A key member of the MSU football staff has been suspended from the University with pay. Curtis Blackwell is the Director of College Advancement and Performance. He's heavily involved with recruiting members of the football team and mentoring.
The suspension was confirmed by MSU spokesman Jason Cody late Tuesday afternoon. Cody declined to provide details or circumstances of the suspension.
Blackwell has been with the Spartan football program since August of 2013. Prior to that, he coached high school football in Detroit, and spent nine years as the co-director of the "Sound Mind, Sound Body" Football Academy, which works high-school athletes to emphasize athletics and academics.
Blackwell's suspension comes after the Michigan State University Police Department announced earlier this month that it is investigating allegations of sexual assault against three MSU student-athletes connected to the football program. The three student-athletes under investigation have been suspended from team activities, and removed from on-campus housing pending the conclusion of the investigations. MSU also announced that a football staff employee had been suspended while police investigate the allegations.
