Rutgers Football Coach Kyle Flood Fined And Suspended For Contacting Faculty Member

Embattled, chaotic, and uncanny. Those are perhaps some of the more modest critiques of the Rutgers football program this season, and now the head of the program, Coach Kyle Flood, is taking some serious heat. News broke late Wednesday that Rutgers Administration has suspended Coach Flood and levied a $50,000 fine against him for inappropriately contacting a faculty member to discuss a player’s grade.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Rutgers President Robert Barachi announced the penalties after reviewing an internal report detailing Kyle Flood’s interactions with a university professor. The report indicated that Flood contacted the faculty member via email and met with him in person despite his knowledge that such interaction was prohibited under university policies.

“It is clear to me that Coach Flood had inappropriate communications with the faculty member in violation of an established policy,” said Barachi in excerpts from a statement published by ESPN. “The policy is well-known among staff in the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Coach Flood is specifically tasked with knowing both NCAA and our institutional policies regarding these issues … Simply, Coach Flood has no excuse for not knowing the rule and following it.”

Kyle Flood’s suspension bars him from participating in the Rutgers games against Penn State on September 19, versus Kansas on September 26, and against October 10.

Coach Flood also released a statement in which he offered an implicit defense of his actions but seemed to accept the decision of Rutgers Administration.

“I care deeply about my student-athlete’s academic performance,” Kyle Flood said in comments re-published by the Los Angeles Times. “As the head coach, when I recruit players, my responsibility to them and their families is to do all I can to make sure they leave Rutgers with a degree and are prepared for a successful life off the football field.”

The Rutgers football program is still dealing with the fallout from the shocking arrest of some of its key players earlier this month. As previously reported by Inquisitr, five Rutgers players were arrested over their alleged involvement in a series of assaults and home invasions. Earlier in the year, defensive back Darian Dailey was arrested on robbery charges stemming from an unrelated situation.

An unrelated scandal rocked the school’s football program in 2013 when the team’s defensive coordinator Dave Cohen was accused of bullying by a freshman player. Cohen was later fired.

Coach Kyle Flood assumed the helm at Rutgers in 2012, logging winning seasons that year as well as in 2014. The team finished with a record of six wins and seven losses in their disappointing 2013 season and thus far, the Scarlet Knights won a game and lost a game in the present season. The next three games are certain to be pivotal for the struggling team as a series of big losses in the absence of Kyle Flood would likely inflict serious damage to the Scarlet Knights’ aspirations for 2015.

[Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images]