Mel Tucker has been suspended as the active coach of Michigan State football less than 24 hours after it was revealed he is the subject of an MSU investigation into allegations of sexual harassment, the university announced Sunday. Tucker is on leave without pay pending the outcome of the MSU's investigation with his future leading the Spartans now in doubt.
Erroneous reports Sunday initially stated that Tucker was fired by Michigan State. Rather, the investigation will continue as scheduled before the university makes a decision on his future leading the Spartans program.
A formal hearing will begin Oct. 5.
Secondary coach Harlon Barnett will serve as the acting head coach with Mark Dantonio -- one of the most successful head coaches in program history -- returning to the Spartans as an associate head coach, Michigan State athletic director Alan Haller announced Sunday. Dantonio will be an on-field assistant for Michigan State who will wear a headset either on the sidelines or up in a booth.
Haller said an external investigation that concluded July 25 led to the scheduling of the formal hearing. He did not explain why Tucker was not suspended until Sunday beyond saying interim measures were previously in place but circumstances had changed.
A complaint filed in December 2022 by Brenda Tracy, a prominent rape survivor and activist against sexual violence, accused Tucker of making sexually suggestive comments and masturbating while she "sat frozen for several minutes" during a phone call on April 28, 2022.
Tracy, who shared the details of the complaint with USA Today, visited MSU at least three times as an activist starting in 2021 -- including once in which she was recognized as an honorary captain at a Michigan State spring football game -- and built a relationship with Tucker as part of her work on campus.
Tracy also alleges numerous other inappropriate incidents.
"The idea that someone could know me and say they understand my trauma but then re-inflict that trauma on me is so disgusting to me, it's hard for me to even wrap my mind around it," Tracy told USA Today. "It's like he sought me out just to betray me."
Tracy was gang raped at the hands of four men -- three college football players and a recruit -- in 1998. She went public in 2014 and has since transformed that traumatic experience into a message she has sprawled across college sports: Violence against women must stop.
In statements provided to the investigator, Tucker acknowledged that the April 28 phone call occurred; however, he claimed it was a consensual encounter.
"Ms. Tracy's distortion of our mutually consensual and intimate relationship into allegations of sexual exploitations has really affected me," Tucker wrote in a letter to the investigator that was obtained by USA Today. "I am not proud of my judgement and I am having difficulty forgiving myself for getting into this situation, but I did not engage in misconduct by any definition."
Tucker was off to a 2-0 start in his fourth year at Michigan State after beating Richmond 45-14 on Saturday night. After leading the Spartans to an 11-2 record in his second season, he signed a 10-year, $95 million fully guaranteed contract with the school. Since then, the program is just 7-7 and 3-6 in Big Ten play.
There is a clause in Tucker's contract that would allow MSU to fire him for cause "if the coach is engaged in any conduct which constitutes moral turpitude" or MSU deems said conduct to have embarrassed the university.
Michigan State continues to attempt to rebuild its reputation after overlooking decades-long complaints against Larry Nassar, an MSU physician and former USA Gymnastics doctor accused of sexually assaulting hundreds of female athletes. Nassar was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison in verdicts reached across 2017-18.
