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Rutgers has suspended head lacrosse coach Brian Brecht and is currently investigating his behavior following allegations of verbal abuse, shortly after a scandal over player abuse led to the firing of head basketball coach Mike Rice and resignation of athletic director Tim Pernetti.
The school's president, Robert Barchi, had said that the university would look more closely into the behavior of its coaches after the apparent cover-up of behavior by Rice, which included throwing balls at players, kicking them and firing slurs at them. That emphasis on preventing a repeat of the Rice fiasco has yielded its first lead: the Rutgers police are currently investigating Brecht. It's not clear what he did -- or if there's a smoking gun tape like the one of Rice that caused a media firestorm.
The school's press release is extremely short on details -- it doesn't even mention Brecht by name. If there is evidence Brecht abused his players in any way -- even if not in the outrageous fashion Rice did -- it wouldn't be surprising to see the school make a particularly harsh example of him to prove their dedication after the school's handling of Rice's behavior turned into a PR nightmare.
Brecht's Scarlet Knights have lost 10 consecutive games to fall to 2-11 on the season. They're scheduled to play Saturday afternoon against Duke, presumably with one of Brecht's assistants in charge.
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