Former Oregon State head coach Kagan now AC at WSU

[Unregistered]

Does anyone have a link to what happened in Miami? I so confused and really curious!

[Unregistered]

Does anyone have a link to what happened in Miami? I so confused and really curious!

No link will be found as Miami “allegedly” covered up what happened. Goggle and you will find info, gotta dig a little. It’s “alleged” that a coach at Miami was having relations with multiple players. He was “allegedly” caught as the players found out about each other, because he was “allegedly” texting these two players at the same time, and those two players were together with teammates and they all figured it out. The coach “allegedly” got caught and was released, with no reason given by the athletic department. That press release is still
on Miami website. This all transpired following the best season in the history of UM women’s soccer. The path back to employment is what is most interesting, as some of the individuals that enabled his path and are currently head coaches at other institutions. What’s even more interesting is this guy was caught up in another scandal prior to getting the Miami job. MK was his assistant at Miami. He knew what took place, only to return to working for him again years later. These allegations are well known with college and club coaches. But this is really the just the tip of all the nonsense. Oh, all “allegedly” and “allegations” but the movement of these guys is pretty interesting.

[Unregistered]

After what took place at Miami (it was pretty much as bad as it gets for a male coaching women) took place, Kagan had a choice to distance himself from that terrible situation and TA, however he chose to join TA again at Mississippi State! He went back to him!! Which basically means he had no issue with what transpired at Miami. TA got away with it, then gets back into coaching through shady channels, and Kagan rejoined him. I am willing to bet the AD’s at WSU don’t know what TA did at Miami, and I am willing to bet you don’t either. Absolutely one of the most scumbag occurrences, and Matt Kagan went back to TA! Should a guys like this still be coaching college women? Should they be coaching at all?? When the people at WSU find out, Kagan is done. It will happen.

I spent some time reviewing old posts on talking-soccer and Big Soccer and there seems to be a lot on the subject and it is all pretty consistent. Certainly seems to be some smoke.

[Unregistered]

Lots of discussion of this down on the Oregon forum. My understanding:

* Former Miami coach (TA) was accused of sexual misconduct (consensual sex with players) while at UM, and fired. No crimes occurred (these were adult women), but highly unprofessional. Reason for the firing was not disclosed. MK was an assistant under TA at the time.

* TA got another gig later, and MK followed him there.

* MK isn't accused of any misconduct himself. Complaint about him here seems to be that a) he knew about the alleged misconduct on the part of his boss, and failed to report it, and b) that by taking a second job with TA at another school, further enabled misconduct.

* MK was let go at Oregon State after two seasons. He was allowed to resign, and no reason was given for his departure other than the usual boilerplate. No mention of any of this.

* There is some sensitivity to the topic of sexual misconduct among athletes in Corvallis, due to things unrelated to this. OSU fired its president recently as a result of the Les Miles scandal in Louisiana (president previously held the job at LSU, and it became apparent that he knew what was going on and did nothing), as well as some well-publicized incidents involving the (American) football team a while back. It's POSSIBLE that he was forced out at OSU for this reason...

* ...but the team regressed the second season in MK's tenure, so it's possible he was cut loose for poor performance.

* WSU athletic department staff undoubtedly knows about this--if anonymous commenters here are aware, I'm certain that the folks in Pullman have heard about it.

* Complicating things in the OR context--his second year at Corvallis, he had as one of his assistants a prominent local youth coach (Kevin Legg at Crossfire United), who get sniped at quite a bit on TS. (Legg, and/or other folks associated with his club, also engage in obnoxious TS sniping).

Someone doesn't like MK, apparently. Whether this is actually due to the allegations in question, or some other more personal grievance, I don't know.

[Unregistered]

Lots of discussion of this down on the Oregon forum. My understanding:

* Former Miami coach (TA) was accused of sexual misconduct (consensual sex with players) while at UM, and fired. No crimes occurred (these were adult women), but highly unprofessional. Reason for the firing was not disclosed. MK was an assistant under TA at the time.

* TA got another gig later, and MK followed him there.

* MK isn't accused of any misconduct himself. Complaint about him here seems to be that a) he knew about the alleged misconduct on the part of his boss, and failed to report it, and b) that by taking a second job with TA at another school, further enabled misconduct.

