OT: Tucker's response to "Intent to Terminate" - ESPN article - link provided
An article on ESPN's web site describes Mel Tucker's response to the "Intent to Terminate" notice he received.
Among other things - he describes how MSU reacted differently to requests from him and Ms. Tracy. "Tucker's claim of a double-standard comes from how the school handled leaks in the case. He says that on Aug. 25, well before the story went public, he "demanded an investigation into leaks.""
Here's the link to the entire article: https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/38439040/mel-tucker-says-other-motives-play-michigan-state-decision
September 19th, 2023 at 12:42 PM ^
Absolutely this is never going to discovery because, as you noted, Tucker has little else to lose and he's old enough where he probably wasn't going to get another HC gig at this level even if he hadn't gotten caught.
He'll get something in the $20M/30M-ish range is my guess and he'll wind up on some big SEC staff as an analyst shortly thereafter.
September 19th, 2023 at 12:51 PM ^
he's old enough where he probably wasn't going to get another HC gig at this level even if he hadn't gotten caught
Based on performance maybe, but Mel Tucker is 51 years old. How is that too old for a head coaching job?
September 19th, 2023 at 1:59 PM ^
You're right; I'm more thinking if he had puttered along at this general mediocrity for some time and had not gotten fired he'd have likely not been renewed by MSU and then had to take a step back to assistant coach level around the age of 60, which wouldn't be unheard of but probably not all that appealing for him.
September 19th, 2023 at 1:28 PM ^
I mean, do you trust that nobody on the MSU Board of Trustees or amongst the AD leadership sent an ill-considered email or text about what a godsend this scandal is for getting out from under his contract. I would think that would be the biggest threat in discovery.
September 19th, 2023 at 3:50 PM ^
absolutely.... there's zero chance that there wasn't at least a couple text, dm's or emails with off the cuff statements about the situation that MSU would not want made public
September 19th, 2023 at 12:04 PM ^
His name is already severely tarnished. My guess is, since his name is already tarnished, what is more scrutiny. I think he would rather be a pariah with millions of more dollars than accept it and move on.
September 19th, 2023 at 12:29 PM ^
His name may be tarnished, but we already know he’s good at… polishing things…
September 19th, 2023 at 12:51 PM ^
Unless he wants to go back to work. Even a high school wouldn't hire him with pending litigation. But if he doesn't care he can sit on a beach while his lawyers do their thing.
September 19th, 2023 at 1:06 PM ^
"I think he would rather be a pariah with millions of more dollars than accept it and move on."
But is he still a SD4L?
September 19th, 2023 at 12:11 PM ^
I hate MSU as much as anyone but why not just let it play out and stop with the hypothesizing? If it's true it's a serious offence and hopefully he gets what's coming. If it isn't, a man, whether I dislike him or not, is going to have his life ruined over a lie. In all honesty though, who needs permission to jerk off if they're on the phone? And if she knew he was jerking off on the phone, why didn't she just hang up and report it then? This whole story sounds like BS to me, I'm sorry. He contracts a rape survivor to come speak to his football team about awareness surrounding the issue and then he sexually harrasses her? If this was a UM staff member I'm sure everyoine would be yelling for people to wait for due process to take it's course. Neg away if you want, I just think this whole thing is getting ridiculous.
September 19th, 2023 at 12:15 PM ^
"Neg away if you want"
Done. Your post is ridiculous based on what he admitted.
September 19th, 2023 at 12:19 PM ^
What lie is it that would ruin Mel's life? He himself admitted to jerking off on a phone call with a vendor to MSU. If you're suggesting that it was consensual, then why would Tracy report it? What does she possibly have to gain from this, other than the aspersions of very ignorant people and a whole lot of legal entanglements?
EDIT: Also give me a break all of the "ruin his life" people. Man is still a multimillionaire who will spend out his days coaching low-stakes football and still getting paid far above a living wage despite his track record and millions of dollars already in the bank. God forbid anyone should have any sort of consequence for anything bad they've done.
September 19th, 2023 at 12:41 PM ^
Exactly. The post you are responding to (as well as Tucker's statement) are just bizarre to me.
* Tucker admitted to the behavior he is accused of.
* That behavior is a fire-able offense.
Everything else is just noise. Tucker stated that he did something, MSU took him at his word and fired him for it. The reason he did it, the way it became public, and whether the behavior was unwelcome? All meaningless in the context of Tucker's job.
September 19th, 2023 at 12:44 PM ^
This is the worst post I have read here in a long time.
September 19th, 2023 at 12:50 PM ^
If it's true it's a serious offence and hopefully he gets what's coming. If it isn't, a man, whether I dislike him or not, is going to have his life ruined over a lie
He literally admitted to it. Honestly, whether it was consensual or not doesn't matter at this point to if MSU can fire him with cause. Either way, he's done
September 19th, 2023 at 1:10 PM ^
In all honesty though, who needs permission to jerk off if they’re on the phone?
Everyone, dude. Everyone.
