Pete Thamelespnread 3 minutes
Michigan State University fired football coach Mel Tucker on Wednesday, formally completing the process it started last week.
Tucker University is under investigation for a sexual misconduct complaint brought forward by sexual assault awareness speaker Brenda Tracy.
In a statement, the university said it had terminated Tucker’s contract for “his acknowledged and undisputed behavior that has brought public disrespect, contempt and ridicule upon the university; and a material breach of his agreement and moral turpitude.” has been formed.”
Michigan State suspended Tucker without pay on September 10, and athletic director Alan Haller informed Tucker in a letter on September 18 that the university intended to fire him for cause. The school began an investigation into Tracy’s complaint in December 2022, and the university is pending an upcoming hearing on the matter.
The formal firing came as the university took the final step in parting ways with Tucker, who has approximately $79 million remaining on his contract. By firing him for cause, the state of Michigan is attempting to avoid paying Tucker the remaining amount of money.
Haller claimed in the letter that the school had collected “indisputable evidence of misconduct that warrants termination for cause.”
Tucker and his lawyers pushed back in sharp language against firing for cause in both a statement last week and a letter from his lawyers on Monday, calling the proposed termination “unfair for several reasons.” In a statement on September 19, Tucker said that MSU “does not care about my rights, the truth, or its future obligation to police the private lives of its employees.”
Haller said in Wednesday’s termination notice that Tucker’s responses provided “too many excuses.”
“Simply put, Mr. Tucker’s response does not provide any information that refutes or weakens the multiple grounds for termination for cause stated in the notice,” Haller said in a statement Wednesday. “Instead, his 25-page response, which includes a 12-page letter from his attorney and a 13-page ‘expert report’, provides multiple excuses for his inappropriate behavior while clearly acknowledging the problematic conduct outlined in the notice. Is. “
Tucker’s responses included a formal response from his attorneys within the seven-day period that MSU noted in a September 18 letter that he was contractually required to give. The 25-page formal response argued point-by-point with MSU at times.
Those reactions have set the stage for a potential legal battle over the $79 million remaining on his contract.
Tucker said in his statement, “I look forward to one day receiving discovery against MSU, including the trustees and the athletic department, to see what they actually knew and said about this matter, with What were his intentions in handling the entire investigation process.” 19 September.
In her complaint, Tracy claims that Tucker masturbated without her consent during a phone call in April 2022. Tucker denied that the encounter was non-consensual and said that investigators acknowledged the “personal relationship” between them.
“The conversations Tucker had with Ms. Tracy regarding her appearance, the flirting and the phone sex occurred exclusively in her private life, without regard to Tucker’s work or her It was unrelated to the incident and was completely consensual.”
Despite the firing, a hearing to decide whether Tucker violated university policy will still take place in early October. Tucker’s lawyers have pushed back, calling the university’s investigation “grossly flawed, unfair, biased and devoid of due process.”
He also criticized the school’s ability to maintain confidentiality following a USA Today story in early September that detailed the allegations against Tucker. Tracy and his lawyer said they felt compelled to share the information when they learned his name had been leaked. The school has hired a law firm, Jones Day, to investigate the alleged leak.
Tucker’s career at Michigan State officially ends with a 20-14 record, including an 11-2 campaign in 2021 that ended with a Peach Bowl victory. The Spartans rose to No. 5 in the nation that year, and MSU officials rewarded Tucker with a 10-year, $95 million contract, making him one of the highest-paid coaches in the game.
Harlon Barnett has been the acting head coach since Tucker’s suspension and will be promoted to interim head coach following board approval in October. Michigan State has since lost both games by a combined score of 72–16.
The Spartans play at Iowa on Saturday night.
ESPN’s Dan Murphy contributed to this report.