George Washington head coach allegedly verbally and emotionally abused players

An expose from the Washington Post alleges that George Washington head coach Mike Lonergan has verbally and emotionally abused players during his tenure at GW.

Let’s be honest, coaching is changing. It might be changing very quickly for George Washington head coach Mike Lonergan, who is facing allegations of emotional and verbal abuse from current and former players.

The players spoke on conditions of anonymity with the Washington Post, which chronicled the entire affair in an expose that ran this morning. Lonergan has denied that he is guilty of the allegations, citing the meetings he had with University officials that ended without punishment.

The transfer rate at George Washington is on par with that of other schools, but players and staff members alike have revealed that the players aren’t transferring to start at another school or get more playing time, they’re transferring because of Lonergan. According to a former George Washington staffer, they transferred because they “couldn’t stand another second of him.”

The players’ allegations claim Lonergan spoke to them in ways ranging from the childishly crude to the potentially criminally slanderous. According to the report, Lonergan told his players that GW athletic director Patrick Nero wanted their practice tapes so that he could masturbate to them in his office.

This is more than a coach simply being crude and blunt. Plenty of coaches are crude and blunt. This is, as one of Lonergan’s players called it, abuse. If these allegations are true, Lonergan doesn’t deserve to be anywhere another coaching job for the rest of his life.

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