* MK was let go at Oregon State after two seasons. He was allowed to resign, and no reason was given for his departure other than the usual boilerplate. No mention of any of this.

* There is some sensitivity to the topic of sexual misconduct among athletes in Corvallis, due to things unrelated to this. OSU fired its president recently as a result of the Les Miles scandal in Louisiana (president previously held the job at LSU, and it became apparent that he knew what was going on and did nothing), as well as some well-publicized incidents involving the (American) football team a while back. It's POSSIBLE that he was forced out at OSU for this reason...

* ...but the team regressed the second season in MK's tenure, so it's possible he was cut loose for poor performance.

* WSU athletic department staff undoubtedly knows about this--if anonymous commenters here are aware, I'm certain that the folks in Pullman have heard about it.

* Complicating things in the OR context--his second year at Corvallis, he had as one of his assistants a prominent local youth coach (Kevin Legg at Crossfire United), who get sniped at quite a bit on TS. (Legg, and/or other folks associated with his club, also engage in obnoxious TS sniping).

Someone doesn't like MK, apparently. Whether this is actually due to the allegations in question, or some other more personal grievance, I don't know.

Thank you for the well written synopsis!

[Unregistered]

It's pretty hard for a coach to have "consensual" sex with a player given the power differential, playing time and scholarships on the line etc. In the case of the Miami coach, he was reportedly having "consensual" sexual relationships with two players at the same without communicating that to either young woman, so the idea of consent there is laughable too. Apparently they figured it out because he was texting the two players at the same time and they happened to be together at a team event and made the discovery. That's pretty repugnant behavior, and it's bizarre that a younger coach would want to continue working for that guy, but who knows

[Unregistered]

It's pretty hard for a coach to have "consensual" sex with a player given the power differential, playing time and scholarships on the line etc. In the case of the Miami coach, he was reportedly having "consensual" sexual relationships with two players at the same without communicating that to either young woman, so the idea of consent there is laughable too. Apparently they figured it out because he was texting the two players at the same time and they happened to be together at a team event and made the discovery. That's pretty repugnant behavior, and it's bizarre that a younger coach would want to continue working for that guy, but who knows

Here, "consensual" has a specific legal definition: that the sex acts involved do not constitute rape. The women involved, as far as I know, were not coerced or threatened with violence, etc., and were not underage, so no crime was committed. The existence of a power differential, or even a threat of professional consequences if sexual advances are refused ("f*ck me or you're off the team!"), are insufficient to merit a rape charge. Perhaps the law here should be changed, but that is what the law is. The Miami coach is a cad and a harasser, but AFAIK he's not a rapist.

Sex between coaches and players, even if only involving consenting adults, is highly unprofessional in every case (and is grounds for immediate sacking in any sensible organization), and meets the definition of sexual harassment in most. Crossing a power differential like that is always bad news. And yes, it's repugnant.

But most forms of sexual harassment are not criminal behavior for which one may be arrested and prosecuted.

[Unregistered]

Here, "consensual" has a specific legal definition: that the sex acts involved do not constitute rape. The women involved, as far as I know, were not coerced or threatened with violence, etc., and were not underage, so no crime was committed. The existence of a power differential, or even a threat of professional consequences if sexual advances are refused ("f*ck me or you're off the team!"), are insufficient to merit a rape charge. Perhaps the law here should be changed, but that is what the law is. The Miami coach is a cad and a harasser, but AFAIK he's not a rapist.

Sex between coaches and players, even if only involving consenting adults, is highly unprofessional in every case (and is grounds for immediate sacking in any sensible organization), and meets the definition of sexual harassment in most. Crossing a power differential like that is always bad news. And yes, it's repugnant.

But most forms of sexual harassment are not criminal behavior for which one may be arrested and prosecuted.

Under Title IX guidelines, coaches, athletic directors and other institutional team personnel are mandatory reporters. They are required to report any instance of sexual misconduct or sexual discrimination to the Title IX office or appropriate school officials. Employees are obligated to report. This includes assistant coaches.

[Unregistered]

Under Title IX guidelines, coaches, athletic directors and other institutional team personnel are mandatory reporters. They are required to report any instance of sexual misconduct or sexual discrimination to the Title IX office or appropriate school officials. Employees are obligated to report. This includes assistant coaches.

