Louisville men's tennis coach bullied and mistreated players, investigation finds

Courier Journal

A booklet provided by former Louisville men's tennis coach Rex Ecarma contains letters of support from former players and others.

An investigative report from the University of Louisville found credible allegations of bullying, discrimination and mistreatment against fired men's tennis coach Rex Ecarma, according to records obtained by the Courier Journal.

The three-month investigation, conducted by the school's University Integrity and Compliance Office and employee relations department, led U of L to fire Ecarma on Friday following his 29-year coaching career with the Cardinals.

According to his termination letter, U of L will pay Ecarma his $150,000 base salary for the years remaining on his contract, through June 30, 2023.

Among the findings were that Ecarma pressured athletes to play through injuries, forced them to play outdoors in near-freezing temperatures and made discriminatory jokes about players' ethnicities and about women.

According to the report, in one instance, Ecarma said, “Whites are better than black people.”

"Coach Ecarma's behavior made the student athletes and employees fearful of retaliation if they reported their concerns to him," the report said.

According to the 21-page report, investigators interviewed Ecarma and 21 other people, including Louisville compliance director John Carns, seasonal athletic trainer Aurelio Puga and tennis players. They also reviewed Ecarma's personnel file, emails and injury reports.

Ecarma's attorney Marc Murphy, who is also a Courier Journal cartoonist, provided this statement Monday:

“Coach Ecarma was terminated without cause on Friday. Today the University released a report, which Coach Ecarma and I had not seen, and to which we were not given an opportunity to respond. Coach Ecarma continues to deny the specific allegations, but will not respond in more detail because per the University his termination isn’t effective until August 26."

Ecarma gave the Courier Journal a booklet of documents that he previously provided to U of L investigators. The documents contain letters of support from 21 people, including former tennis players, parents of players, U of L faculty and a former assistant coach.

The booklet also included two articles from Louisville SportsReport about former U of L men's basketball coach Rick Pitino and current women's basketball coach Jeff Walz that focused on their aggressive styles of coaching.

Background:Louisville fires veteran men's tennis coach after investigation

Atmosphere of discrimination and bullying

Multiple interviewees reported specific racist or sexist comments allegedly made by Ecarma:

"How many Indians are going to walk in this building?"
"Whites are better than black people."
He made jokes about Puga's Mexican heritage, saying, "Aurelio, he should get a burrito," or "His family might be here," while passing by a Mexican restaurant.
Ecarma talked about Muslims taking over England.
"Don't be a girl," and "We don't go to Panera Bread, only girls eat there."

When investigators asked Ecarma if he made these remarks, he replied, "I don't recall that."

Ecarma, who is Filipino, also added, "I do want to say on record I am a minority. I am an immigrant. I have recruited and graduated players from over 25 countries and 25 cultures and I have tremendous respect, not only respect but appreciation, for all nationalities and cultures."

Twelve people confirmed to investigators that Ecarma called the players inappropriate names and bullied them.

According to the report, Ecarma told the players at a practice, “You guys didn’t take your tampons out.”
One athlete was suspended because he wasn’t giving 100% effort at practice and Ecarma reportedly cursed at him.

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Ecarma denied each of those reports and added, “This is not the language that I use because I believe players and coaches should communicate properly with each other.”

Also included in the report as mistreatment were the following complaints:

Ecarma asked athletes to practice and perform drills with one of his sons. One student-athlete said he didn’t feel like he had a choice when asked.
Ecarma treated athletes and staff as his “personal assistants,” forcing them to carry his personal luggage.
He forced the team to practice in weather with temperatures near freezing three times.

Multiple people stated they were afraid to report concerns to Ecarma out of fear he would retaliate against them.

Pressured to ignore injuries

According to the report, multiple individuals stated that Ecarma pressured student-athletes to play through injuries, not giving them a choice on whether to participate when injured. The athletes interviewed repeatedly stated that Ecarma bullied them and the athletic trainer and made the final decisions when it came to injuries.

Comments made by Ecarma, according to the report, were:

Athletes said that Ecarma told them he did not want to hear the word “injury,” adding that it made them scared to report injuries.
“No matter what you say, you are going to play."
One athlete stated that Ecarma told him he doesn’t see how an injury, which was unspecified in the report, could get worse. The athlete said, “It hindered me the entire season.”
“Pretty sure his motto is, if you can open your eyes and breathe you can play,” one person said.
One student-athlete stated that Ecarma made him play while in pain and said, “I don’t care, take painkillers and play.” The athlete added that he did as Ecarma said and now may need surgery.