September 19th, 2023 at 1:25 PM ^
In all honesty though, who needs permission to jerk off if they're on the phone?
What a weird fucking hill to die on.
September 19th, 2023 at 2:16 PM ^
My opinion is if he’s married and admittedly jerked off over the phone with some other woman and the story is now out there, per his contract, that sounds like a reason to be fired.
September 19th, 2023 at 2:26 PM ^
I'd disagree if the woman wasn't an employee or vendor under his power to control.
September 19th, 2023 at 4:18 PM ^
I figured everyone knew that part of the story already.
September 19th, 2023 at 12:13 PM ^
He needs to let his lawyers/PR team write these. OTOH, he may be one of those PITA clients where you just go 'oh, ok sir' and then CYA the shit out of the file so it's clear who the genius was that greenlit this statement as released.
NEW: Mel Tucker has released the following statement, a day after MSU announced its intention to fire him for cause: pic.twitter.com/4edFFkNg5E
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) September 19, 2023
September 19th, 2023 at 12:13 PM ^
When you're playing the victim card too much for Staee fans, you've got a problem.
September 19th, 2023 at 12:22 PM ^
The more I see this it’s going to be he said/she said conflict. Tucker will fight in court for a huge chunk of the contract. MSU will fight back. This will drag out till there is some settlement and it will totally bring back publicity for MSU!
September 19th, 2023 at 12:28 PM ^
#V4MSU
September 19th, 2023 at 12:51 PM ^
Doesn't he supposedly have record of dozens of phone calls over 30 minutes each? That seems to indicate some sort of personal relationship. Her claim is that during one of those long, purely professional calls he suddenly whipped out his John Thomas and expressed his special admiration for her? I mean, it's possible. But it's also possible it's more complicated than that. Because we are basically talking about destroying a man's life here.
September 19th, 2023 at 1:19 PM ^
"Because we are basically talking about a man who destroyed his own life by not being able to control himself".
There. Fixed it for you.
September 19th, 2023 at 3:53 PM ^
he's an idiot, there's no way around it.....
and idiot and a horseshit coach
September 19th, 2023 at 12:35 PM ^
You read these responses from Tucker and you can't escape the fact he's angry that some woman turned down his romantic overtures and then had the temerity to tell his boss that it wasn't something she thought was appropriate. Now, absolutely it could turn out she in fact lied about a ton of stuff and this was all some plot to get Tucker fired but considering how incompetent he's been running the football program I'm way more inclined to believe this is just him being an idiot and being caught.
September 19th, 2023 at 12:53 PM ^
It also doesn't make a lot of sense that Tracy would want any of this. She's trying to run a business that relies on having good relationships with athletic departments. However unfairly, something as ugly as this is going to make some ADs think twice about doing business with her.
September 19th, 2023 at 1:57 PM ^
Oh absolutely - she's far more likely to suffer financially from this entire situation than Tucker, who even if he gets nothing from being fired (which I doubt will actually be the case) he's still walking away with around $20M in contract earnings from MSU. And let's be honest - if guys like Durkin, Petrino, etc. can get second and third chances at least to be assistants I'm sure Tucker will get that same opportunity if he wants it.
Tracy on the other has is an advocate for sexual abuse, and last time I checked that doesn't pay millions of dollars. While I'm sure she generates some money from her speaking engagements and outreach it is very unlikely it's anywhere close to what Tucker's made, and what he stands to make in the future. All this does is diminish her ability to do her job and be taken seriously, as there are a not-insignificant number of people (which we've seen in these various threads) come out and basically say she either is lying, she "asked" for it by talking to Tucker, should have known better, etc. Some of those people with that mindset are in positions of power and will not want her around their programs, or won't want to deal with the appearance of her "damaged" brand around their teams, etc. She's likely the most screwed in all of this, which squares with how we treat sexual assault and harassment survivors in this country but still sucks nonetheless.
September 19th, 2023 at 2:44 PM ^
I think it’s the opposite and that she’s exactly the person athletic departments will want for this work, more so than before even.
September 19th, 2023 at 3:28 PM ^
Here's my take (speculation, of course, but also based on the little information we've gotten from the few articles out there, and his admission): They're on a phone call and he mistakes her friendliness (which also could've had flirtatious undertones) for romantic interest, so he tells her he's attracted to her and masturbates. She is caught off guard and freezes. What do I do now? I've established a relationship with this guy, he's important to my business and I have enjoyed his company and trusted him, but I didn't want it to go in this direction. She rebuffs his advance which humiliates him in a big way. And maybe he's also now worried that he's crossed a line that could jeopardize his employment. He distances himself from her and her program, pushing off her presentation. She realizes that this guy has just done something egregious (uninvited masturbation) and understands that this qualifies as harrassment. Her life's work is trying to protect other women from sexual harrassment and abuse. Given that, she decides she must file a complaint.
September 19th, 2023 at 4:13 PM ^
your speculation sounds like the most likely reasonable scenario...... and even then, what a moron this guy is....