Did include assistant coaches. Betsy DeVos changed that...

Not wanting to assume so asking instead - what is your definition of sexual misconduct and sexual discrimination and do those definitions meet the legal standard for what occurred in FL?

Keep in mind that there were no allegations of discrimination here.

Abhorrent behavior to be sure but you're alleging a civil violation to which no one involved is or did and doing so in an attempt to prevent a coach from continuing in his profession.

How about we assume that WSU knows what we know and let them manage it instead of tearing up a coach and a program from afar?

[Unregistered]

How about we assume that WSU knows what we know and let them manage it instead of tearing up a coach and a program from afar?

That doesn't sound like much fun.

[Unregistered]

Under Title IX guidelines, coaches, athletic directors and other institutional team personnel are mandatory reporters. They are required to report any instance of sexual misconduct or sexual discrimination to the Title IX office or appropriate school officials. Employees are obligated to report. This includes assistant coaches.

Yes, I agree. If MK knew something was going on, he had a duty to report. Unfortunately, informing on one's boss is difficult, especially if the boss is a good friend, but the legal duty is there.

(Or was, at the time. The Trump Administration, no doubt wanting to make sure that no p*ssy goes ungrabbed, issued guidance removing coaches from the list of mandatory reporters. Not sure if the Biden Admin has reversed this yet or not).

This has little to do with the question of consent, though.

[Unregistered]

Did include assistant coaches. Betsy DeVos changed that...

Not wanting to assume so asking instead - what is your definition of sexual misconduct and sexual discrimination and do those definitions meet the legal standard for what occurred in FL?

Keep in mind that there were no allegations of discrimination here.

Abhorrent behavior to be sure but you're alleging a civil violation to which no one involved is or did and doing so in an attempt to prevent a coach from continuing in his profession.

How about we assume that WSU knows what we know and let them manage it instead of tearing up a coach and a program from afar?

I don't think the AD and SWA at WSU know what happened at Miami. I also don't think they really care, it's not football or basketball. It isn’t often that you have to do a deep dig when hiring a third assistant!

The University of Miami didn’t allow members of the coaching staff or professors to have sexual relationships with players/students. That is why the coach was fired on Monday night and was packed up and gone by Tuesday morning. It's not breaking the law, but was not proper conduct. This is a big deal in modern day college coaching, and understand, MK and TA were still working together 3 years ago.

[Unregistered]

Lots of discussion of this down on the Oregon forum. My understanding:

* Former Miami coach (TA) was accused of sexual misconduct (consensual sex with players) while at UM, and fired. No crimes occurred (these were adult women), but highly unprofessional. Reason for the firing was not disclosed. MK was an assistant under TA at the time.

* TA got another gig later, and MK followed him there.

* MK isn't accused of any misconduct himself. Complaint about him here seems to be that a) he knew about the alleged misconduct on the part of his boss, and failed to report it, and b) that by taking a second job with TA at another school, further enabled misconduct.

* MK was let go at Oregon State after two seasons. He was allowed to resign, and no reason was given for his departure other than the usual boilerplate. No mention of any of this.

* There is some sensitivity to the topic of sexual misconduct among athletes in Corvallis, due to things unrelated to this. OSU fired its president recently as a result of the Les Miles scandal in Louisiana (president previously held the job at LSU, and it became apparent that he knew what was going on and did nothing), as well as some well-publicized incidents involving the (American) football team a while back. It's POSSIBLE that he was forced out at OSU for this reason...

* ...but the team regressed the second season in MK's tenure, so it's possible he was cut loose for poor performance.

* WSU athletic department staff undoubtedly knows about this--if anonymous commenters here are aware, I'm certain that the folks in Pullman have heard about it.

* Complicating things in the OR context--his second year at Corvallis, he had as one of his assistants a prominent local youth coach (Kevin Legg at Crossfire United), who get sniped at quite a bit on TS. (Legg, and/or other folks associated with his club, also engage in obnoxious TS sniping).

Someone doesn't like MK, apparently. Whether this is actually due to the allegations in question, or some other more personal grievance, I don't know.

