And it's not just the players.
While Michigan State coach Mel Tucker attempted to delay a probe and subsequent hearing into sexual harassment allegations, he was raking in millions.
nypost.com
Mel Tucker made $6M amid sexual harassment investigation: report
By
Christian Arnold
While embattled Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker attempted to delay an investigation and subsequent hearing into sexual harassment allegations, he was reportedly still raking in millions from the university.
Tucker was suspended without pay on Sunday after details of a months-long sexual harassment investigation were
published by USA Today.
Tucker was still making $750,000 a month before he was suspended without pay,
according to a USA Today report on Wednesday.
That means that he made at least $6 million since the university launched its investigation.
An investigation done by an outside attorney hired by Michigan State, began after Brenda Tracy, a prominent sexual assault prevention advocate who works to educate athletes about sexual violence, made a formal complaint against the football coach in December 2022.
Tracy, who spoke to the football team on three occasions from 2021-2022, accused Tucker of making unwanted sexual comments and masturbating during a phone call with her in April 2022,
which he later claimed was consensual phone sex.
Michigan State policy says that cases will typically be handled within 90 days of a formal complaint, but the investigation into Tucker took 216 days because he didn’t sit down with investigators for three months, according to USA Today.
Then, further delays ensued to get a hearing on the books once the investigation had been completed on July 25.
A university hearing was set for Aug. 22 and 23, but Tucker’s attorney, Jennifer Belveal, said the coach was unavailable on those dates.
It took further email exchanges to settle on the Oct. 5 and 6 dates that are now scheduled for the proceedings to take place.
On Monday, Tucker made his first statement denying the allegations publicly and calling the upcoming hearing a “sham.”
“The proceedings initiated by Ms. Tracy are devoid of any semblance of fairness for any matter of this importance, and the University’s ‘hearing’ scheduled for October 5-6 is so flawed that there is no other opportunity for the truth to come out,” Tucker said.
“The investigation has not been fair or unbiased. I can only conclude that there is an ulterior motive designed to terminate my contract based on some other factor such as a desire to avoid any [Larry] Nasser taint, or my race or gender. The sham ‘hearing’ scheduled for October 5-6 is ridiculously flawed and not designed to arrive at the truth.”
Tracy, who was made an honorary captain during the team’s 2022 spring game, also responded in a statement of her own this week.
“Coach Tucker has been delaying and trying to stop the investigative process since the beginning,” she said. “He can’t afford to go to a hearing that determines credibility of the participating parties. I believe this statement is his way of getting out of participating in the hearing. October 5th and 6th I will be present for the hearing and make myself available for cross-examination by his attorney Jennifer Belveal. I invite him to do the same.”
According to The Athletic, Tracy had no intentions of releasing her name to the public while the investigation was ongoing but did so once her name had been leaked by local media.
“After the investigation process was completed, we would have determined, what, if any further steps to take. Instead, [Tracy’s] identity was disclosed without her knowledge or consent, warranting express actions to protect her,” attorney Karen Truszkowski said in a statement to the outlet.
“Her choice to allow this process to proceed privately was taken away.”
Tucker was hired in 2020 and was given a 10-year, $95 million contract extension in 2021.
