Mel Tucker claims Brenda Tracy ‘manufactured false allegations against me’

On Monday, Michigan State announced their intention to fire head football coach Mel Tucker for cause. That came a week after the Spartans had suspended Tucker following media reports of his alleged sexual harassment of sexual assault survivor Brenda Tracy, who had previously visited Michigan State’s program as part of her work educating players on sexual assault. Tucker shot back publicly after that suspension and called Tracy’s comments “completely false,” and he’s now taken that even further with another statement Tuesday blasting Tracy, MSU, and AD Alan Haller:

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

The statement there includes complaints about the university and how they “cut off any semblance of interest in the truth or due process by terminating me weeks before the hearing.” It also has Tucker complaining about the school declining his request to investigate leaks, and saying “I can only conclude that MSU does not care about my rights, the truth, or its future liability for policing its employees’ private lives.” But the particularly notable comment there may be Tucker’s claim that Tracy “manufactured false allegations against me.”

What’s clear from Tucker’s response here is that he’s not going to simply go quietly and accept the university’s plan to fire him. His previous response to these allegations was already called “scorched earth” by many, and this one has even stronger language with its claims on the actions from Tracy and Michigan State, including “biased investigation” and “miscarriage of justice.” And his “I look forward to one day obtaining discovery against MSU” makes it sound like he’s planning legal action of his own. We’ll see where this goes next.