It very likely could be a both. Someones don’t like MK for local recent reasons but used the allegations in question about Miami connections to get MK forced out. This also would explain why WSU was ok hiring him.

MK had a historic turn around at OSU his first year with a female assistant coach who the players loved and who is now the head coach at UNLV. Once she left, and another male was added, results went south. MK also was a piss poor recruiter, which didn’t help team results nor happiness about playing time on a large roster. Now, imagine this the large group of local players, their families and then add in a local coach want him out…Bringing up unrelated but disturbing history could be the cherry on top if you want dismissal and to get the local coach promoted. The fact that OSU’s top two field players transferred out with MK shows that he must have been liked by the top players. In fact, the historically top player who won regional honors followed MK to WSU. Seems being an assistant at WSU will work better for MK. Frankly, with the new U of Oregon coach getting rid of most in state recruits, nice to now have OSU be run by a local club and give players in the state top priority.

[Unregistered]

I don't think the AD and SWA at WSU know what happened at Miami. I also don't think they really care, it's not football or basketball. It isn’t often that you have to do a deep dig when hiring a third assistant!

The University of Miami didn’t allow members of the coaching staff or professors to have sexual relationships with players/students. That is why the coach was fired on Monday night and was packed up and gone by Tuesday morning. It's not breaking the law, but was not proper conduct. This is a big deal in modern day college coaching, and understand, MK and TA were still working together 3 years ago.

My post was in response to an allegation of Title IX violation being made against MK not in support of TA's actions. He absolutely should have been fired as quickly as he was and his conduct was in no way proper but it didn't rise to the level of being a Title IX offense and thus not a reportable event.

I find it odd that you think an AD or SWA at a PAC 12 school would be so casual with their own very high paying job as to hire a coach without any level of due diligence. It doesn't require a deep dig to find this stuff. Kagan was hired on July 16th and there are posts on TS on 5/27 spelling out exactly what went on in Miami. They knew. They either felt that there was not enough there or that they have adequate oversight; but they knew before they hired him. And the fact that it's not football or basketball doesn't matter. If something similar were to occur after hiring him they would be out of a job. It would be a PR nightmare. You don't put a 700k/yr job at risk on a new hire without doing any due diligence regardless of the job. HR wouldn't let it happen and the University's risk management wouldn't let it happen. And please - let's not try to pretend that the AD didn't make a phone call to both the AD's at OSU and UofM. There are plenty of ways to find out information without requiring illegal actions.

I think we have to remember that the only allegation against MK is that he knew about inappropriate behavior of a boss and did nothing about it. There are no accusations about improper behavior from him. And, there are definitely no accusations about the current WSU staff that would make you think that we could see a repeat of what happened in Miami.

[Unregistered]

It very likely could be a both. Someones don’t like MK for local recent reasons but used the allegations in question about Miami connections to get MK forced out. This also would explain why WSU was ok hiring him.

MK had a historic turn around at OSU his first year with a female assistant coach who the players loved and who is now the head coach at UNLV. Once she left, and another male was added, results went south. MK also was a piss poor recruiter, which didn’t help team results nor happiness about playing time on a large roster. Now, imagine this the large group of local players, their families and then add in a local coach want him out…Bringing up unrelated but disturbing history could be the cherry on top if you want dismissal and to get the local coach promoted. The fact that OSU’s top two field players transferred out with MK shows that he must have been liked by the top players. In fact, the historically top player who won regional honors followed MK to WSU. Seems being an assistant at WSU will work better for MK. Frankly, with the new U of Oregon coach getting rid of most in state recruits, nice to now have OSU be run by a local club and give players in the state top priority.

OSU isn't being run by a local club. It is unclear whether Kevin Legg (the Crossfire United coach) is still in Corvallis, but the new head coach is one Lauren Sinacola, who is a woman (and an out-of-the-closet gay woman, for those who think such things matter; I don't).

The state of Oregon's youth soccer system doesn't produce a lot of top-tier talent, especially girls and women. Certainly not enough that any D1 university would be wise to focus their recruiting efforts locally. Even when University of Portland was dominating NCAA soccer a few decades back (and their now-deceased head coach was the founder of a different prominent local youth club), they cast a wide net for talent.