Three Michigan State staff members, including defensive tackles coach and former defensive line coach Ron Burton and current quarterbacks coach and former offensive coordinator Dave Warner, warned head coach Mark Dantonio multiple times that big-time recruit Auston Robertson presented serious problems, before Dantonio green-lighted the signing anyway, according to a deposition given by fired staffer Curtis Blackwell.
The deposition, given in August over 6.5 hours of testimony, was made public, in a slightly redacted form, Thursday in a new court filing by Blackwell's lawyers in Grand Rapids.
"Ron Burton looked at me," Blackwell said in his deposition, given under oath. "I mean, what he said to Coach Dantonio and Dave, 'Like I have a daughter on that campus and I wouldn't feel comfortable with Auston Robertson being on campus with my daughter."
Robertson eventually came to Michigan State, despite previous sexual misconduct claims in his home state of Indiana, and being kicked off his high school team and out of school during his senior year in Fort Wayne.
Robertson was kicked off the MSU team in April 2017, after allegedly raping a woman in her mid-Michigan apartment. While awaiting trial, he was allowed to resurrect his career at Garden City Community College in Kansas, where he played a full season. But more legal issues saw him break probation, he was brought back to Michigan, and in December in Lansing, he was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison after pleading down from rape to a lesser charge.
Blackwell, in his deposition, also accuses Dantonio of working with the academic office to get Robertson admitted, despite a substandard academic record.
Michigan State university and athletic officials didn't immediately return requests for comment Thursday. Multiple times previously, they have declined comment.
At the time of Robertson's dismissal, Dantonio said Robertson "broke our trust." Dantonio also said, "Obviously, we took a risk. ... We vetted the young man."
At the time of Robertson's signing, Dantonio said he had earned his opportunity at Michigan State, despite Blackwell saying in his deposition that several people from Robertson's high school in Indiana, including the principal, had warned Michigan State against Robertson's recruitment. By the time Robertson announced Michigan State as his choice, several major colleges had already backed away from him, given his legal file.
It was in an on-campus meeting when Blackwell, Burton and Warner gave recommendations to steer clear of Robertson, Blackwell said. Each spoke for several minutes making their case, as the lone men in the room.
Dantonio took on Robertson following the 2015 season in which Michigan State made the College Football Playoff. Blackwell said that given the loss of several key defensive linemen, and given Dantonio's reputation for defense, the head coach wanted Robertson, and had to have him. Robertson, given his legal issues in Indiana, entered Michigan State still in a diversionary program.
"Defense is a big focus for Mark Dantonio," Blackwell said in the deposition.
Blackwell said Dantonio viewed Robertson as his "pet project," and even took the unusual step of meeting individually with Robertson every Monday.
Robertson, a defensive tackle, headlined a star-studded 2016 recruiting class that also included wide receiver Donnie Corley and defensive back Demetric Vance from Detroit, and defensive end Josh King from Chicago, three players kicked off the team in June 2017 following their role in that large off-campus party, at which a woman said she was sexual assaulted. Those three players each received probation and have revived their collegiate careers elsewhere, including Corley at Texas Southern.
In the transcript of the deposition, Blackwell continues to paint the picture that he was made the scapegoat in his firing, following a party attended by as many as 20 or more Michigan State football players where an alleged sexual assault occurred.
Robertson, meanwhile, was the whistleblower on the case, originally telling Dantonio _ during one of those one-on-one Monday sessions, in January 2017 _ about a large party he attended with several other players. Dantonio, according to Blackwell's deposition, immediately told Robertson to report what he knew to the university's Title IX office.
Roberton then met with Blackwell, who said he told the player, "If you didn't do anything, you know, why are you concerned? You know, just go in there and tell the truth."
Blackwell first heard about the party from Corley's father, who had reached out to inquire if any players were in trouble. That's when Blackwell started reaching out to his players.
Blackwell said he was doing his job as director of college advancement and performance, and mentoring his players. He said in his deposition that he talked to several other players who were at the party, but didn't attempt to steer them out of any trouble.
Meanwhile, Blackwell was accused by police of interfering in the investigation, and later briefly arrested and even handcuffed, and had his cell phones seized by university police, though no charges were brought. Blackwell also is suing two police officers, whom he said mischaracterized his comments in the police report.
In his correspondence with Blackwell, Dantonio said he was being let go because Dantonio "had to move in a different direction with the position." In later discussions with reporters, Dantonio said Blackwell's dismissal was due to philosophical differences.
Blackwell, 40, was placed on administrative leave until May 2017, when he was fired from his job that at first in 2013 paid him $80,000 a year, before raises brought it $129,000 in April 2016. He is suing, claiming he unfairly took the fall in the sexual-assault investigation at Michigan State, which at the time was operating under a dark cloud amid the Larry Nassar case.
Blackwell's hiring came when was founder of the successful Sound Mind Sound Body football camps. The camps proved to big recruiting tools, particularly among kids from the inner-city.
The Detroit News has filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for any electronic correspondence between Dantonio and Blackwell, and was told there was no such correspondence. The Detroit News also requested documents, receipts and travel logs from Michigan State's recruitment of Robertson, and that request was denied, the university citing privacy.
Dantonio, former athletic director Mark Hollis and former university president Lou Anna K. Simon haven't yet been deposed by Blackwell's lawyers, despite repeated attempts to schedule sessions. The two police officers haven't been deposed yet, either.
Part of Thursday's filing is a request for a judge to order Dantonio's deposition within the month; Blackwell's lawyers claim Dantonio's lawyers have unnecessarily delayed their client's deposition, saying Dantonio was unavailable during any of the several dates proposed by Blackwell's lawyers. Dantonio's lawyers also are trying to limit the scope of Blackwell's lawyers' questions, a request at odds with Blackwell's lawyers. Robertson has "nothing to do" with the case," Dantonio's lawyers argued in emails to Blackwell's attorneys.
The current deposition date being offered to Dantonio is Oct. 7, which is two days after the Spartans' game against Ohio State, and five before their game against Wisconsin.
