A look at what’s happened since MSU fired football coach Mel Tucker
A look at what’s happened since MSU fired football coach Mel Tucker
EAST LANSING — It’s been a year since Michigan State University first suspended and then ultimately fired Mel Tucker after a USA Today article about a lengthy sexual harassment investigation.
A new coach is in place and the football team has started the season with a win, but the scandal that ended Tucker’s time in East Lansing has not yet been fully resolved.
Here’s a look at what happened last year and what still needs to be resolved.
How we got here
The USA Today article appeared in the early hours of Sept. 10, after MSU’s 45-14 win over Richmond. It was the first public report revealing that Tucker had been under investigation by the university in nearly a year. The article also included an interview with Brenda Tracy, the woman who filed the complaint.
Tracy is a well-known national activist for victims of sexual assault. Through her nonprofit organization Set The Expectation, she has spoken to college athletes across the country, including the MSU football team.
In December 2022, Tracy filed her complaint with the university, saying that Tucker made sexual comments about her and masturbated during a phone call last April.
Tucker denied any wrongdoing and said he and Tracy had an intimate and consensual relationship.
MSU athletic director Alan Haller suspended Tucker without pay the day the article was published and fired him for cause on September 27.
More: Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker is accused of sexually assaulting a rape victim
How much of Mel Tucker’s contract is guaranteed?
About two years before Haller fired Tucker, the coach signed one of the most lucrative contract extensions in college sports history.
The contract was worth about $95 million in guaranteed pay for a decade, unless MSU fired him for cause. The contract contained specific provisions outlining the reasons for such termination. When Haller cited those specified reasons in Tucker’s termination letter, there was about $80 million in guaranteed salary left in the contract.
Tucker filed his lawsuit in federal court on July 31, naming as defendants the university, the entire board of trustees, Haller, general counsel Brian Quinn and former interim president Teresa Woodruff. MSU hired its new president last winter, and Woodruff remains at the university.
In April, Tucker’s wife, Jo Ellyn, filed for divorce in Ingham County District Court, accusing him in a court filing of withdrawing money from their joint funds without notice, including $1.5 million to pay his legal fees.
More: MSU President Teresa Woodruff: I and the board did not know the details of the Tucker complaint until Sunday
Tucker sues MSU for “sham investigation”
In the lawsuit, Tucker accused the school of conducting an “improper, biased and sham investigation” aimed at firing him, thereby violating his right to due process. Tucker, who is black, also accuses the school administration of discriminating against him based on his race.
Tucker’s lawsuit against MSU is ongoing. The university could file its answer – or a motion for summary judgment or dismissal – as early as mid-September, although extensions are common.
Last year, contract and sports law experts told the State Journal they expected the legal battle to be costly and ugly, with one estimating the potential settlement to be between $10 million and $15 million.
But this is not the only complaint related to the scandal.
About a month after Tucker’s firing, Tracy filed a lawsuit against him to prevent him from releasing further text messages from a phone belonging to Tracy’s friend and assistant, who was killed in a car crash. Tucker’s lawyers said the text messages confirmed his claim that he and Tracy had had a consensual relationship.
His lawyers argued in Ingham County District Court that Tucker did not wrongfully take possession of the phone or its contents and that Tracy’s case should therefore be dismissed. In May, Judge Wanda Stokes agreed with their views.
More: Experts: Ugly court battle between former coach Mel Tucker and MSU likely
Title IX investigation found that Tucker had violated school rules
The Title IX investigation that preceded Tucker’s dismissal began in December 2022 and ended in January 2024 after his appeal failed.
The university hired outside attorneys to conduct both the initial investigation that found he had violated policy and to handle his appeal. In the appeal, Tucker’s attorneys repeated arguments made throughout the investigation, including that the university did not have the authority to investigate his personal life and that the investigator was biased against him.
His appeal was denied on the grounds that the investigator “had a reasonable basis for each of the findings challenged.”
More: Mel Tucker’s appeal in sexual harassment case rejected, Michigan State investigation closed
MSU spent more than $1 million on leak investigations
Before any of the lawsuits went to trial, MSU hired the law firm Jones Day to investigate whether Tracy’s identity or other confidential information related to the Title IX investigation had been improperly disclosed by university officials and others.
Tracy had said she did not plan to make her case public before a hearing scheduled for October 2023. In a statement last year, her attorney said an “outside source” had leaked Tracy’s identity, leading to the publication of the USA Today article.
The State Journal reported in December that the law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan also billed MSU for work related to the leak investigation, but not for working with Jones Day. The second firm represented trustee Rema Vassar, who was board chair at the time.
Together, the two law firms charged the university about $850,000. Jones Day could find no evidence that university officials had passed on Tracy’s name.
USA Today reporter Kenny Jacoby contributed to this story. Contact reporter Matt Mencarini at 517-377-1026 or [email protected].
