EAST LANSING (WWJ) – The hearing looking into alleged misconduct by former Michigan State University head football coach Mel Tucker is taking place on campus Thursday and Friday, but without the fired coach present.
As the Title IX hearing began Thursday, Tucker’s legal team sent notice to school officials that he would not be participating in the scheduled process because of a "serious medical condition,” which was not detailed.
The 106-page document – sent by attorney Jennifer Belveal – also outlined what Tucker’s legal team calls “newly discovered evidence” regarding Brenda Tracy, who accused him of having non-consensual phone sex during a late-night call in April 2022.
MSU fired Tucker for cause last month after the allegations became public. Tucker has claimed he had a consensual relationship with Tracy, a sexual assault survivor and prevention activist who had been hired to speak with the school’s football program.
Tucker’s team said they were “prohibited” from participating in this week’s virtual hearing. Tracy is participating. The hearing is expected to take two days and will attempt to determine the credibility of the accusations.
The letter sent to MSU on Thursday details Tracy’s alleged involvement with another college coach – Georgia Tech men’s basketball coach Damon Stoudamire, who they also say “previously engaged Ms. Tracy to provide training to his team.”
Tucker’s legal team claims Tracy’s statements – detailed in thousands of text messages – “confirm she had (simultaneous) consensual personal relationships with Mr. Tucker and at least one other married coach, contrary to what she told the investigator.”
The letter alleges she “deleted key evidence and provided only self-serving excerpts to OIE to sustain a claim of ‘harassment’ that MSU never should have been investigating in the first place.”
The legal team also claims a new witness says Tracy “went to extraordinary lengths” to try to stop her text messages referenced in the letter from “ever seeing the light of day.”