UW-L Employee Incident Report (Luke Bengtson)

ReportingEmployee:KimBlum

Department:Athletics

Employee(s)involved:MikeSchmidt

LukeBengtson

EmployeeIncidentInvestigationForm

Date:September21,2018

Position:Director

Position/Department:HeadCoach/Football

:OffensiveCoordinator/Football

Expectationthatisbeinginvestigatedforpossibleviolation

Incidentexplanation

Concerns related to the coaching & leadership style of Luke Bengtson, UWL Offensive Coordinator

IncidentDetailsasDescribedbyReportingEmployee

DateofIncident:09/25/2018 LocationofIncident: Athleticdepartment/Football

09/21/2018: Kim Blum (KB), Director of Athletics, informed Amy Whillock, Assistant Human Resources Director that she would like to visit regarding the potential dismissal of an employee. Arrangements were made to meet with both KB and Mike Schmidt (MS), Head UWL Football Coach at 8:00 am 09/24/2018.

09/23/2018: MS met with Luke Bengtson (LB), UWL Offensive Coordinator (OC) in his office. MS shared a list of concerns related to the coaching and leadership style of LB within his position as OC. (see attached). In this meeting, MS told LB that he will no longer be a part of the UWL Football coaching staff effective immediately.

09/24/2018 8:00am: This writer met with KB and MS at 8:00am. At this time they shared that LB was released of duties as OC on 09/23/2018. LB carries a dual position in the Athletic Department (65% OC and 35% Student Services Specialist). LB was released from his duties as OC only.

MS explained that LB’s coaching and leadership style did not mirror the expectation and culture of the UWL Football team. MS described the culture as “Our Way” Love, Positivity and Respect. It goes beyond winning and engages the student athlete holistically. MS stresses that the coaching staff need to gain the respect of the players first before progress can be made on the field. The coaches are required to hold “two minute drills” with each player under their direction. The drill requires coaches to meet one-on-one with each player and discuss what is going well, what needs improvement and how they can help the player. These drills may include sports, school and life in general. MS was not seeing this behavior in LB’s coaching style. MS was getting reports of these concerns from the coaching staff and students. These reports listed the following observations:

1. Players feel culture of fear and intimidation

2. LB yells and demeans players, often times calling them out in front of other players

3. No positive reinforcement, no support

4. Fear of failure and injury

5. Players feel attacked

MS stated that he asked LB to complete two minute drills with his quarterbacks, 6 players. MS found later that LB did not use the format as instructed if conducted at all. He did not ask what the coach could do to help the player improve.

In this meeting this writer was made aware of prior incidence that were concerns. 06/2018: KB spoke with LB about his responsibility and expectations in his laundry position. KB stated the LB was very angry that he was put into this position and did not think he should do it. KB reminded him that this was part of the employment agreement he signed and was well aware that this was part of his job. KB shared the story with MS. LB shared the story with MS as well only a very different description. He stated that KB was very angry toward LB and he thought MS should be aware.

08/2018: MS had a three hour meeting with LB regarding plans for the upcoming season. At this time he also shared his concerns regarding LB coaching style and that he was not seeing improvement. He told LB that he needed to develop relationships with the coaches and team. He expected buy-in and alignment with the established culture of the UWL Football team.

He stated he had several discussions regarding these concerns with LB, however, he did not document them.

Employee(s)Interview: LukeBengtson

Date:09/24/2018

Explain that retaliation resulting from this event will not be tolerated. It is expected that this investigation and its results remain confidential, not shared w/ other staff or co-workers. Information is on a need-to-know basis.

09/24/2018 10:00am: KB, MS and this writer met with LB to discuss the events of 09/23/2018. LB stated that he felt blindsided by the information MS shared with him on 09/23/2018. LB stated that he “was meeting to discuss work related stuff, strategy stuff”. He felt he had a great practice on 09/18/2018. He stated he got frustrated on 09/20/2018 and vented to MS. He explained that he is demanding of his players. He lets them know what he thinks and tells them as much. He stated he swore more than normal. He stated that he and are polar opposites. According to this writer, it did not appear that LB recognized the concerns brought forward by MS. MS had documented the conversation with LB 09/23/2018 (see attached). LB had not seen the documentation so this writer gave him a copy and read it to him giving the opportunity for LB to respond. LB did not have much response to the letter. He denied most of what was addressed. He did agree that the two minute drill was not handled properly stating that he should have asked what he could do to help the player. LB was put on Paid Administrative Leave (PAL) until next steps could be discussed.