When investigators asked about who makes the final decision on a student-athlete’s injury, Ecarma said, “sports medicine.” He also denied telling a player to play through injury.

According to the report, much of Ecarma's injury-related pressure focused on Puga, who was a seasonal assistant trainer from Jan. 4 through Aug. 5 and worked primarily with men’s tennis and men’s soccer.

“Rex has all the power and Aurelio can’t put you out of the game. He can say they shouldn’t be playing and Rex makes the final decision,” one person said.
“Aurelio is bullied by Rex and he didn’t say anything,” another person said.

Upon review of the injury report and related documents, the investigation found that the trainers used words such as “recommend” or “suggest” in the reports to Ecarma. The head athletic trainer for the men’s tennis team said they did that to give Ecarma more autonomy and control with an injured student and that it is different from how they communicate with other coaches.

On one occasion, the report said, Puga texted the head athletic trainer and said, “He was able to finish the match, but in my opinion he should’ve been pulled.” Asked about that exchange, Puga told investigators that he spoke to Ecarma on the sideline during a match and told him he didn't know if the player was capable of finishing the match. "He pressured me to allow him to finish the match," Puga said.

According to the report, Puga told Ecarma the student-athlete could continue the match but also talked with the athlete separately to let him know that he did not have to finish, according to the report.

“It was hard to watch him play,” Puga said in the report.

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Ecarma denied pressuring the athletic trainer to release athletes who were injured, adding, “That’s their wheelhouse. That’s their expertise" and “I follow the script.”

Eleven individuals also confirmed that Ecarma gave an Adidas shirt, as a reward, to student-athletes who were not on the injury list. Those individuals stated that happened on one occasion in the spring of 2019. The award was named after Puga, according to the report.

Asked about the award by the investigators, Ecarma said that it was a way to show support for Puga and that he thought players were taking him for granted. He added that it was also to award a couple of players who were faithfully going to sports medicine trainers and getting themselves healed.

Overworked athletes

The report said Ecarma made athletes practice and participate in team activities in excess of the NCAA's limits of four hours per day or 20 hours per week, sometimes on their days off. Multiple people said Ecarma also rescheduled mandatory practices on as little as 30 minutes' notice and became angry if players couldn't make it.

Questioned about scheduling by investigators, Ecarma deflected responsibility for recording practice time onto assistant coach Jakob Gustafsson.

"(Gustafsson) is responsible for inputting all of the hours of our practices, individuals, individual practices and weight training practices in a program called TeamWorks," Ecarma said. "... Compliance looks it over and makes sure the time is within the NCAA limitations."

In an email Monday, Gustafsson, who will serve as Louisville's interim coach, did not refute that he was responsible for inputting hours. Gustafsson added that he was thankful for Ecarma's mentorship as a player and as an assistant.

"I will work with our compliance staff to address any potential issues regarding NCAA rules," Gustafsson wrote. "I believe that all practice hours that were submitted are within NCAA rules and I will work with our compliance staff to review any information to the contrary."

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Inadequate equipment

Ecarma also withheld gear and equipment from players, the report found, in contradiction to what athletes said they were told they would receive in a signed contract.

Ecarma held onto gear and made players earn it throughout the year.
Players said they did not have enough gear or equipment for practices and matches.
Players sometimes had to share clothing or tennis rackets with one another.

Investigators found "insufficient evidence" to support claims that Ecarma took gear for his personal use, scheduled recruiting trips around the locations of his sons' tournaments or was noncompliant with his sport administrator.

In a previous statement to the Courier Journal on Friday, Ecarma said he was not kept in the loop about the investigation.

"I was never presented with any allegations, by anyone, against me, despite repeated requests," he said. "Mid-inquiry, the University publicly stated there were no NCAA, criminal or Title IX violations but told me little else. At no time did any player, assistant coach, student, fan or anyone make a complaint to me."

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View the full report from the University of Louisville below:

Danielle Lerner: 502-582-4042; dlerner@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @Danielle_Lerner. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/daniellel.