SAN ANTONIO – UTSA declined to renew the contract of football defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix after an investigation late last year determined he repeatedly made inappropriate comments to a female student trainer, university records released to the KSAT 12 Defenders confirm.
Nix, who was placed on leave shortly after the trainer filed a formal complaint in November, will not return to the football program after UTSA declined to renew his contract late last month.
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Nix’s contract expires next Monday, according to a UTSA release.
University athletic officials announced that Nix, 48, was placed on leave during UTSA’s game against UTEP on Nov. 14, a day after the formal complaint was filed.
#UTSA statement on DC Tyrone Nix:
— RJ Marquez (@KSATRJ) November 14, 2020
'Tyrone Nix has been placed on administrative leave in connection with an internal investigation. In order to ensure and protect the integrity of the process, we will not be making any additional comments at this time.'#KSATsports #KSATnews
The trainer told university investigators Nix commented that her body looked good in jeans while the team and staff was in the hotel lobby during a road trip to play Brigham Young University on Oct. 10., the report states.
The woman said comments from Nix continued after the trip, including the coach later asking her when she was “going to get those jeans back out,” according to the report.
She told investigators the comments, both during the road trip and once back in San Antonio, made her feel uncomfortable.
During a Title IX hearing Dec. 17, more than a month after Nix was placed on administrative leave, the coach acknowledged saying that the trainer looked good in the jeans
Nix, during the same hearing, acknowledged asking the trainer about the jeans during multiple practices following the road trip.
The investigation, which was finalized Jan. 13, found that Nix violated the university’s handbook of operating procedures pertaining to inappropriate sexual conduct.
“Despite stating that the comments were not intended to make her uncomfortable, I conclude that the comments made by Mr. Nix were unwelcome and persistent and found to be objectively offensive to a reasonable person,” the investigator wrote.
Nix, in an email sent to a UTSA Title IX coordinator in early December, wrote that his actions were intended as kindness and had been misinterpreted and that he was “heartbroken” over what had happened.
Nix also wrote in the email that his being placed on leave being publicized had hurt him professionally and was “a great price for me to pay.”
“I have worked so hard to build my professional reputation, and this is something I will have to address for the rest of my career,” wrote Nix.
Nix concluded the email by apologizing to the female student trainer, but then wrote, “I feel like she has greatly misinterpreted my actions.”
As part of sanctions handed down by the university, Nix was required to be placed in “on notice” status for a year, complete discrimination and harassment prevention training within 30 days and write a five-page paper detailing the importance of appropriate and professional communication with all colleagues.
It is unclear if Nix has completed the sanctions.
Nix was hired as defensive coordinator last year after most recently serving as outside linebackers coach at Ole Miss. Nix has been a college football coach since 1995.