Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker calls allegations 'completely false'

Suspended Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker pushed back Monday against allegations accusing him of sexually harassing a rape victim, calling them "completely false" and the university's upcoming hearing that may decide his fate a "sham."

Tucker issued a blistering 948-word statement disputing claims by sexual assault survivor and activist Brenda Tracy that he engaged in unwanted phone sex in April 2022. Tracy has alleged Tucker made sexual comments about her and masturbated during a late-night phone call the two had on April 28, 2022, according to a USA Today report published Sunday.

But Tucker contended Monday that the "late-night intimate conversation with Ms. Tracy" was "an entirely mutual, private event between two adults living at opposite ends of the country," a contention she previously denied.

"She initiated the discussion that night, sent me a provocative picture of the two of us together, suggested what she may look like without clothes, and never once during the 36 minutes did she object in any manner, much less hang up the phone," Tucker said.

With his 10-year, $95 million contract potentially hanging in balance, the sidelined football coach said his employer's handling of Tracy's allegations has been "devoid of any semblance of fairness." He maintained the investigation of his personal interactions with Tracy are "outside of the scope of Title IX or any university policy," referencing the federal law barring sexual harassment in public universities.

"The investigation has not been fair or unbiased. I can only conclude that there is an ulterior motive designed to terminate my contract based on some other factor such as a desire to avoid any Nassar taint, or my race or gender," said Tucker, referencing the sexual abuse scandal of serial rapist Dr. Larry Nassar that rocked MSU's campus in 2017-18.

The statement was Tucker's first public response to the explosive USA Today report published early Sunday morning that revealed Tracy lodged a sexual harassment complaint against Tucker in December and turned over her 1,200-page case file to USA Today. By 5 p.m. Sunday, MSU Athletic Director Alan Haller announced Tucker would be suspended without pay pending the outcome of a hearing next month.

A "resolution officer" appointed by the university's Title IX office will hold a closed-door Oct. 5-6 hearing — during the MSU football team's bye week — to determine whether Tucker violated the university's policies prohibiting sexual harassment.

Tracy and her attorney did not respond to messages seeking comment from The News, but she did issue a statement on social media Monday night, writing: “This is just more of the same DARVO (Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender), deflection, victim blaming and lies that I’ve been dealing with now for months.

"Coach Tucker has been delaying and trying to stop the investigative process since the beginning. He can’t afford to go to a hearing that determines credibility of the participating parties. I believe this statement is his way of getting out of participating in the hearing. October 5th and 6th I will be present for the hearing and make myself available for cross examination by his attorney Jennifer Belveal. I invite him to do the same.”

Tucker argued in his statement that the hearing would be "so flawed that there is no other opportunity for the truth to come out."

The statement released by Belveal, Tucker's Detroit-based attorney, said the "sham hearing" lacks any ability to require the accuser or any witnesses to testify under penalty of perjury, like they would have to in a civil or criminal court proceeding.

"This 'hearing' process was obviously designed for student infractions — not to address personal, private acts between adults in which disclosure of the intimate details impact one’s reputation and career," Tucker said. "I have no intention of allowing Ms. Tracy’s character assassination to go unaddressed."

Two hours before Tucker’s statement was released, MSU interim President Teresa Woodruff issued a letter to the university community pledging the investigation would be “fair” and “unbiased.”

"From the outset, the university’s objective in the totality of this process has been and remains focused on conducting a fair, thorough and unbiased investigation and hearing," wrote Woodruff, who announced last month she will not seek to become MSU's permanent leader.

MSU's athletic department declined to comment on Tucker's statement on Monday.

Tucker is trying to argue that the specter of the Nassar scandal, in which the MSU sports doctor victimized scores of mostly female athletes, is resulting in sex discrimination against him, said Scott Schneider, an Austin, Texas-based Title IX lawyer.

“The problem with that is he has put the cart before the horse. He hasn’t gone through the hearing,” Schneider said. “What if the hearing officer says, 'I think this was a consensual act between two consenting adults'?”

What Tucker's letter implies is that he might not participate in the upcoming hearing, the Title IX expert said, which is an option allowed under university rules.

“This legally strikes me as a mistake for him," Schneider said. "… Then the hearing officer is left with whatever he said in the investigation and not responding to what Tracy says during the hearing.”

'A mutual friendship'

Tracy, in 1998, reported being gang raped by Oregon State University football players and has since become a well-known sexual assault survivor and activist, sharing her story with college campuses across the country. Her mission has been to stamp out sexual assault in college athletics.

Tracy, according to the report from USA Today, made three visits to Michigan State’s campus starting in 2021. She met with the team twice and was an honorary captain before the 2022 spring game, posing for a photo with Tucker.

In his statement, Tucker said he helped bring Tracy to campus "because I support her mission of sexual misconduct prevention."

"We developed a mutual friendship that grew into an intimate, adult relationship; at this point, my wife and I had been estranged for a long time," Tucker said. "Ms. Tracy and I engaged in dozens of calls throughout fall 2021 and winter 2022, many of which she initiated and which occurred late at night.”

Tucker alleged the university's investigators found "that we had a 'personal relationship' and that we shared 'deeply personal and private information with each other'" and that his relationship with Tracy was encouraged by "inviting and accepting gifts from me," including "expensive athletic shoes," a $200 Venmo payment and a personal contribution to her non-profit.

MSU has not publicly released the investigation report. Tucker's lawyer did not respond Monday to a request from The Detroit News for a copy of the report.

In her letter to students and faculty, Woodruff suggested that Tucker has been monitored by university officials during the investigation, but she didn't say how.

"Interim measures were considered and implemented throughout the process, including increased monitoring and restrictions on Mel Tucker’s activities," Woodruff said.

Tracy told USA Today that Tucker made romantic overtures, but she told him in December 2021 that they could only be friends because they worked together.

After the April 2022 phone call, Tucker claims the two remained in contact for months after the call, giving him "every indication that everything was fine," including a "Happy Father's Day" text sent two months later.

MSU's investigator found an inconsistency in Tucker's story when he claimed he made the phone sex call from his home in East Lansing. University travel records showed Tucker was in Naples, Fla., on the day of the call "attending the Greg Montgomery Foundation Golf Outing on the school’s dime," USA Today reported.

In his statement, Tucker also said Tracy "repeatedly expressed desire to return to MSU" after the incident, "telling my assistants that she had a close relationship with me."

"Her twisting of our personal relationship months after it concluded is designed to revive her career and destroy my life, precipitated by her greed," Tucker said. "One of the most absurd allegations by Ms. Tracy is that if our relationship and associated facts went public, only she would be harmed, not me. As the world can see, quite the opposite is true."

Tracy told USA Today that Belveal, Tucker's attorney, twice proposed a settlement agreement that Tracy rejected.

Tucker, in his statement, said he was told by Tracy's attorney "from the very beginning that I should not lose my job over her allegations, but that it would take a lot of money to make it go away."

Tucker said reports that have called this a Title IX investigation are “inaccurate” and “the investigation of my private life was relegated to an alleged policy violation." A third-party investigator was used to investigate the complaint, according to Haller, and submitted a July 25 report with the recommendation of a formal hearing that is scheduled for Oct. 5-6.

Tucker closed his statement by asking "everyone to consider carefully the undisputed facts outlined and reserve judgment until the full truth comes out.

"I have been ripped from the team that I love, without any meaningful opportunity to tell my side of the story, other than this press release," Tucker said.

nbianchi@detroitnews.com

X: @nolanbianchi