Ohio State women's hockey coach resigns amid harassment complaints
Ohio State women's hockey coach Nate Handrahan has resigned after an internal investigation found he was in violation of the university's sexual harassment policies
By
Chris Peters
•
2 min read
Ohio State University women’s hockey coach Nate Handrahan has resigned his post amid allegations of inappropriate and unprofessional conduct, which included instances of alleged sexual harassment according to the Columbus Dispatch. Handrahan resigned in lieu of being fired by the university according to the report.
The 37-year-old coach had spent four seasons with the Buckeys women’s hockey program.
Ohio State began investigating Handrahan after an incident at an airport in North Dakota following the Buckeyes’ series in Grand Forks. Witnesses said that Handrahan and assistant coach Carson Duggan missed the team bus to the airport before the flight back to Columbus and arrived at the airport smelling of alcohol and acting unprofessionally.
Handrahan received a written reprimand by the university on Dec. 1 and apologized to his team about his and other staff members’ actions but in the course of the apology added that he wished the complaint would have “stayed internal” and not been taken to administrators, according to witnesses.Ohio State also received complaints about Handrahan for sexual harassment, unprofessional and intimidating conduct and retaliation. According to a report presented on Monday to Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith and human resources director for athletics Kim Heaton, Handrahan made sexually explicit comments to “many” players on the team.
Among the allegations presented to Ohio State investigators by witnesses, Handrahan was described as a bully and that players were scared to raise complaints with the coach. Witnesses also expressed to investigators that Handrahan would tell his players to "get horny for the puck" in practice, which the players found inappropriate.
According to the report, Handrahan denied making inappropriate or sexual comments when he met with university investigators and also referred to his coaching style as “demanding but not demeaning.”
Via the Dispatch, here is what Ohio State’s review determined regarding the women's hockey coach:
Handrahan “engaged in a pattern of verbal conduct of a sexual nature that unreasonably interfered with the athletic experience of many students” on the women’s hockey team and found “sufficient evidence” of a violation of the university’s policies on sexual harassment, inappropriate conduct and retaliation.
Handrahan, who previously coached women’s hockey at Robert Morris University, had a record of 67-64-15 in his four years at Ohio State.