September 19th, 2023 at 5:09 PM ^
To me, it was pure egotistical stupidity, a case of thinking he was beyond reproach. He certainly wouldn't be the first high-powered person to think that.
September 19th, 2023 at 4:19 PM ^
EDIT: nm
September 19th, 2023 at 5:27 PM ^
Does this qualify as fan fic? Kidding, of course. A lot of this sounds correct, but I am going to quibble a little.
If we take her version of events at face value, she had already been trying to set boundaries. If I'm going to be charitable to Mel, I'd say he viewed this as her playing "hard to get" and didn't take her boundary setting seriously, perhaps because she was soft-pedaling it and she continued to be "nice" to him or whatever.
At the spring game (according to her), he kept calling her to meet with him privately at her hotel, which she declined. That had to be his first big clue she was not actually interested in him.
A couple weeks later came the phone call, which he initiated (the call, I mean). He's in the hotel, he's hot and bothered, she sends him a picture of them (from the spring game) that evidently he found "provocative," his words (lol, was Sparty also in the picture?) and he claims she mentioned she had to go to the gym (it was 9:30 at night or so her time) so she could look good naked. Well, did she really say this last part? Let's pretend she did. He's like, whoa, a picture of her looking good standing next to me, she's talking about being naked, oh yeah, this is it. Now or never. He whips it out and starts acting weird from her end of the phone. Once she's like, OMG are you touching it and he's like, oh yeah babe, she said something (per her comment to the investigator) "If you do this, I don't ever want to hear about it again. We're just friends."
He is now using that as her being the one who "unequivocally" said to do it. But he KNEW in that moment she was not into it. She kept setting boundaries, she wouldn't see him privately at the spring game, and despite all this teasing from her he was getting, she was on the other end of the phone saying "Ew!" But he did not stop.
And because he knew it was wrong, he never called her again, and canceled her next visit three days prior, and lashed out and threatened her when she called him to find out why her visit was canceled.
So, all that to say, at no point did he ever feel "humiliated" as you suggest. He simply felt entitled.
September 19th, 2023 at 5:58 PM ^
I'm trying to remain neutral towards both of them, and trying not to inject awful possibilities, but I guess that's possible. The scenario that I don't think is possible is her being all in on the masturbation part of the call and then turning on him and reporting him. I just don't see any personal or professional benefit in doing that.
September 19th, 2023 at 5:32 PM ^
He distances himself from her and her program, pushing off her presentation.
That is retaliation. Then he was caught in a lie by the investigator about why he cancelled her $10K campus visit. There was no scheduling conflict.
September 19th, 2023 at 12:45 PM ^
This ends up being about the bucks, 'natch. Mel wants what he can salvage, MSU wants this to go away without any further delay, and without having to provide discovery in a court case that is almost certain to make them look incompetent and perhaps worse. Mel has nothing to lose on that front b/c he already looks terrible and is done coaching. I'm betting less than $10MM, and if pressed would put the o/u at $7MM. MSU can sell that as cost/embarrassment avoidance, close the book, and move on.
September 19th, 2023 at 6:06 PM ^
Oh, those bucks. I thought I was gonna get to hear how you unmask OSU as the real culprit, here!
September 19th, 2023 at 12:46 PM ^
Is there a reason Mel didn't just deny that it ever happened?
September 19th, 2023 at 12:56 PM ^
That was my first question. And it's not like he didn't have lots of time to prepare his response. He could have said, "We had an affair and it ended. I guess she's mad at me." Could he be fired for having an affair? If the answer is yes, then it was going to end up here anyways, but at least he could have denied the kinky phone sex imagery.
September 19th, 2023 at 1:45 PM ^
Because if he's really that dumb, fine. But part of me believes that HE believes he had an intimate relationship with her. That's why he didn't deny it. He's still dumb but it'd be less dumb than conceding it happened from the beginning and burying himself because of it. (It's very possible HE thought it was intimate and she didn't, and that's probably the most likely situation and why he didn't deny it).
September 19th, 2023 at 12:57 PM ^
Because he's a horseshit football coach
September 19th, 2023 at 1:20 PM ^
He failed to follow the Shaggy Playbook™.
September 19th, 2023 at 12:50 PM ^
Mel following Steve Bannon’s “flood the zone with shit” and hope something sticks strategy.
September 19th, 2023 at 1:02 PM ^
Since this is a blog and I can throw around unsupported claims.. I think he's almost certainly right that the sleezy administrators (sleezy everywhere to varying degrees) have other motives for firing him. If he'd taken MSU to the playoff the last two years and were undefeated this year I'd bet my paycheck he'd be getting some sort of suspension and sexual harassment training. Money drives decisions at this level. Always has always will. He won't be able to prove it though and he's still a scumbag and incredibly stupid.
September 19th, 2023 at 1:10 PM ^
So it looks like Mel wants to take down the whole institution on his way out. This should be fun.
September 19th, 2023 at 2:46 PM ^
take down? Not sure they can get any lower.