Michigan State has suspended football coach Mel Tucker without pay amid allegations that Tucker sexually harassed a rape survivor and sexual assault prevention activist who spoke to his team multiple times in the past.
MSU athletic director Alan Haller and interim president Teresa Woodruff announced the suspension Sunday at a press conference in East Lansing, with Haller citing "new developments" in the ongoing investigation into Tucker's conduct ahead of a formal hearing in October. Tucker signed a 10-year, $95 million contract with Michigan State in 2021.
Woodruff said Haller's decision "comes with the full weight of my support," adding, "This step, to place Tucker on an unpaid leave, is equally necessary and appropriate for today’s circumstances."
In Tucker's absence, MSU associate head coach and secondary coach Harlon Barnett will be acting head coach, while former head coach Mark Dantonio, who gave way to Tucker in 2020 after 13 years at the helm, will be brought back as associate head coach.
Barnett, a former All-American defensive back who played at Michigan State from 1986-89, coached under Dantonio for eight seasons and has been on Tucker's staff since 2020.
"He has established relationships with student-athletes and is focused on their well-being, first and foremost," Haller said of Barnett. "Coach Dantonio is not only an exceptional football coach, but will be at tremendous resource for Harlon. Both men have a deep love and care for Michigan State football, for Spartan athletics and the East Lansing community."
Tucker and his program invited Brenda Tracy, a survivor of a 1998 gang rape by Oregon State football players who has become a prominent activist against "the culture of sexual violence in sports", to campus several times in 2021 and 2022. She twice spoke to the team and served as honorary captain for last year's spring game.
But in April 2022 during a phone call between Tucker and Tracy, he allegedly ”made sexual comments about her and masturbated,” per USA Today. Tracy filed a complaint with MSU’s Title IX office that December.
"The idea that someone could know me and say they understand my trauma but then re-inflict that trauma on me is so disgusting to me, it's hard for me to even wrap my mind around it," Tracy told USA Today. "It's like he sought me out just to betray me."
Tucker later admitted to a Title IX investigator that he masturbated during the call but claims Tracy “grossly mischaracterized” the incident and he believed they had consensual “phone sex.”
The Title IX attorney finished the investigation and delivered the report to Michigan State in July. A formal hearing to determine whether Tucker violated the school’s sexual harassment and exploitation policy is scheduled for early October during MSU’s bye week.
Haller said Sunday that "the university’s formal conclusion of the investigation will occur once the hearing and final decision processes are complete. I want to emphasize, again, this investigation is not complete."
Tucker, one of the highest-paid coaches in the country, is owed about $80 million over the rest of his contract, which could be terminated if he is fired for cause.