Attorneys claim Tucker is victim in response to MSU's move to fire him
In what could be seen as a Hail Mary attempt to keep his job, suspended Michigan State University football coach Mel Tucker, through his lawyers, said it was the school and not Tucker that is in breach his contract, and that the school has no jurisdiction to fire him over what he calls a personal and consensual relationship with a woman who has accused him of sexual misconduct.
Tucker's attorneys sent a 25-page letter to Michigan State athletic director Alan Haller shortly before 5 p.m. Monday as their formal response to the university informing Tucker last week that it intends to fire him for cause. According to the terms of his contract, Tucker was given seven days to respond to Haller with reasons why he should keep his job. The deadline to respond was Monday. The university has said it can fire Tucker as soon as Tuesday, without having to honor the more than $80 million left on the landmark 10-year, $95 million contract he signed in 2021.
Tucker's attorneys, Jennifer Belveal and John F. Birmingham Jr., filed the response in the wake of an investigation into claims by gang-rape survivor and sexual-assault advocate Brenda Tracy that Tucker masturbated during a late-night phone call between the two in 2022. Tucker has said it was consensual phone sex; Tracy disputes that claim.
MSU claims that Tucker violated the "moral turpitude" clause in his contract, allowing his firing for cause. Tucker's contract states he can be fired if he embarrasses the university.
"He did not engage in unprofessional or unethical behavior or 'moral turpitude' by any stretch of theimagination," Tucker's lawyers wrote in Monday's letter to Haller. "In fact ... under Michigan law, assault and battery does not even constitute 'moral turpitude,' and the flimsy foundation of the university’s finding — a private relationship involving mutual flirting and one instance of consensual phone sex — falls far short of the mark. The notion that the university actually believes that Tucker acted unprofessionally, unethically, or with moral turpitude is further undermined by the fact that the university knew about the so-called 'admitted conduct' for several months before suddenly deciding to terminate the agreement.
"This is nothing more than the schools' knee-jerk reaction to negative publicity brought on by Ms. Tracy’s release of the 1200-page investigation file to the national media."
Officials at MSU didn't immediately respond to requests for comment Monday. An athletic department spokesman didn't immediately respond when asked to confirm Haller received the letter from Tucker's attorneys.
Tucker's lawyers said they reserve the right to add to their letter once Tucker is able to fully participate in formulating a response. Tucker has claimed he is dealing with a significant health issue, and he attempted to file for a leave under the Family Medical Leave Act shortly after his suspension by MSU. According to Tucker's agent, Neil Cornrich, Haller didn't acknowledge the request; Cornrich has declined to specify what the health issue is. Tucker also filed an FMLA claim when he was coaching with the Chicago Bears in 2014, and that filing delayedn his firing.
Tucker's attorneys claim in Monday's response that Tucker is a victim of MSU's failures, referring to the university's handling of the sex abuse scandal involving now-incarcerated Larry Nassar.
"Tucker is just the fall guy for the university's negligence and misfeasance," the attorneys wrote, "the long history of which includes and predates the Nassar matter, but which unfortunately has continued and tainted the university's handling of this matter."
The attorney's letter to Haller challenged numerous "undisputed facts" outlined in last week's letter from Haller to Tucker. Some facts are true, but don't justify firing for cause, the attorneys said, but Tucker's lawyers also said some of Haller's claims were "twisted out of context," including that the married Tucker allegedly commented on Tracy's looks, body and body parts, made flirtatious comments and masturbated while on the phone with her.
"The conversations Tucker had with Ms. Tracy regarding her appearance, flirtation, and phone sex, occurred exclusively in their private lives, unrelated to either Tucker’s work or her work, and were entirely consensual," the lawyers wrote. "The university is ignoring that the investigator found that Ms. Tracy and Tucker had a 'personal relationship,' in which they shared 'deeply personal and private information with each other,' as well as the actual status of Tucker's marriage, which was described to the investigator as estranged for many years."
Tucker's lawyers confirmed in the letter that Tucker and wife Jo-Ellyn have been "separated for years," though they aren't officially divorced.
"Does the university now prohibit consensually open relationships? Does it ask its employees to abstain from any flirtation or sexual activity until divorce paperwork is signed? Will the university investigate the private lives of every university employee who is separated or obtaining a divorce to make moral pronouncements to justify terminations?" his lawyers wrote. "No."
"Tucker signed an Agreement requiring him to act professionally and ethically," the letter continued. "He did that."
Tracy, who befriended Tucker after the football coach hired her to speak to his student-athletes, filed her claim of sexual misconduct in December. An outside contractor began an investigation in March, and the investigation was completed in July. A Title IX hearing through MSU's Office for Civil Rights was scheduled for Oct. 5 and 6, but MSU decided it had sufficient information to initiate firing proceedings regardless of the hearing's outcome. The hearing will still be held, the university has said. It's unclear whether Tucker will participate in the hearing; Tracy has said she will.
Tracy has said she shared her story with USA Today after she learned her identity had been leaked to other media outlets. MSU has hired an outside law firm to investigate the origin of the leak.
Tucker, 51, was in his fourth year as head coach at MSU, with a record of 20-14, before he was suspended two games into the season after the USA Today story dropped. University officials, including Haller and interim president Teresa K. Woodruff, said they purposely didn't learn details of the investigation while it was ongoing in an effort to ensure a fair process.
Harlon Barnett, a former Michigan State player and the team's defensive-backs coach, was promoted to interim head coach, and likely will remain in that post through the rest of the season. Michigan State (2-2, 0-1 Big Ten) travels to Iowa (3-1, 0-1) on Saturday, with players saying Monday that's the focus, not the outside saga.
"You don't let those other things distract you," senior left guard J.D. Duplain said.
Said senior receiver Montorie Foster Jr.: "We're just moving on, really. We just come together every day."
Tucker came to Michigan State after one season as head coach at Colorado, the successor to the winningest coach in MSU history, Mark Dantonio. (Dantonio is back on the sidelines as an associate coach for Barnett.) In the midst of an 11-2 season in 2021, which included a win over rival Michigan, Michigan State gave him a massive pay raise with the $95 million extension, funded in part by MSU mega donors Mat Ishbia and Steve St. Andre, who have future gift installments scheduled and haven't commented publicly on the Tucker situation.
Tucker, a native of Cleveland, began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Michigan State in the late 1990s, and has coached at Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State, LSU and Miami (Ohio) in college, and with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Cleveland Browns in the NFL.
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