OT: The latest response from Tucker's legal representation
It appears that Mel Tucker will "not go gentle into that good night." An article on ESPN highlights the response from his attorneys to MSU's Intent to Terminate. It's quite clear that Mel's legal team intends to challenge the "for cause" aspect of his coaching contract and the $79M remaining on the deal.
The link to the article (not paywalled) is: https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/38491036/mel-tucker-responds-formally-msu-attempt-fire-cause
On an aside - the Spartans record in the first two games of this season, with Mel coaching the team was 2-0. The Spartans, with Dantonio back on the sidelines, are 0-2.
September 26th, 2023 at 2:46 PM ^
i hope they have to pay all that to him because f*ck MSU
September 26th, 2023 at 3:01 PM ^
I love to be an MSU hater and watching them be an embarrassment, but that would feel like he's getting rewarded for being a creepy sexual harasser. I guess he's probably going to get a big payday from a settlement anyway, but he can fuck himself.
September 26th, 2023 at 3:02 PM ^
but he can fuck himself.
Well yeah...that's what got him in this mess.
September 26th, 2023 at 6:02 PM ^
Leaving upvotes at 69 for… reasons.
September 26th, 2023 at 3:27 PM ^
FYS...Isn't that what Tugger is accused of and admitted to?
September 26th, 2023 at 10:51 PM ^
He's not getting anything. He clearly violated the contract.
September 26th, 2023 at 3:41 PM ^
The only problem with making Staee pay is that I am forced to pay taxes to support Staee and if Mel takes them to the cleaners then the state will just take me to the cleaners so Staee can afford to pay Mel. The legislature is full of Izzo lovers. Mel is no exactly a victim here.
September 26th, 2023 at 3:52 PM ^
I don't think MSU is paying that much. I think it's a committee of boosters (Ishbia) who are footing a majority of the bill. It's why I think the story got leaked because the ones aiming the money cannon didn't want to pay him for 5-7 and inciting a riot in the U of M tunnel.
September 26th, 2023 at 4:02 PM ^
After getting FOIA’d, it turns out that MSU was/is on the hook for the majority of that contract. The whole ‘rich boosters paid it all anyways’ line was PR bullshit to avoid the shame of guaranteeing $100 million to a coach with a .500 career record
September 26th, 2023 at 4:08 PM ^
Boosters were only paying for 20M of the contract. MSU is on the hook for 75M.
September 26th, 2023 at 6:43 PM ^
Not only can sparties not speel, math is a big challenge also,
September 26th, 2023 at 6:18 PM ^
According to Sam Webb, Ishbia is footing $14 M. Another booster is footing $10 M. I think MSU is on the hook for the rest!
September 26th, 2023 at 6:07 PM ^
The State of Michigan's funding for higher education is 40th in the nation, and UM gets a good amount more than MSU despite a smaller student body if that makes you feel any better.
September 26th, 2023 at 7:55 PM ^
Your taxes don't go toward athletics.
September 26th, 2023 at 10:17 PM ^
You sure about that? I know UofM has a separate AD that is self funded, but most Universities are not structured like this.
September 27th, 2023 at 9:45 AM ^
We've already been taken to the cleaners by ukraine. Msu is a fraction of that. Either way wouldn't that little bit of money be worth watching msu swirl around the toilet for a decade?
I'm out of state so it doesnt hurt me but in a similar scenario I did pay taxes to Louisville for them to pay Rick Pitino.
September 26th, 2023 at 2:48 PM ^
Thankfully we are almost past the stage in the proceedings where the parties communicate by trading press releases.
The next stage should be conducted mostly by communications between the lawyers.
At some point Tuck will get paid something and he can go on with his life, and Sparty can get on with the business of hiring the next John L. Smith.
September 26th, 2023 at 3:02 PM ^
Who had the worse record John L or Bobby Williams?
September 26th, 2023 at 5:39 PM ^
JLS went 22-26. BW went 16-17.
September 26th, 2023 at 3:05 PM ^
Thankfully we are almost past the stage in the proceedings where the parties communicate by trading press releases.
The next stage should be conducted mostly by communications between the lawyers.
While it's a novel concept, I just don't see it happening. Both sides have made this a fight for public image and perception. Both of their livelihoods hinge on this to a certain degree. I think this holds true for Brenda Tracey moreso than Mel Tucker because we've seen how this plays out with Hugh Freeze, Rick Patino, and Bobby Petrino. Mel doesn't have their track record of success though.
Brenda on the other hand, if it comes out that she was less than truthful, disingenuous, or leveraging this situation for gain than she's done. No team will want to work with her and the societal implications would be huge.
Either way, owning and controlling the narrative publicly will be a part of their PR strategy in addition to their legal strategy. Legally, both Tracey and Tucker will get paid.
September 26th, 2023 at 4:02 PM ^
MSU does NOT want this case to get to the discovery phase where many party's emails, texts, etc. can be retrieved to say nothing about depositions. I have zero love for Tucker but from a legal perspective, it would seem to me that the way MSU has handled this issue puts them in the cross hairs for a very large settlement.
