Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker “repeatedly” made false statements to investigators during his sexual assault investigation. USA today.
Michigan State recently announced that Taylor would be dismissed “for cause” after initially being suspended without pay due to allegations of sexual harassment by Brenda Tracy, a rape survivor and anti-sexual assault advocate who had visited the campus many times to deal with the team to speak to.
The 51-year-old coach followed this up with a statement condemning the school’s decision and claiming that “other motives were at play.”
Tucker was at the center of an investigation after Tracy, an activist who educates athletes about sexual assault, accused him of sexually harassing her in December 2022.
Her accusation stems from a phone conversation that allegedly took place in April 2022, in which she claims he made sexual comments to her and masturbated during the phone call.
Michigan State football head coach Mel Tucker allegedly lied to Title XI investigators
Brenda Tracy (pictured) said Tucker sexually harassed her during a phone call in April 2022
Not only did Tracy deny these accusations, saying the romantic interest was completely one-sided, but she also claimed she tried to set boundaries with Tucker several times due to her busy relationship with the football team.
In terms of the alleged inaccuracies in Tucker’s side of the story, USA Today has claimed that he called while on a school-sponsored work trip in Florida. During that trip, Tucker reportedly supported a private MSU event to promote the university’s migrant student program.
However, the Spartans’ head coach reportedly told independent investigator Rebecca Leitman Veidlinger that he was at his home in Michigan during the phone call, which turned out to be untrue.
The report also claims he lied about canceling a planned training presentation between Tracey and the team, which he said had been rescheduled from July 25, 2022 to January 2023.
Tucker claimed that the team needed time for strength and conditioning coach Ben Newman to implement his program during the same July period for which the program was scheduled, even though Newman did not meet with the team from July 15 to 28.
Tracy also claimed that Tucker made up a story about alleged gossip he heard from an unnamed assistant and used that as an excuse to break off her relationship with the team.