ISU football player accuses coaches of misconduct

Idaho State University’s football team has been receiving a lot of national attention over the past few days. It comes after a player accused a couple coaches of assault during an away game earlier this year. Earlier this week, we heard from some of the players who are supporting the coaching staff.

Jayson Miller, a senior on the team says, he was hit on the shoulder by one of the coaches in a violent manner, other players say it was out of motivation.

“if you’ve ever seen a coach take their frustration out on an object, or a wall, or a training table, that’s exactly what had occurred. when you say something negative and punch down on somebody, that’s not motivational.”

When Miller confronted the coach later on… he says he did it a second time.

“He hammer fisted down on my shoulder and said you can take it. at that point, it’s disrespectful. I’m a 21-year-old adult. I don’t need to take anyone disrespecting me. and my teammates know that.”

Miller says he was also misinformed of his eligibility status to play football. After these accusations came to light, Miller says the coaches tried to convince him to transfer schools… when he was supposed to meet with them regarding the incident the day before.

“I was under the impression that we were going in there to talk about what happened the day before, him putting his hands on me. we were talking about how I’m a senior and my eligibility is done. we didn’t even talk about what happened the day before and that’s what we were supposed to be talking about when I went into that room.”

Miller believes this was an attempt by the coaches to prevent him from speaking out about the incident.

“After putting his hands on me, that was his way of handling the situation. try to push me out… try to hush me. so, I wouldn’t go forward and do what I was going to do and pursue.”

Miller’s original complaint also included information about derogatory and partially racial text messages sent to some players by a member of the coaching staff.

In a statement earlier this week, Idaho State University says it found those accusations to be accurate and that coach was immediately fired. However, the investigation into miller’s other claims is still ongoing.