09/24/2018 LB left the meeting, cleaning out his office the evening of 09/24/2018. He took his office keys with him and locked the door leaving UWL property locked in his office. On 09/26/2018 A request was made for LB to return his office key via a text message from Coach .

09/26/2018 9:40am: LB came to Human Resources to meet with this writer. He requested a copy of his employment agreement and his evaluation. This writer told him that he would receive them via email after this meeting. Again, LB stated he was blindsided by the information shared 09/23/2018. The meeting in August was standard for all coaches and MS issues were not discussed. He stated he has been given no opportunity to change, no verbal warning. He said the conversation on 09/23/18 was only 5-10 minutes. He was stunned. He did not see any major misconduct that should allow him to be fired. This writer explained to LB that he has not been fired, but his duties will be changing. He asked if he is not to be around players, what that would look like. He discussed an assistant coaches meeting that he missed. He stated that it was not mandatory, that other coaches missed these meetings. He also missed meetings due to a haircut and a chiropractic appointment. He states several times that he cannot make sense of this. That this has never happened to him before. He said that there is no documentation of meetings with MS regarding the concerns. No specific dates mentioned. That it seems very subjective. He felt that he was doing what MS had asked him to do by holding his players accountable. He feels their coaching styles are similar. He said he has relationships with the players. He texts them messages.

09/26/2018: This writer phoned LB to say that the employment agreements for both positions have been emailed to him and that there was no performance evaluation in his personnel file. He stated he wanted a copy of the documentation that was read in the 09/24/2018 meeting. This writer said that he already has a hard copy. He stated he wanted it electronically. This writer shared at this time he is still on PAL and he is to be available during standard scheduled work hours if we need to reach out to him. He shared that he is on his way to Des Moines IA to visit family. We discussed that he has been reassigned and is still an employee of UWL. This writer outlined next steps in the investigation and he and I will be keeping him informed of the process. He was assured that this process should wrap up by 10/05/2018.

WitnessInterviews

Explain that retaliation resulting from this event will not be tolerated. It is expected that this investigation and its results remain confidential, not shared w/ other staff or co-workers. Information is on a need-to-know basis.

Witness interviews 10/01/2018 and 10/02/2018

Witnesses:

A standard list of questions was asked by this writer to each witness (see attached). Below is a summary of responses identifying common themes.

There is a coaching philosophy woven through the coaching team. The philosophy is one of love, positivity, respect and fun. The coaching staff have relationships with their players that encourages a holistic interest in each individual. This is not only sports interest but education and life. This expectation is clear to the coaching staff. The witnesses uses such phrases as:

 Have fun, enjoy the moment

 Grow in sports, school and life

 Build in integrity of self

 Goes beyond winning

 Our Way

 Development of student on and off the field

When asked to describe MS coaching style, it was identified by these witnesses that MS lives the philosophy described above. He has earned the respect of the coaching staff and the players. They state that he holds players accountable and can be tough, however, the players respect him and his statements come from a learning perspective, not demeaning.

Witnesses were asked to explain the two minute drill practice. Each witness articulated the importance of this drill in building relationships with the players. They take time to visit one-on-one with the player, to understand their strengths, areas they want to improve and how can the coach help them?

When asked to describe LB’s coaching and leadership style there were common observations.

 Authoritative

 Unstructured yelling “we have to get tougher”

 Players afraid to play or make mistakes

 Players were not in his office visiting (unlike the other coaching staff)

 Did not make effort to build relationships

 Very negative, demeaning, intimidating

 Has called out players mistakes in large group meetings and AAR huddles (which coaching staff are not to be a part of).

 Inconsistent and not able to show players how to get to where he wanted them to be.

 Blames others and not himself

 Did not treat people well

Witnesses were asked if they shared these concerns with MS and most had.

Finally witnesses were asked how they felt about the new structure since 09/24/2018. Several related that the team dynamic felt more comfortable; back to the way it used to be last year. Players seemed more relaxed, upbeat and excited to play. There does not seem to the fear of playing or making mistakes. It was stated that this is too early to tell.

Interviews concluded 10/02/2018 at 1:40pm