Mel Tucker news was always going to leak. MSU should have known. | Opinion

After a sexual misconduct investigation into Michigan State University’s $95 million head football coach Mel Tucker was revealed in a USA TODAY story ― posted just hours after Tucker led the school's team to victory against the Richmond Spiders ― the university has scrambled to communicate.

Brenda Tracy, an advocate for sexual assault survivors who had worked with Tucker’s team, told the university last December that the coach had sexually harassed her over the phone. Tucker admits to the act, but claims it was consensual. MSU suspended Tucker, pending an October hearing on the claims, after the story broke.

I’ve spent 25 years helping clients communicate through times of crisis and just bad news, including colleges and universities on matters covered by the civil rights law known as Title IX.

So the latest news from MSU seems like just another instance of leaders, even those with the best of intentions, failing to grasp reality.

MSU knew — and made a major PR mistake

This doesn't just happen at big universities. Reality is too often ignored, even scoffed at, by organizations of all sizes, in all lines of work.

Here's fantasy: With good policies and good luck, the news that you hope (maybe even pray) will stay private stays private, until you decide you want it to be public.

Mel Tucker blew his MSU career. Did he ruin those of future Black coaches, too?

Here's reality: The "forward" button exists. Copy and paste exists. Phones with cameras and texting exist. Frustrated, discouraged employees exist. Insiders (even board members) with agendas exist. Journalists answer their calls and emails. Private information inherently in the public interest inevitably won't stay private for as long as you want it to.

According to news reports, MSU representatives confirm that top officials (including some, but not all, of the members of the elected governance board), learned about Tracy’s Title IX complaint in December. The investigation, conducted by an outside attorney, was complete in July.

Did they really think the story — this particular story about this particular coach at this particular university ― wouldn't leak, over more than two months before a hearing set for the team’s off week?

This is a situation I have encountered with clients, some in recent months. One CEO refused to believe one of his board members would share confidential information with a journalist (it happened). Another CEO refused to announce a planned sale, listening instead to a real estate broker, presumably crossing fingers that employees wouldn't notice anything when tours of the building for potential buyers were taking place (they did, and rumors ramped up quickly). I've heard of situations where trusted insiders turned their Zoom cameras off and took photos of information on their screens to share inside and outside of organizations. You'd need an inordinate amount of luck to prevent these scenarios like these from happening.

Mel Tucker reactions: Mel Tucker situation is gross on every level. You have a right to feel disgusted, mad and sad.

Mel Tucker may never coach again. His decision making, not sex life, has likely cost him his job

The answer is simple to articulate here, but very hard, in real life, to actually do: Tell your audiences what they expect to know, as soon as you can, with your framing and messaging. It's called "getting in front of the story." In other words, tell the story so the would-be leakers don’t have to.

The MSU community is reeling from years of one crisis after another. Missteps are fresh in the public mind. But when audiences receive sound, clear communication, bad news tends to fade from the public consciousness.

Amid some crisis, an executive said, in response to this counsel, "I know that's what PR people like to say but..." It's not what we like to say. It's generally the best advice. Of course, it has to be balanced in execution with legal considerations.

Doing the hard thing is normally the right thing — and usually in an organization’s best interest.

Matt Friedman is co-founder of metro Detroit-based Tanner Friedman Strategic Communications.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: MSU suspended Mel Tucker, but missed the mark on handling crisis