Suspended Idaho women’s volleyball coach resigns

The University of Idaho announced Friday that controversial women’s volleyball coach Chris Gonzalez has resigned, effective immediately.

The university suspended Gonzalez in March after investigators met with several current and former employees about allegations that the coach verbally and emotionally abused them.

Gonzalez’s troubled past with players was first reported by the Orange County Register. Players have alleged that Gonzalez created an environment where he bullied and even physically abused certain players on an almost daily basis, including overtraining, ignoring injuries, ignoring doctors’ orders and withholding food.

University documents show that players, their parents and at least three university employees have raised concerns about Gonzalez with athletic director Terry Gawlik.

“The University of Idaho is deeply concerned about the allegations made by some members of the women’s volleyball team against their coach, Chris Gonzalez,” the university said in a press release issued in January. “As a result, an investigation into legal issues, which was expanded to include climate and cultural concerns, was launched in November. The start of the investigation was delayed at the request of the complainants to complete the season.”

In Friday’s statement, university spokeswoman Jodi Walker wrote that Gonzalez resigned “prior to the completion of the university’s investigation.”

The separation date was given as Friday.

“With his resignation,” the statement said, “the investigation will be closed and no further action will be taken.”

“With this solution,” the statement continued, “we look forward to the volleyball program rebuilding an environment where our student-athletes can thrive and succeed both on and off the court.”

Under Gonzalez, the Vandals finished 1-27 in 2023, his second year as coach.

When asked if the school paid Gonzalez severance when he left, spokeswoman Walker said Idaho paid Gonzalez $50,000 “for the last six months of his contract.”

The school launched an investigation after several current or former players called for action from Gawlik and former players from various schools under Gonzalez wrote to Idaho authorities to alert them to previous allegations.

Idaho then launched an investigation through its Office of Civil Rights Investigations and hired Houston-based law firm Thompson & Horton to look into the program’s climate and culture. Walker said Friday she had asked but did not immediately know how much the university paid the law firm.

Thompson & Horton is the same law firm that defended Baylor University in a case settled in 2023. The case was brought by 15 sexual assault victims who alleged that for years Baylor “tolerated a campus where sexual assault was rampant.”

This case led to the firing of football coach Art Briles and two other football coaches, as well as the resignation of Baylor President Kenneth Starr, who had previously investigated allegations against President Bill Clinton in connection with Monica Lewinsky as an independent consultant.

So far, the University of Idaho has spent $384,400 investigating the allegations against Gonzalez, UI spokeswoman Jodi Walker said.

Among the materials provided to the UI was a letter dated Nov. 30, 2022, from former volleyball player Chelsey R. Mason, who played under Gonzalez at the University of Iowa in the early 2000s. In the letter, Mason implored the university to listen to the players’ allegations.

Mason suffered a broken rib during intensive training sessions under Gonzalez in 2004, which she described in the letter as “dangerous.”

“The complaints against Christopher Gonzalez should not be dismissed as sulking or tempestuous outbursts by teenagers and young adults or overbearing, disgruntled parents,” Mason wrote. “They are evidence of unprofessional, abusive and manipulative practices that spanned Gonzalez’s career. They are cries for help.”

On Friday, UI spokesman Jerek Wolcott responded to a Spokesman-Review request to speak with Gawlik via email, saying she was unavailable to discuss the situation because the coach’s resignation was a personnel matter.

As for the Vandals, the team’s website – from which Gonzalez’s name has already been removed as of Friday morning – lists only ten current players on the roster.

“Student athletes have a 30-day transfer window after a coach leaves,” Wolcott wrote, “so that is subject to change.”

Emma Patterson, a senior on the team whose mother, grandmother and great-grandmother studied in Idaho, said she was pleased that her and her teammates’ concerns “led to positive results for the program.”

“I hope the university can use this opportunity to find someone to lead the team and create a positive environment to support student-athletes,” she wrote in an email.

However, Patterson expressed disappointment that the Idaho investigation essentially ended with the Office of Civil Rights’ investigation, which was much more limited in scope than the broader effort to examine the program’s climate and culture.

“So there is a significant portion that will remain in the dark,” Patterson wrote. “Overall, I am confident that all of our efforts will help the program and players grow and become something all Vandals can be proud of.”

Student athletes are given a 30-day transfer window after a coach leaves, so that could change.