Iowa Hawkeyes football strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle was placed on administrative leave Saturday night.
The move comes after multiple players accused Doyle in social media posts of racially insensitive behavior. Head coach Kirk Ferentz announced that Doyle had been placed on leave “immediately while an independent review can take place.” (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
You can watch the full announcement from Ferentz below.
This is a defining moment for the Iowa Hawkeye Football program: pic.twitter.com/ckEH39QVki
— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) June 6, 2020
Well, I told you all this was coming. I didn’t expect it to happen so fast, but Iowa acted very quickly in placing Doyle on leave.
You just can’t have tons of players coming forward with accusations of racially charged behavior and not do anything.
— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) June 6, 2020
It’s really a bad situation, and the accusations aren’t pleasant. He’s accused of taking shots at the way players dress, their behavior and more. You can see some of the tweets below.
Time for the truth: pic.twitter.com/aBeVbtfvc4
— Terrance Pryor (@Tpryor51) June 6, 2020
Thank you James!! I remember when I used to wear my tank tops in the facility, I used to get called in the coaches office because I had too much tattoos and it wasn’t the “Iowa culture” or the “Iowa Way”. https://t.co/gYMtSDTMKR
— HaitianQ (@__haitianprince) June 6, 2020
Just got his from a former Iowa football player who is white. Walking on egg shells is becoming a theme. pic.twitter.com/RTKx3tEEgi
— Tyler Devine (@devine_tyler) June 6, 2020
Iowa players are sharing stories about racially charged treatment they received from strength coach Chris Doyle. Doyle is the highest paid strength coach in the country. https://t.co/KtVwvlwH9o
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) June 6, 2020
Now, Iowa will have an independent review of the situation before making a decision on how to move forward. It’s important we get to the bottom of these accusations.
If they’re deemed true, then I wouldn’t expect Doyle to stick around anymore. It’s just not going to happen.
“As a staff and as leaders, we will listen and take to heart the messages we hear.” pic.twitter.com/wqg2ZoX8pk
— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) June 6, 2020
Keep checking back for more updates when we have them on this developing situation. There’s no doubt that this will be one of the biggest stories in college football for the time being.