WSU athletic director Bill Moos said he found no evidence of abuse in the school's football program (WSU Athletics)Washington State's investigation of Mike Leach and his fellow coaches turned up no evidence of abuse against players, athletic director Bill Moos said Wednesday.
The investigation began after receiver Marquess Wilson walked away from the team in November, saying he had been physically, emotionally and verbally abused by coaches. He later took those words back and said they were misinterpreted.
Moos' department interviewed a dozen football players, and all of them said they were having a good, positive experience at WSU. They said "offseason conditioning sessions are intense and challenging, but appropriate for what they are designed to achieve."
Furthermore, players interviewed said Wilson let them down by walking out of practice and leaving the team, and by putting their coach and their school in a bad light.
The only practice that raised eyebrows, according to Moos, was in relation to some conditioning drills in a box of sand. Water was occasionally used to harden the sand, and players were sometimes sprayed with the water. But Moos said he stopped that drill mid-way through the season.
The Pac-12 is currently conducting its own investigation.
