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SALT LAKE CITY — A day after the University of Utah reinstated defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley to his position following an investigation into a racial slur he used in 2013, former Utah cornerback Ryan Lacy says he’s received death threats for his part in the investigation.
"I have received threats to my family!" Lacy tweeted early Thursday morning, while tagging the university’s Twitter account. "I am sickened by this! My mother is in fear after her address was exposed. No phone call, no care, but you had enough time to rewrite a contract for a coach that has blatantly proven misconduct."
Lacy later shared a screenshot of the direct message he received from an individual, who called him the N-word multiple times while threatening him.
The University of Utah tweeted Thursday afternoon that threats to Lacy are “repugnant” and “such actions are not tolerated by the university.”
"While we know the vast majority of the #UofU community treats each other with respect & dignity, there are some outliers who do not share that spirit," the university added. "We condemn their racist words and actions in the strongest way possible."
Threats made to alum @SpotlightLacy are repugnant.
— University of Utah (@UUtah) July 2, 2020
Such actions are not tolerated by the University.
Shortly after Utah announced that Scalley was put on suspension and that the university had hired an outside agency to investigate the incident, Lacy took to Twitter on June 5 to say that the 2013 mishap was not an isolated incident. He alleged Scalley called him the N-word in 2008.
Lacy said he told a couple of teammates and even addressed the issue with Scalley five years later, but he said Scalley didn’t offer a sincere apology, but more of "an excuse."
The outside agency, Husch Blackwell, said it looked into the incident and found that three former student-athletes were told of the incident, but none of them observed it happen. The report added that none of the coaches or those around the program at the time could "corroborate this allegation" and that "Scalley denied the allegation."
But Lacy maintains the incident happened. On Thursday, he tweeted that he is "no longer afraid of speaking my truth" after Utah had "blatantly pushed off and ignored" his allegations against Scalley. "No longer intimidated," he added.
In a teleconference with media Wednesday, Scalley offered an emotional apology to all those who he might have hurt with his "extreme lack of judgement" on his part.
"How I feel doesn't matter much compared to the hurt I've caused others," Scalley said. "But my focus has been on repairing damages that I've made to relationships — of whether it be teammates, former players, current players, anyone in the community. That's been my focus."
As part of Scalley keeping his job, the university stripped him of his coach in-waiting title placed upon him in December and had his $1.1 million salary reduced to $525,000.
I have received threats to my family!. @UUtah I am sickened by this! My mother is in fear after her address was exposed. No phone call, no care, but you had enough time to rewrite a contract for a coach that has blatantly proven misconduct.
— Ryan Lacy (@SpotlightLacy) July 2, 2020