September 26th, 2023 at 8:50 PM ^
That's a great point. I was thinking they would get off with a small settlement, but the threat of discovery will boost the payment.
I would think there is a limit until they say who cares how bad we look.
September 26th, 2023 at 10:54 PM ^
This assumes Sparty did something illegal. It also assumes that discovery will find something damning about Sparty and not about Mel. Something tells me Mel Tugger is the last person who would want to hand over all his communications in discovery. God only knows what other shit he had going on.
September 26th, 2023 at 8:27 PM ^
John L?
They are debating btw urban Saban and Andy Reid on their board.
Oh and Rico says take "10 men on the field " man from Notre Dame because MSU is hallowed ground that every ND coach would run to.
September 26th, 2023 at 9:58 PM ^
I tend to believe this is their Mike Price and then they just need a Mike Shula before their Nick Saban makes us eat our words.
[Checks notes]
Turns out their Nick Saban was Nick Saban and he was 2-3 against us.
September 27th, 2023 at 10:16 AM ^
Do you know how we can apply for the MSU HC job? I feel that I am qualified. I can pretend to be a Spartan for as long as it takes for them to fire me for losing to Michigan. I don't think they'll notice the other games or the fact that I'm not a coach.
I'd do this for free, but I may be able to get $100 million out of it if someone shows me how to use the transfer portal.
September 26th, 2023 at 2:51 PM ^
Let's hope he wins and is forced to return to the sidelines and coach.
September 26th, 2023 at 3:35 PM ^
yeah its a small part of this, but sort of disappointing that MSU isn't stuck with him for the next decade. Was looking forward to continuing to play a team that would be borderline bowl eligble. And he will finish with a 2-1 record against Michigan.
September 26th, 2023 at 4:28 PM ^
That would be an unprecedented level of awkwardness
September 26th, 2023 at 2:52 PM ^
There's no way that MSU want to let this go to Discovery. We're probably getting close to a quiet settlement where Tucker signs an NDA in exchange for $X million, where X < $79M but greater than $10M.
September 26th, 2023 at 3:28 PM ^
While MSU would love to keep any settlement secret, they can't. It would be subject to the FOIA.
September 26th, 2023 at 4:40 PM ^
No one is saying the agreement wouldn’t be public, but the items in a discovery from a lawsuit would never come out since it wouldn’t exist.
September 26th, 2023 at 2:55 PM ^
Now that both sides have disclosed their initial positions, and with the clock ticking toward a Title IX hearing, I assume settlement talks are in full motion. Any thoughts on where the line should be set for over/under on the settlement amount?
September 26th, 2023 at 4:03 PM ^
If I had to guess, I'd say 40-50 million.
September 26th, 2023 at 4:41 PM ^
So which is it? At $40M I take the over, at $50M the under. At anywhere in between, I stay away.
September 26th, 2023 at 2:57 PM ^
"In fact, as discussed below, 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."
Evergreen meme
September 26th, 2023 at 3:05 PM ^
one instance of consensual phone sex
They heard that Michigan is a one-party consent state and completely misinterpreted the rule.
September 26th, 2023 at 3:09 PM ^
sullivan v. gray.
September 26th, 2023 at 5:04 PM ^
As an UM employee I can confidently state that if caught looking at porn or jerking off at work I would be terminated. As an union member it would take a period of months, but the result would be termination.
I did have a co-worker who got his job back after sending dick pics but that was due to the victim leaving the state and not coming back for the hearing. Another was suspended with pay for an alleged sexual assault, but was eventually allowed back to work because she dropped the case.
September 26th, 2023 at 6:21 PM ^
You work at the Peewee Herman School of Perversion or something?
September 26th, 2023 at 6:38 PM ^
Sounds like according to Mel's lawyer, your co-workers should have been promoted for their upstanding moral compasses.
September 26th, 2023 at 6:47 PM ^
Apparently their "moral compass" always points north.
September 26th, 2023 at 8:25 PM ^
I worked in an office where a guy was coming in on the weekends and masturbating while standing in the window (floor-to-ceiling windows). The dumbest part was that the building was right across from a hotel and a guest figured out which floor and which window, and thus which office the guy was in. He did it from his own office. Buh-bye, flasher masturbator.
September 26th, 2023 at 8:36 PM ^
Was his name Roman Roy?
September 27th, 2023 at 7:26 AM ^
Charlie Runkle was the OG of floor-to-ceiling office window masturbating.
September 26th, 2023 at 11:10 PM ^
Jeebus, that is a wretchedly sad and stupid way to go down.
September 26th, 2023 at 11:14 PM ^
By "a guy", do you actually mean "Mel Tugger"? That really kinda sounds like him.
September 27th, 2023 at 8:12 AM ^
I’m an old guy so this kind of sex weirdness isn’t new to me, but I’ll never stop being gobsmacked at how many men throw their lives away because they won’t or can’t keep their zipper up.
September 27th, 2023 at 10:13 AM ^
Now there's a man who really needs to simplify his masturbation routine. He's close to pulling a David Carradine, and you don't want to go out like that.