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Rutgers Student Says He Was Bullied By Football Coach
By
Ben Yakas
Published Nov 16, 2013
Modified Nov 16, 2013
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Nov 16, 2013
Modified Nov 16, 2013
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A Rutgers student claims he was bullied by a football coach, which led to him being ostracized from the team, and eventually leaving the program. Former Rutgers cornerback Jevon Tyree and his parents Mark and Clarice want Rutgers to discipline defensive coordinator Dave Cohen for the incident, which occurred last April. The family told NJ.com that Cohen got in Tyree's face during a spring study hall session, calling him a "pussy" and a "bitch" and threatening to head-butt him.
It was "an outright bullying episode," according to Clarice, and soon "transferred to the other coaches" according to Mark. After the incident, Tyree says his standing on the team plummeted: he was excluded from team meetings, and not given any playing time. After coaches used a wide receiver instead of him in the injury-decimated secondary during a game this month, Tyree quit. "I really think disciplinary action should happen, almost to the point where [Cohen] should get fired. I really do," Mark Tyree said. "That's how bad it is, especially for the damage he's done to Jevon."
The Rutgers athletic department said in a statement that Tyree’s father, Mark, spoke with athletic director Julie Hermann twice in relation to the family’s concern over the bullying; they added that this was a "isolated incident" and the situation "was dealt with immediately." The family says this is bullshit: “I never talked to her. That is insane,” Mark Tyree told NJ.com. "My mother has passed and I would put my hand on a stack of Bibles in her goodness. That’s ridiculous that she would even say that. That’s scary.”
The incident between Tyree and Cohen occurred just after Rutgers fired former coach Mike Rice, after an outcry over the university protecting him during a similar bullying scandal.
Tagged
bullying
dave cohen
football
jevon tyree
language
nj
rutgers
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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