COMMENTARY
The University of Utah recently investigated a claim that defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley sent text messages containing racist language.
Scalley was immediately suspended from the Utes football program as of June 5 while an investigation took place, and four weeks later, the school announced Scalley would take massive pay cuts and lost his verbal “head coach-in-waiting” agreement when Kyle Whittingham decides to retire.
However, the school also released a three-page report about the investigation’s findings, which sets Utah’s situation apart from the current problem West Virginia has itself with Vic Koenning.
On Wednesday, WVU announced Koenning, the team’s defensive coordinator, and the school “mutually” parted ways following an investigation into claims made by sophomore safety Kerry Martin. Talks of race, religion and politics were the focal point of Martin’s initial Twitter post, as well as name-calling.
The day of Martin’s post, WVU athletic director Shane Lyons announced Koenning was put on administrative leave while an investigation took place, and four weeks later, the decision was announced for both parties to part ways.
In today’s current social climate, this situation, too, has split the WVU fan base right down the middle. Statements from Lyons, coach Neal Brown and Koenning were made, but unlike at Utah, the athletic department nor university released the findings of the investigation into Koenning.
Without the details, many Mountaineers fans believe Koenning was a victim to the now popular phrase “cancel culture,” solely basing WVU’s ultimate decision on Martin’s first social media post. Thus, Martin has become the scapegoat and person to place blame.
Many ask why he didn’t go to Brown or Koenning if he had an issue, rather than post for all to see on social media.
With the support Martin had from other players on the team, it was clear Koenning’s behavior had been previously discussed, if not with coaches than amongst each other.
Martin was clearly uncomfortable playing for Koenning, so the investigation was necessary. But again, we don’t know the exact findings because WVU has not released that information.
The same can be said on the other side of the coin. Other fans were upset Koenning will receive a significant payment on his way out. With two years left on his previous deal at WVU, he was to be paid $1,074,059, and the parting agreement will pay Koenning about 55% of his original salary at $591,451 over 19 months.
This is a nice luxury for Koenning, who is almost guaranteed to get another coaching job if he chooses to pursue it. But many fans ask if he deserves that money if WVU found enough cause to let him go in the first place.
It’s not that Koenning isn’t a good man. Martin himself even said so in a subsequent Twitter post.
“He has done good by me and is not a bad person,” Martin wrote.
However, the WVU fan base has been running rampant since Wednesday — some claiming Koenning was canceled due to the woke mob, while others have gone all in on the character assassination of Koenning.
With WVU’s decision to let Koenning go but also pay him over half his remaining salary, it seems the university was also stuck in the middle, and the only way to clear the air is to release the results of the investigation.
Until then, the divide will only continue to grow.
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