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Memo to College Coaches: Don't Share Porn With Your Players

(Note: For more information about, and reaction to, this story, see Dawg Sports, SBN's Georgia Bulldogs blog.)

A couple weeks ago, Todd McCorkle was a highly successful collegiate golf coach, preparing to lead his University of Georgia women's golf team into NCAA Regional competition.

Then he abruptly, and without explanation, quit. Tiffany Joh touched on the mystery surrounding McCorkle's resignation in her diary about the incident.

Today, the university released documents showing that McCorkle quit following complaints by members of his women's golf team of alleged inappropriate sexual comments and behavior.

Yes, I'd say that a male coach allegedly patting a female player on the butt is inappropriate. And showing team members the Paris Hilton sex tape - as McCorkle is alleged to have done - is not appropriate no matter who it's being shared with (Paris is nasty).

The Associated Press reports:


Todd McCorkle's sudden decision to resign as the women's golf coach at Georgia last week followed complaints from players about his inappropriate sexual comments and jokes, according to documents obtained Monday by The Associated Press.

McCorkle's resignation was announced May 7 and came three days after a memo in which he was told he would have to go through extensive anti-harassment training and would be suspended without pay for July. McCorkle instead quit, but athletic director Damon Evans said he would remain employed in another undisclosed job.
In the memo, University of Georgia executive director for legal affairs Steve Shewmaker told McCorkle several players had complained about the coach's behavior.

"We also recommend a close supervision of your interactions with your team, as any further conduct on your part that is a violation of this policy should result in immediate additional disciplinary action, up to and including termination of your employment with the university," the memo reads.

McCorkle released a statement today, his first comments on his resignation:


McCorkle said Monday he was not asked to resign, but acknowledged the "situation has placed a cloud over the program and I felt like it was in everyone's best interest for me to step down."

"In my tenure at Georgia I have unintentionally made comments that have made some of my players uncomfortable," McCorkle said in a statement. "I want to be clear in saying that this was not my intention or desire.

"I have learned through this experience that I must be 100 percent professional at all times. I would like to thank the University of Georgia for all the opportunities they have afforded me. Life is full of learning experiences and unfortunately this experience has cost me something that is dear to both me and my family."

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, it was the father of Georgia's star player, Taylor Leon, who first alerted the university to the players' complaints. The school launched an investigation in April, and the player allegations were detailed in a memo obtained by the Associated Press and other news organizations:


The memo was one of several documents obtained in response to an open records request by the AP. Other documents included handwritten statements from several players, whose names were blacked out.

They reported that McCorkle shared a sexually explicit Paris Hilton video from the Internet with the team. There were a number of reports of McCorkle's sexual comments to players and a brief mention by one player of inappropriate physical contact.

"He is randomly rubbing your back or flipping hair, or pat on butt - and otherwise not think anything about it - but with all the other stuff feels wrong," the unidentified player wrote.

Players reported McCorkle shared offensive jokes and comments, including remarks about bras and underwear color. Some remarks were more explicit, referring to male anatomy.

McCorkle won a national championship as coach of the University of Arizona women's team in 2000, and a second national title at Georgia in 2001. He is married to LPGA Tour golfer Jenna Daniels.

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