The Michigan State Spartans are off to a nice (2-0) start under head coach fourth-year head coach Mel Tucker. But, as the team is playing well on the gridiron, the aforementioned Tucker is in some hot water. On Sunday, the school announced they were suspending Tucker without pay as the school investigates allegations of sexual harassment against him.
What’s even more of a shocker is who’s making the allegations. Brenda Tracy is the woman, and she’s an advocate and rape survivor who was gang raped by four college football players in 1998.
Tracy joined forces with Tucker and MSU two years ago as an advocate against such erroneous and heinous acts. A strong advocate against sexual violence with a focus on the sports realm, Tracy is alleging that Tucker has been sexually harassing her for quite some time.
Tracy’s formal complaint came in December 2022, where she alleges Tucker made several inappropriate sexual comments and even masturbated while she was on a phone call with him. She also alleges that there have been many other inappropriate incidents by Tucker.
“The idea that someone could know me and say they understand my trauma but the re-inflict that trauma on me, it’s hard for me to even wrap my mind around it,” Tracy told USA Today. “It’s like he sought me out to just betray me.”
Tucker Says All Consensual, MSU AD Announces Tucker’s Current Fate
Tucker calls everything consensual, and even said so in a letter.
“Ms. Tracy’s distortion of our mutually consensual and intimate relationship into allegations of sexual exploitations has really affected me,” Tucker wrote in a letter to the investigator that was obtained by USA Today. “I am not proud of my judgment, and I am having difficulty forgiving myself for getting into this situation, but I did not engage in misconduct by any definition.”
In an interview Sunday evening, Michigan State athletic director Alan Haller cleared up any confusion concerning Tucker’s status by mentioning he’d been suspended without pay amid the ongoing investigation, and not yet fired.
“The university’s objective has been and remains focused on conducting a fair, thorough and unbiased investigation allowing the processes to play out,” Haller said.
Tucker Was One Of The Highest-Paid Black Coach Ever
In 2021, Tucker signed a massive 10-year, $95 million extension with the program. The deal at the time was the largest ever for a Black coach in sports. The deal has since been surpassed by Detroit Pistons head coach Monty Williams who’s making over $13 million per season to right the ship in Motown.
As of now the Spartans are still on the hook for $77 million with Tucker entering the third-year of the deal. But there are some clauses in his deal where he could be fired with cause and not paid another cent. One is “moral turpitude (bringing public disrespect, contempt or ridicule) on the Univerity.”
These allegations seem to fall under that category, which would take the school off the hook for the remainder of his salary. Stay tuned, because the details are very murky, and Tucker maintains that the relationship was mutual.
