A Bemidji State University of Minnesota softball coach has been let go by the program after being placed on a leave of absence this year for sending inappropriate text messages to a player. 

According to the Bemidji Pioneer, coach Rick Supinski engaged in inappropriate behavior towards the team, including the pursuit of an unwanted romantic relationship with one of his players. 

"It progressed to being more advanced in nature, more sexual (as time went on)," the player said. "… He would text me more, which is kind of weird in itself, about things unrelated to softball. And then it became obviously more inappropriate."

Screenshots obtained by the Pioneer include dozens of texts Supinski sent in his prolonged attempt to develop a relationship with the player.

In one message, he texted the player, "I wanna make love to you in the mornings… just wondering if you would be into it. Good way to start our days off." Several messages later, he confessed, "I honestly cant hide the fact that I adore you any longer."

The player would often call him out for his inappropriate messages saying things like, "So inappropriate," "Yeah okay you should know better than to do that," and, "Youre [sic] my coach and you should have never let yourself feel the way you do. I did nothing wrong."

The "verbal remarks, text messages and physical gestures" and harassment as the player put it escalated in 2018-2019 she said, but says it started late in the 2016-2017 academic year. 

The player receiving the text messages says felt she was being excluded by her teammates for appearing to be the coaches favorite, until she came forward to tell the team what was really going on.

"He made me feel like I was an outcast, almost," the unnamed player told the Pioneer. "So I didn't feel like I had someone to go and tell on the team because they were like, 'Oh, (she) is Coach's favorite.' When, really, I was like, 'I wish I wasn't.'"

The team then encouraged the player to show the administration the messages and come forward about Supinski's actions. 

"We told her that it was absolutely terrible and that it can't go on any longer," one teammate said. "None of us knew the extent to what it actually was until she showed us. We told her that she needed to talk to someone as soon as possible."

According to the Bemidji Pioneer, Supinski was placed on leave extending to the end of the school year on March 22, the same day the player came forward with the text messages. When his contract was up at the end of the year he was not granted a new one. 

Eleven players, who all wish to remain anonymous, also came forward to give details about their former coach's behavior and noted that they were upset about how BSU handled situations regarding their former coach. 

Four players said others met with the Bemidji State Director of Athletics Tracy Dill in the spring of 2018 to explain that they thought Supinski was engaging in inappropriate behavior off the field. Another player said a group of players went to Dill in Fall of 2018 with similar claims, but Supinski was not met with formal disciplinary action either time. 

Supinski does have a history of being disciplined by the school due to behavior, and was placed on season long paid administrative leave in 2014 after the school received a complaint against the coach. According to multiple players on that team, no one was ever told why their coach was placed on leave. 

Brittany Gomez, who was and assistant coach at the time of Supinski's leave and took over the team while he was gone, will serve as the head coach next season.