Northwestern University on Thursday fired Jim Foster, its head baseball coach, just three days after firing its longtime football coach amid a hazing scandal, deepening concerns over a toxic culture in the university’s athletics.
The university did not give a reason for terminating Foster, who had been the team’s head coach for a season. Derrick Gragg, the athletic director at Northwestern, said in a statement that “many factors were considered before reaching this resolution.”
That resolution came days after The Chicago Tribune reported that Foster had engaged in bullying and abusive behavior, made an inappropriate comment about a female staff member and spoken badly about his staff to other staff members, according to an internal human resources document obtained by the newspaper.
The Tribune also reported that Foster’s interactions with players could at times be combative. 670 the Score, a radio station, reported that Foster had made racially insensitive comments and that he had pushed injured players too hard by making them return too quickly, in some cases worsening their injuries.
Foster told 670 the Score that the allegations of racism were “ridiculous,” and that “maybe the players aren’t good enough and are just making excuses or are disgruntled.”
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