Mel Tucker has almost certainly coached his last game at Michigan State. I don’t see any path for him to continue leading MSU’s football program. Nor should he.
Not after such stupidity. Not from a position that’s supposed to be an example to young men. Not at MSU.
A USA Today investigation published early Sunday morning detailed allegations that Tucker engaged in unwanted phone sex with prominent sexual assault activist and survivor Brenda Tracy in April of 2022. The two had become friends and, Tucker said, flirtatious after Tucker brought Tracy to campus twice — once to speak to his team, once to be the honorary captain at the 2022 spring game. Tucker disputes Tracy’s claim, saying the act was consensual. She filed a complaint last December, which led to a Title IX investigation — by an outside attorney — which wrapped up in July.
A hearing to decide whether Tucker violated MSU’s policy banning sexual harassment and exploitation is slated for Oct. 5 and 6, according to USA Today’s story. That coincides with MSU football’s bye week.
No need to wait. Tucker won’t be coaching the next three Saturdays.
Because even if you take him at his word over Tracy’s — which seems like an odd choice given the reported inconsistencies in his story, notably denying the incident took place on a work trip when receipts show otherwise — what Tucker admits is probably enough to nullify the remainder of his 10-year, $95 million contract, regardless of the decision at the October hearing.
This nugget in Tucker’s contract is the university’s way out: Tucker can be fired without being owed the remainder of the deal if he engages in “conduct which, in the university’s reasonable judgment, would tend to bring public disrespect, contempt or ridicule on the university.”
This, I think, would qualify.
“I am not proud of my judgment and I am having difficulty forgiving myself for getting into this situation, but I did not engage in misconduct by any definition,” Tucker wrote to the Title IX investigator in March, according to USA Today.
Even if that were true, the details of this Title IX investigation call into question Tucker’s character and common sense. That’s a problem. He is the face of MSU’s largest athletic program and a leader of 100 young men on campus. A campus that’s tired of this stuff.
This is also Brenda Tracy, who was gang raped as a young woman 25 years ago and, in 2014, began her life in advocacy — speaking to young athletes, to football players about the decisions they make and about holding each other accountable. Of all the people in the world …
It’s beyond foolish. It’s also sad. Tucker stands to lose around $80 million, along with a lot of respect and irrevocable damage to his reputation. A lot of folks believed in him and/or wanted him to succeed.
It’s sad for his players and his staff and for the university community. Especially the players, a large number of whom came to MSU to play for Tucker and bought into the program he was trying to build. Their futures are now up in the air, too, their season marred by his judgment.
RELATED: A timeline of Mel Tucker’s career at Michigan State
So what now? My guess is that Tucker will be put on some sort of paid leave through the Title IX decision. If somehow the decision goes his way, this could get hairy in terms of what the university owes him.
There is also a legitimate question whether a USA Today investigation should be what prompts the university to make a move on Tucker, when they’ve had all the same information since before August camp. There’s a case to be made that the university should’ve addressed this earlier, before the season, if none of the facts have changed since July.
The difference is that now it’s public. Now it’s a distraction that his players don’t deserve. The right thing for Tucker to do would be to agree to step aside through the hearing, to own the consequences to that degree, for the sake of his team. One last coaching move, in essence.
This is embarrassing for MSU. There’s nothing to be done about that, other than to make sure further damage isn’t done by how the athletic department and school handle it. MSU’s leadership — at the presidential and athletic director level — have to try to be fair to everyone involved.
It might help that MSU has an interim president. Teresa Woodruff can make hard decisions with less worry about future politics. This will be a test of AD Alan Haller, too. He led the search to hire Tucker, even before he was the athletic director. He’ll have big decisions to make today, this week and in the coming months. These decisions could define his tenure.
There are a lot of good people on that coaching staff. Someone will have to steer MSU’s football program for the rest of the season. Is there someone on staff worth considering beyond that? That should factor in the decision about who takes over on an interim basis. I’ll throw out the name that keeps coming to mind as someone who’s intriguing long-term: receivers coach Courtney Hawkins.
No matter who it is, no matter how this goes down, a lot of people in MSU’s football program are hurting today. A lot of fans and alums probably feel duped. The school is going to be mocked.
It’s an awkward, awful situation all around.
Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.
