Mel Tucker has been suspended without pay by Michigan State University amid a sexual harassment investigation, athletic director Alan Haller announced Sunday, via Bruce Feldman of The Athletic.

Nicole Auerbach and Chris Vannini of The Athletic previously reported the head coach had been suspended.

Tucker is the subject of a sexual harassment investigation, as detailed in a report by Dan Murphy of ESPN.

Kenny Jacoby of USA Today reported on Sunday that the investigation was launched after prominent sexual assault prevention advocate Brenda Tracy filed a complaint against Tucker in December saying that he sent her gifts, made inappropriate comments toward her and masturbated during a phone call without her consent.

"The idea that someone could know me and say they understand my trauma but then re-inflict that trauma on me is so disgusting to me, it's hard for me to even wrap my mind around it," Tracy told Jacoby. "It's like he sought me out just to betray me."

Tracy was invited to Michigan State by Tucker in August 2021 to speak to players and staff members about preventing sexual misconduct. She was also named an honorary captain for the team's spring football game last year. Jacoby noted that Tucker called Tracy multiple times after the game, and she said he asked her to meet him alone and "even suggested slipping into her hotel through a back door so no one would see him."

The university hired a Title IX attorney to investigate Tracy's claims after her complaint was filed. In March, Tucker wrote in a letter to the investigator that his relationship with Tracy was "mutually consensual and intimate," and he admitted to masturbating on the phone call while asserting that the act was consensual.

"Ms. Tracy's distortion of our mutually consensual and intimate relationship into allegations of sexual exploitation has really affected me," Tucker wrote in the letter. "I am not proud of my judgment and I am having difficulty forgiving myself for getting into this situation, but I did not engage in misconduct by any definition."

A hearing to determine whether Tucker violated the university's sexual harassment policy was reportedly scheduled for Oct. 5 and 6.

Tucker is in his fourth season as head coach of the Spartans. He is one of the highest-paid coaches in all of college sports after signing a 10-year, $95 million contract in November 2021. If Michigan State fires him with cause, it will result in a loss of the over $70 million remaining on his deal.