MSU fires Tucker for bringing ‘ridicule’ to program

• Pete Thamel, ESPNSep 27, 2023, 11:55 AM ET

Michigan State University has fired football coach Mel Tucker for cause Wednesday, officially finishing a process that was initiated last week.Tucker is under university examination for a sexual misbehavior complaint brought by Brenda Tracy, a sexual assault awareness speaker.In a statement, the university said it had actually terminated Tucker’s contract “for his confessed and undisputed behaviors which have actually brought public disrespect, contempt and ridicule upon the university; and constitute a product breach of his agreement, and moral turpitude.”

Michigan State suspended Tucker without pay Sept. 10, and athletic director Alan Haller informed Tucker in a letter Sept. 18 that the university intended to fire him for cause. The school opened up an examination into Tracy’s problem back in December 2022, and there remains an upcoming university hearing on the matter.Editor’s Picks

2 Related The formal shooting loomed as the

last step in the university separating from Tucker, who has almost $79 million remaining on his contract. By firing him for cause, Michigan State is trying to not pay Tucker any of the remaining money.Haller claimed in the letter that the school had” amassed a body of undisputed proof of misbehavior that necessitates termination for cause.”

Tucker and his lawyers pressed back in pointed language versus the shooting for cause in a declaration last week and in a letter from his attorneys Monday that called the proposed termination “unjustified for several reasons.” In a declaration Sept. 19, Tucker stated MSU “does not appreciate my rights, the truth, or its future liability for policing its employees’ personal lives.”

Haller stated in Wednesday’s termination notice that Tucker’s responses offered “a list of reasons.”

“Simply put, Mr. Tucker’s action does not provide any info that refutes or weakens the several premises for termination for cause set forth in the notification,” Haller said in a declaration Wednesday. “Rather, his 25-page reaction, which includes a 12-page letter from his lawyer and a 13-page ‘expert report,’ supplies a list of reasons for his unsuitable behavior while expressly admitting to the troublesome conduct laid out in the notice.”

Tucker’s reactions consisted of the formal response from his attorneys within the seven-day window that MSU had actually noted in the Sept. 18 letter that it was contractually required to offer him. The 25-page formal response argued point by point, at times, with MSU.Those actions have set the phase for a possible legal battle over the staying$ 79 million on his contract. “I eagerly anticipate one day getting discovery against MSU, including the Trustees and the Athletic Department, to see what they truly knew and said about this matter, as well as their intentions in managing the whole investigative procedure,” Tucker said in his statement Sept. 19. In her grievance, Tracy claims Tucker masturbated without her permission throughout a call in April 2022. Tucker rejects that encounter wasn’t consensual and included that the private investigator acknowledged a”individual relationship”in between them. “The conversations Tucker had with Ms. Tracy concerning her appearance, flirtation, and phone sex, happened exclusively in their personal lives, unassociated to either Tucker’s work or her work, and were totally consensual,”said the letter from Tucker’s attorneys Monday.Despite the firing, a hearing to decide whether Tucker violated university policy will still occur in early October.

Tucker’s attorneys have actually pushed back on the university’s examination, calling it “extremely flawed, unfair, biased, and without due process.”They also criticized the school’s capability to keep privacy after a story by USA Today in early September detailed the accusations versus Tucker. Tracy and her legal representative said they were forced to share the information after they received word her name had leaked out. The school has actually employed a law firm, Jones Day, to check out the alleged leak.Tucker’s profession at Michigan State officially concludes with a 20-14 record, that includes an 11-2 project in 2021 that ended with a Peach Bowl victory.

The Spartans reached as high as No. 5 in the nation that year, and MSU brass rewarded Tucker with a 10-year,$95 million contract that made him amongst the highest-paid coaches in the sport.Harlon Barnett has been the acting head coach since Tucker’s suspension and will rise to interim head coach, based on board approval, in October. Michigan State has actually lost its very first 2 games under Barnett

by a combined score of 72-16. The Spartans play at Iowa on Saturday night.ESPN’s Dan Murphy contributed to this report.