Curtis Blackwell was informed his contract wouldn't be renewed while Mark Dantonio was in Italy
Mark Dantonio wasn’t in the country when he informed Curtis Blackwell that his contract would not be renewed. In fact, the Michigan State head coach was on a train in Italy when he made the call to inform Blackwell of the situation, according to the Detroit Free Press.
That was just one of the details in a 57-page portion of Dantonio’s deposition, which was filed by Blackwell’s attorneys on Wednesday. Blackwell is suing Dantonio for wrongful termination, after being told in May 2017 that he would not be retained at MSU.
In his deposition, Dantonio pointed to a “change in philosophy” as to why Blackwell’s contract was not renewed. The head coach said he made a two-to-three minute phone call to Blackwell from Italy to inform him of the change. Dantonio said Blackwell ended the brief conversation by saying. “I understand.”
From the Detroit Free Press:
“Whether you want to call it friction, hostility, workplace environment, attention to detail, disconnect, accountability, structure to some degree, all came in question,” Dantonio said in his deposition. “The next thing was the philosophy of who we wanted to control that environment. Did we want an NFL executive to do it, or do we want Curtis to do it in the same way that had been done. I felt it was warranted to make a change. We made the change.”
Blackwell was handcuffed and taken out of the Michigan State football building in February 2017 after police accused him of “obstructing their investigation,” into an alleged sexual assault that occurred involving former players Donnie Corley, Josh King and Demetric Vance.
Blackwell was never charged in the case, but the three players did receive plea deals and probation in 2018.
According to the Detroit Free Press athletic director Bill Beekman, football director of operations Tim Allen and compliance director Jennifer Smith were also deposed.