By Michael McCann
Legal Analyst and Senior Sports Legal Reporter
On Wednesday, Sportico reviewed the NCAA amateurism meltdown. We now turn to misbehaving coaches and other troublemakers making news in 2023.
The Big Ten’s suspension of Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh over a sign-stealing scandal involving Wolverines football analyst Connor Stalions became a major controversy. Although Harbaugh wasn’t accused of partaking in or even knowing about the misconduct, and although the NCAA has not made any findings, the Big Ten suspended the coach for three critical games in November. The conference deemed it had enough information to punish Harbaugh under the conference’s sportsmanship policy. Harbaugh and Michigan sued, hoping to obtain a temporary restraining order. But the Big Ten’s decision to impose a suspension in the late afternoon on a federal holiday complicated Harbaugh’s timing. Harbaugh didn’t get a TRO and Michigan dropped the case. The Wolverines won all three games without Harbaugh under offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore. The team finished the season 13-0 and is ranked No. 1 as it prepares to play Alabama in the Rose Bowl.
Michigan State University fired head football coach Mel Tucker for cause in September following allegations Tucker engaged in improper sexual conduct—specifically “phone sex”—with victims’ rights advocate Brenda Tracy, whom the university retained in 2021 as an outside vendor for one event. Tucker flatly refutes the allegation, claims his actions were consensual and argues Tracy manipulated evidence. Still owed about $80 million in a 10-year, $95 million contract, Tucker could sue MSU for breach of contract, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. One key legal question would be whether Tracy counts as a university vendor for purposes of a for-cause firing under applicable contract language. Meanwhile, MSU spent $80,000 with an executive search firm to hire Tucker’s replacement, Jonathan Smith.
The college sports world was stunned in June when a student newspaper, the Daily Northwestern, broke news that a former football player alleged he was victimized by a grotesque hazing ritual known as “running.” It features upperclassmen dressed in masks “dry-humping” a victim in front of his teammates while in a dark locker room. The university hired a law firm to investigate, and though the firm found insufficient evidence that coach Pat Fitzgerald knew about the hazing, Northwestern president Michael Schill suspended Fitzgerald for two weeks. After public outcry and more allegations of player mistreatment, Schill fired Fitzgerald with cause despite his not being accorded a hearing between his suspension and firing. The controversy has led to Fitzgerald suing the school for breach of contract and former players suing the school for negligence. With so much lingering fallout, Northwestern’s handling of the crisis clearly won’t serve as a playbook for schools facing similar controversies.
After a tumultuous, litigious and ultimately unsuccessful 24-year run as owner of the Washington Commanders, Daniel Snyder sold the team in June for $6.05 billion to a group led by Josh Harris. Snyder, who bought the Commanders (Redskins) for $800 million, was repeatedly besieged by controversy. He was accused of sexual harassment and overseeing a workplace where women were regularly mistreated and degraded. Snyder combatively tried to avoid testifying in Congress, was accused of hiding money from the league and players, and was even linked to a criminal investigation by the office of Jessica Aber, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, into fraud. Those allegations aren’t going away, either. On Wednesday, former Commanders limited partner Robert Rothman sued Bank of America, claiming the bank and Snyder conspired to force him to sell his stake. The league repeatedly investigated Snyder, but didn’t divulge many findings. Some speculated other owners would move to vote Snyder out, but that was a quixotic idea. The league has never expelled an owner, and it would have required 24 owners—some of whom might have worried about setting a new precedent—to vote yes. He instead left voluntarily, with a big check. But no amount of money will rehabilitate Snyder’s disastrous legacy.
In November, a jury in New York convicted Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of imploded crypto exchange FTX, of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering. Bankman-Fried faces sentencing in March for convictions that carry a maximum of 115 years in prison. The sports hook is that Tom Brady, Shohei Ohtani, Naomi Osaka and Steph Curry are among the athletes who endorsed FTX and are now being sued by investors who say they illegally duped fans. Athletes should be careful next time they endorse what seems like “the next big thing.”
Glen “Big Baby” Davis was a productive NBA big man from 2007 to 2015 and earned $34.4 million in salaries during that time. He’s now facing the prospect of spending many years in prison after he and fellow retired NBA player Will Bynum were convicted in November of orchestrating a criminal scheme to defraud the NBA players’ health and benefit welfare plan. The players submitted fraudulent invoices, claiming reimbursements for fictitious medical expenses. Davis’ nickname became a source of controversy in the case, with his lawyers claiming it reflected his “cognitive and emotional limitations” and should be regarded as exonerating. Davis, however, had previously said the nickname reflected him being born weighing 14 pounds–in other words, a big baby. Expert testimony concerning Davis’s alleged intellectual deficits was deemed inadmissible partly because it wasn’t based on a review of medical records predating Davis’s criminal acts.
Other developments involving those who have encountered trouble:
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