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Mel Tucker releases statement in response to Michigan State’s notification to fire him

Keith Farner

By Keith Farner

Published:

Mel Tucker has responded to Michigan State’s notification and statement from Monday that the Spartans intend to fire him.

Athletics Director Alan Haller confirmed the move in a statement released Monday afternoon. Tucker has 7 days from Monday to respond to the notification in the wake of a pending sexual misconduct case brought by Brenda Tracy, a sexual awareness speaker. On Tuesday, he released a statement to ESPN.

Tucker is suspended without pay after an investigation into sexual harassment claims against him. He has a hearing with the university scheduled for October, but the Spartans are moving forward now.

“I am disappointed but not surprised to learn that MSU intends to terminate my contract over Ms. Tracy’s improper public disclosure of the entire 1200-page investigation file regarding her baseless complaint against me,” Tucker wrote in a statement released to ESPN. “Let’s be clear. I don’t believe MSU plans to fire me because I admitted to an entirely consensual, private relationship with another adult who gave one presentation at MSU, at my behest, over two years ago. A cursory reading of the facts and timeline should cause any fair-minded person to conclude that other motives are at play.”

By firing him for cause, Michigan State is aiming to avoid paying Tucker about $80 million remaining on his contract. The statement by Tucker also added that he looks forward to “one day obtaining discovery against MSU, including the Trustees and the Athletic Department.”

Tucker points out what he perceives as multiple flaws in how MSU handled his case, including the recent decision to fire him for cause after it first suspended him as an “interim measure” last week.

One of Tucker’s main issues is the timeline of when MSU officials knew about the allegations. The complaint was filed in December 2022.

“MSU knew about the information on which it supposedly relies to end my contract since at least March 2023,” Tucker stated in the letter. “Yet only after Ms. Tracy and potentially others leaked the confidential investigation report to the press, did MSU suddenly decide this same information warrants termination.”

Keith Farner

Keith Farner has written about college football for newspapers and web sites since 2005.