The associate head coach of the Northwestern football team allegedly witnessed players doing naked pull-ups and engaging in other forms of hazing, former Northwestern player Ramon Diaz and a person in contact with several other former players told USA TODAY Sports on Thursday.
The person spoke on the condition they not be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation.
Matt MacPherson, who in addition to serving as the team’s associate head coach is in charge of safeties, came in and out of the locker room when the players did naked pull-ups, said Diaz, an offensive lineman who was on the football team from 2005-2008.
“He would come in and laugh at the guy(s) who was doing the naked pull-ups,’’ Diaz said by text message. Diaz said the team did naked pull-ups at Camp Kenosha in Wisconsin, where the football team spent about a week of its preseason.
MacPherson also saw players being dry-humped during a ritual called “running,’’ according to the person in contact with several former players.
MacPherson did not immediately respond to a request for comment left by voicemail and text message Thursday.
Jon Yates, Northwestern’s vice president for global marketing and communications, said in a statement to USA TODAY Sports: “There is no place for hazing at Northwestern. We are committed to do whatever is necessary to address hazing-related issues and ensure that our athletic program remains one that our entire community can be proud of and one that is fully aligned with and reflects our values. As President Michael Schill stated on Tuesday, the University will redouble our efforts to safeguard the welfare of each and every student-athlete at Northwestern.”
The hazing scandal led the school to fire Pat Fitzgerald as head coach on July 10. But all of the assistant football coaches have been retained.
Northwestern athletics hazing scandal: What we know
MacPherson, 46, joined the coaching staff in 2006, a few months before Fitzgerald was hired as the head coach, according to MacPherson’s LinkedIn page. In 2018, MacPherson was promoted to associate head coach in charge of defensive backs. He had previously worked with the running backs. He also served as a graduate assistant at Northwestern from 2000-2003, according to his LinkedIn page.
On Wednesday, former Northwestern player Lloyd Yates said assistant coaches participated in the hazing.
“The abusive hazing was so entrenched in the Northwestern football culture that even some of our coaches took part in it,’’ said Yates, a backup quarterback who played from 2015-2017. “The graphic, sexually intense behavior was well-known throughout the program.’’
Yates did not identify the assistant coaches.
Attorney Ben Crump said Wednesday that his legal team has spoken with more than 50 former Northwestern athletes and added, “What they shared with us was clearly a pattern and practice of a culture that was predicated on physical intimidation, harassment, discrimination, abuse both mentally and sexually, and it was normalized.’’
