Reports from an interview with KARE 11 in Minneapolis quote Teague as saying, “I had too much to drink and sent inappropriate texts”.
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“‘Don’t deny, ‘ he said, ‘our chemistry.’ I told him that he was drastically off base, that my only intention in being there was as a reporter – to which he replied: ‘You’re all strictly business?” While Im proud of my career accomplishments, I want to stop and take a look at my life and alcohol issues..
But as I reread his texts to me and the ones that were released Friday, I regret not doing more initially, especially now that I know Teague continued to harass women.
Teague told KARE-11’s Jana Shortal he was drunk that night and will seek treatment for an alcohol problem. The harassment, which included inappropriate text messages, occurred during a university-sponsored dinner. While Jerry Kill was named the Gophers head football coach days before Teague’s arrival, he hired men’s hoops coach Richard Pitino.
Teague was 46 when he arrived at the University in 2012 after a six-year stint as Virginia Commonwealth University’s director of athletics.
He set about to raise almost $200 million to bring new practice facilities for football and men’s basketball – a gargantuan task for a school that hasn’t had the type of sporting success that gets big donors to open their wallets.
Kaler said the university received two complaints, which both came on the same night. The exchange began while Teague and the woman were at a group dinner.
Rayno detailed several incidents with Teague, including one after she declined a meeting for a drink in which he asked if “she was wearing pajamas”.
Beth Goetz, who is Minnesota’s deputy athletic director and senior woman administrator, will become the school’s interim athletic director.
When requested concerning the influence Teague’s leaving may need on the plan to improve the athletics amenities, which may be a think about retaining Kill if floor shouldn’t be damaged this fall as promised by Teague, Kaler stated: “The college momentum behind that is excessive”. Teague could be paid $285 per hour – his salary as athletics director – for up to a month as a consultant during the transition. Kaler didn’t recall listening to any particular considerations from coaches, however he did say the college is resolving the issue of discovering a website on which to constructed a brand new monitor.
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“This is the first report of sexual harassment the university has received about Norwood Teague“, Kaler said. We will have more information about the next steps for Gopher Athletics within the next couple weeks.
