OC Register… .I think It may be behind paywall…
Yup paywalled. Any new spin or investigating work on the story or just a reposting?
QUOTE (first part of article)
Stanford is investigating whether men’s water polo head coach Brian Flacks and members of his staff are retaliating against Cardinal players for participating in a recent confidential university-commissioned investigation into allegations of abusive conduct by Flacks, the Southern California News Group (SCNG) has learned.
While the original investigation did not substantiate the allegations of bullying and abuse, the university’s provost and general counsel offices are looking into allegations from at least 10 people that Flacks has threatened and harassed players for comments they made to a consultant hired by the university to conduct the original probe, according to university administrator emails obtained by the SCNG as well as interviews.
“So the last three months or two months have just put the (expletive) nail in the coffin for me,” Flacks yelled at a Stanford player in a late February meeting after the initial investigation was completed, according to an account of the meeting.
“You talk (expletive) about me behind my back,” Flacks also said during the meeting in which he raised the possibility of dismissing the player from the team.
Stanford is also investigating allegations that Flacks and Duke Rohlen, a Bay Area entrepreneur, Stanford graduate and father of a current Cardinal water polo player, also received a copy of the report or information from it, according to emails from university officials as well as interviews.
Neither Flacks nor Rohlen were authorized recipients of the report, Patrick Dunkley, Stanford vice provost, confirmed in emails obtained by SCNG. The school’s initial four-month investigation of the men’s water polo program was completed in February with Flacks retaining his job. Stanford has not released the results of the probe.
Lots more
Point taken- Stanford does need to be more neutral. And it doesn’t matter who the Olympian is, his pointing about attacking players is damning.
The OC article gives even more detail. Players coercing teammates to sign loyalty oaths? What is this, the 1950’s??? Which begs the question- was it the players idea or Flacks’? I’m sure he thought it would help him, but it only makes him look worse.
seems like a lot of new info… having only skimmed the chronicle one
Here’s the article in the OCR: Stanford investigating water polo coach Brian Flacks for retaliation allegations – Orange County Register
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It’s not just Flacks many other college coaches are not doing right by the players. There are a lot of problems in college water polo some college administrations are not using enough oversight. Not all players are free to take their business elsewhere. Some coaches care very much about winning (big 4) and some receive a paycheck playing Ping-Pong in the rec-center or recruiting overseas while they should be coaching on deck.
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It’s so weird, I just wrote a post that was removed… but I have no idea why, so I’ll simply rewrite it.
I was replying to JustCreepin who seems to discount the quotes from players- but those quotes are proof of retaliation. I highly doubt these very serious charges can be dismissed as simply the work of “entitled parents.” Since you refer to Flacks by his first name, I am guessing you are biased towards him.
I have no connection to Stanford, beyond it being the “dream” school of my son. It certainly gives me pause after hearing the environment the coach has created. Almost half the team leaving or being kicked off is not a good look. It is Flacks who is ruining the reputation of Stanford and its program, not the whistleblowers or students who came forward.
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Bruh- are you the guy mentioned in the article? You seem to have a lot of questionable details- including what families are involved. Isn’t this the very issue the article is talking about- confidentiality being breached?
You also have no idea what the kids mentioned or referenced are going through so it seems nuts that you should mock them. The girl who killed herself also suffered at the hands of others mocking her feelings. Do you know nothing about the rates of suicide in young people? Sounds like you also suffer from a low EQ.
Back to the point- if Stanford is willing to fire coach Taylor for bullying staff in the AD world, surely Stanford can give their students the same protection.
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This is so wild and out of touch with reality. If you think STANFORD players and parents are in it for money with multitudes of players coming out against Flacks with his connections to USAWP you need to reevaluate some things man.
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Hello everyone,
I had a chance to review this locked thread with the other moderators and can provide some updates to the community.
The articles shared reference a closed investigation and a current investigation of retaliation.
After hours, our volunteer moderator team was alerted to a number of posts that required our attention. We made the decision to lock the thread so we have time to review what’s happening and provide thoughtful guidance.
–
We will re-open this thread with the specific points of discussion how it impacts the Stanford program.
We will continue to moderate using our community guidelines.
In this topic, I’d highlight that the following is explicitly out-of-bounds:
- Speculation about either investigation.
- Speculation about different parties in either investigation.
- Unrelated rumors or accusations towards other individuals (players, coaches, parents, etc).
If we continue to see violations or this creates undue burden on the moderator team, we will lock the thread.
-Clark
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I’m sure there is blame to go around on both sides of this situation. While I grew up in an era where tough coaching was generally a good thing for the development of athletes and men, this generation of players and parents don’t always take well to it. That being said, there has been enough smoke over the years, including before Stanford, where it’s concerning. No matter who is right or wrong, this will ultimately be too difficult to overcome (whether now or at contract expiration).
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Not certain I agree with this observation, but have tremendous respect for RBPolo.
I don’t know the specifics other than some players were recruited under Vargas and some players were recruited under Flax, that alone can cause challenges.
I’m not certain we will ever know the truth. There was recently an article about the UCLA basketball coach and his style, this seems to be similar.
I do think it is difficult for everyone to understand the complexity of coach/athlete relationships, especially when you were recruited by one coach and end up with another.
Hope I’m wrong but once lawyers are involved and it hits the press, it becomes a big headache for a new AD.
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At this point, it is not about Flacks’ “coaching style.” It’s about whether or not he retaliated against his players for raising their concerns in an entirely appropriate way through Stanford’s AD. Some posters on this board are comfortable with “old school” coaching styles, but I hope we can all agree that under no circumstances is retaliation acceptable.
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Agree on the retaliation but I also think there are red flags on the coaching style as well. Calling a player lazy could be warranted but if it goes beyond that to belittling players, that isn’t tough coaching
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I agree with you 100% – which is why I put “coaching style” in quotation marks, because I don’t believe abusive and demeaning language is a “coaching style” – it’s abuse and shouldn’t be tolerated. My point was only that Stanford already decided they were okay with his “coaching style” so the only issue is whether he retaliated.
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Following the logic of this post, the new Stanford Football coach needs to drive off the entire team. Respectfully, your earlier posts on this thread reveal your true feelings. This new effort to paint what has happened as merely a recruitment issue is not germane. In addition, aren’t we setting the bar awfully low for a coach: you only need to do right by those who yourself brought in. Some of the posts on this thread and frankly in other threads on this site often put all the burden of “dealing” with a situation ONLY on the players. Coaches should be equally expected to “deal” with the fact of coaching a player they may not have recruited. It is a mark of a good coach to be adaptable. Does the current coach who is subject of this thread able to make it over this extremely low and reasonable bar?
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