Michigan State suspended football coach Mel Tucker without pay on Sunday, less than 24 hours after allegations were made public in a USA Today report that he sexually harassed activist and rape survivor Brenda Tracy during a phone call last year.
Michigan State President Teresa K. Woodruff and athletic director Alan Haller announced the suspension pending the results of an investigation into the allegations.
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The school hired an outside Title IX attorney to investigate Tracy’s complaint and the investigation was completed in July, the USA Today report said. A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 5 and 6 to determine whether Tucker violated the school’s sexual harassment and exploitation policy, the newspaper reported.
Tucker is in the third year of a 10-year, $95 million contract and if he is fired for cause, the school would not have to pay him what remains of his deal.
The state of Michigan can dismiss Tucker for cause if he “engages in conduct that constitutes moral turpitude or that, in the judgment of the university, would tend to bring upon the university public disdain, disdain, or ridicule,” according to his contract. The school could also suspend Tucker without pay if he “materially breaches” his contract.
Messages seeking comment were left Sunday by The Associated Press with Tucker, Tracy and Tucker’s attorney, Jennifer Belveal.
Tucker is the second Big Ten football coach in three months to find himself at the center of a scandal.
Northwestern fired its longtime coach Pat Fitzgerald in July after a school investigation revealed hazing in the football program. Fitzgerald was initially suspended by the school for two weeks during the preseason, but Northwestern’s president later decided to fire him for cause after details of the hazing allegations became public through media reports.
Tracy befriended Tucker through her advocacy work, but that relationship took a turn in April 2022 when Tucker masturbated during a phone call with her, according to USA Today.
“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 that it’s hard for me to even think about it,” Tracy told the newspaper. “It’s as if he sought me out just to betray me.”
Tucker acknowledged to investigators last spring that he masturbated during the phone call with Tracy, but said they had consensual “phone sex.”
Tucker, 51, is married and has two children.
“Ms. Tracy’s distortion of our mutually consensual and intimate relationship into allegations of sexual exploitation has truly struck me,” Tucker wrote in a March 22 letter to the Title IX investigator. “I don’t take pride in my judgment and I have a hard time forgiving myself for getting into this situation, but I committed absolutely no wrongdoing.”
The Spartans defeated Richmond Saturday to improve to 2-0 in Tucker’s fourth season with the school. Tucker is one of the highest-paid coaches in college football. He is 20-14 in three-plus seasons at Michigan State, which hired him after going 5-7 in one year at Colorado.
Shortly after Mark Dantonio retired in February 2020, then-athletic director Bill Beekman hired Tucker, who was a graduate assistant at Michigan State for Nick Saban.
The Spartans were 2-5 in Tucker’s first season, which was shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, and won 11 games in 2021, with Wake Forest transfer Kenneth Walker becoming a breakout star in the rebounding season.
Michigan State was 5-7 in 2022, a season marred by charges and suspensions for several players for their role in a postgame fight in the Michigan Stadium tunnel.
Tracy is known for her work with university teams, educating athletes about sexual violence. She has spoken to the Michigan State football team several times.
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AP College Football Writer Ralph D. Russo contributed to this report.
