing.
A formal hearing had been scheduled for Oct. 5-6, according to USA Today.
Tucker was off to a 2-0 start in his fourth year at Michigan State after beating Richmond 45-14 on Saturday night. After leading the Spartans to an 11-2 record in his second season, he signed a 10-year, $95 million fully guaranteed contract with the school. Since then, the program is just 7-7 and 3-6 in Big Ten play.
There was a clause in Tucker's contract that would allow MSU to fire him for cause "if the coach is engaged in any conduct which constitutes moral turpitude" or MSU deems said conduct to have embarrassed the university.
Michigan State continues to attempt to rebuild its reputation after overlooking decades-long complaints against Larry Nassar, an MSU physician and former USA Gymnastics doctor accused of sexually assaulting hundreds of female athletes. Nassar was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison in verdicts reached across 2017-18.
