Photo : Beth J. Harpaz ( AP Photo ) Former Yale women’s soccer coach Rudy Meredith abused his position with the team to help privileged kids pretend that they were athletic recruits so as to make their admissions process into one of the more prestigious universities in the country that much easier. But it appears that his shadiness did not stop there. Advertisement In a report from Bill Gallagher and Skakel McCooey of the Yale Daily News, the coach allegedly used players from his team to help him out with papers he needed to turn in for his graduate courses at Ohio University. The players were not only asked to edit what he wrote, they were often asked to write significant portions of the assignments for him, according to two anonymous former players. They added that players often felt compelled to do what they were told because they believed it would result in better treatment within the team. Meredith got his degree in recreation and sports science and coaching education in 2018. As far as disciplinary responses from the athletics department went, things left a lot to be desired: According to one of the former players, team members brought their concerns to the Department of Athletics as well as University President Peter Salovey. Salovey allegedly received an anonymous letter from a member of the team describing what Meredith asked his players to do. Yale’s Human Resources Department then conducted interviews with Meredith and a few members on the team, according to the same player. Both sources told the News that after conducting the investigation, the athletics administration, headed at the time by former director of Athletics Tom Beckett, took no action against Meredith despite numerous complaints from team members that one of the sources said spanned many years. Most of the members of the administration relevant to this story did not provide the report with any comment besides a university spokesperson who gave a canned statement about how investigations aren’t always apparent to everyone. Even before these scandals broke, it appears as though Meredith wasn’t exactly seen in the most favorable light. One of the anonymous sources said he was a coach that didn’t motivate anyone and that “many players felt like they got worse over the four years playing at Yale.” If that’s the general consensus, it’s got to be tough as a player knowing that you spent your college eligibility with a coach who was as lousy at committing crimes as he was at coaching sports. [Yale Daily News] Know something? Drop a line at tips@deadspin.com. For added security, use our SecureDrop system.<doc-sep>As Rudy Meredith was inducted into the Connecticut Soccer Hall of Fame in January to honor his 24-year run as Yale women’s soccer coach, he sprinkled his hallmark humor and humility throughout his remarks. He recounted how his wife was on the opposite sideline for the University of Hartford when they met in the early 2000s. And he saluted several people in the audience while repeatedly expressing “thankfulness,” recalled Bill Duffy, a middle school principal and soccer lifer who served as master of ceremonies. There was nothing in Mr. Meredith’s words, Mr. Duffy said, “that would refer to anything that was going on.” Despite Mr. Meredith’s placid demeanor, people who knew him best had recently begun to detect changes in his behavior. He seemed to be more anxious. He appeared less enthusiastic about soccer, even before he resigned as Yale’s coach in November. He paid little attention to recruiting. He played poorly in pickleball, a paddle sport he usually excelled at.<doc-sep>Photo: Craig Warga/Bloomberg via Getty Images The college admissions scandal, which the Justice Department has called the biggest college admissions scandal it’s ever prosecuted, seems to have taken over the world by now — but according to The Wall Street Journal, it all started with just one Yale dad. The Journal reports that Morrie Tobin, an L.A. financial executive with close ties to Yale University, was the tipster who set the entire investigation into motion. Tobin, who attended Yale and has a daughter who graduated from the university, was being investigated in a securities-fraud case when he offered a tip to federal authorities in an effort to obtain leniency in his own case. Tobin reportedly told investigators that the head women’s soccer coach at Yale had once sought a bribe in return for getting his daughter into the Ivy League school. That tip led investigators to uncover the bigger scheme, in which wealthy parents reportedly paid bribes to get their children into elite colleges, and which also allegedly included bribing coaches to take students on as recruited athletes, thereby ensuring their acceptances to colleges. According to the Journal, Tobin helped investigators catch the Yale coach, Rudy Meredith, by wearing a wire to a meeting in a Boston hotel room with Meredith in April 2018. During that meeting, Meredith reportedly said he could designate Mr. Tobin’s daughter as a recruit for the team in exchange for $450,000. Prosecutors said that Meredith was working with William Rick Singer, a life coach who has been accused of being one of the masterminds behind the whole scheme. Later in the month of his meeting with Tobin, investigators say, Meredith agreed to cooperate with federal investigators. Mr. Tobin wasn’t charged in relation to the alleged college admissions scandal, though he is awaiting sentencing in the securities-fraud case for which he was being investigated. Stay in touch. Get the Cut newsletter delivered daily Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Terms & Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us.<doc-sep>
Less than a week after Yale fired him as the school's women's soccer coach for his involvement in a college admissions bribery scheme, Rudy Meredith has been accused of additional misconduct. Meredith was pursuing a master's degree at Ohio University while coaching the women's team and, in between allegedly accepting bribes to falsely label non-Yale athletes as soccer recruits, he "pressured" members of his team "to not only edit his academic papers but also to write significant parts of them," according to a report by the Yale Daily News. Two of Meredith's former players, both of whom requested anonymity, told the Yale Daily News that teammates "felt compelled to (write Meredith's papers) because they felt it would gain them better treatment" on the team. Neither of the two players said they wrote any papers for Meredith, but both also accused former Yale athletic director Tom Beckett of taking "no action against Meredith despite numerous complaints... that spanned many years." According to Yale spokesman Tom Conroy, the university's investigation of Meredith following the ex-coach was among 50 indicted as part of the admissions cheating scandal is still ongoing. "We are continuing to investigate his time here, and we will take all appropriate action necessary in light of what we find," Conroy said, per the Yale Daily News. "In considering what we say publicly about Mr. Meredith, we will balance the benefit of transparency with the baseline level of respect for privacy we owe every member of this community, and that we are compelled to uphold by law." Meredith was just one of several Division I coaches indicted in the admissions scheme, which federal agents unveiled earlier this month. The scheme was designed to help potential students "cheat on their college exams" and included $25 million in bribes paid in exchange for admitting students as athletes, regardless of their ability.