No stranger to controversy over the course of his twenty-seven year coaching career, Colorado State head coach Larry Eustachy has found himself under some scrutiny once again this week. On Wednesday, the school’s athletic director Joe Parker announced that Colorado State would be launching an “internal investigation” into the conduct of the sixth year head coach in regards to his “behavior with players, coaches, and other staff members.”
This is the second time that the university has launched an investigation regarding Eustachy’s behavior during his tenure in Fort Collins. Eustachy was also investigated by the school during the 2013-2014 season, where he was found to create a “culture of fear and intimidation”. Although not fired at the time, Eustachy was forced to take anger management sessions following the release of the findings and issued a public apology. It is unknown how long or how in-depth the current investigation from the school will go.
The probe into Eustachy’s behavior began after a report surfaced from Justin Michael, a former Rocky Mountain Collegian sports editor. Michael reported that Joe Parker had recently been interviewing players in private, to discuss Eustachy’s conduct towards them. It is believed, another not substantially reported, that this current investigation is in similar regards to the 2013-2014 investigation, which dealt mostly with the way that Eustachy communicated with both his players, staff and members of the athletic department.
While it’s unknown what this investigation means for the future of Eustachy (or if he’ll be suspended at any point in the meantime), at the moment, Colorado State is preparing for their Saturday night clash with Nevada, as if Eustachy will remain in the picture. The game, which will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU, will be one of the biggest in-conference tests for the Rams so far.
This season, Colorado State is 10-14, with a 3-8 mark in conference play. In Eustachy’s six years at the helm of the program, the 62-year old has compiled a 121-74 overall record, which included one trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2013.
Information from Kyle Boone of CBS Sports and Mark Schlabach of ESPN was used in this article.