College Football

Rutgers AD meets with Tyree’s parents

Rutgers athletic director Julie Hermann met with the parents of transferring football player Jevon Tyree Wednesday night to discuss their well-documented differences, and the two parties left feeling confident those issues have been resolved, said Rev. Dr. DeForest B. Soaries Jr., pastor of the First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset, N.J.

At the meeting, arranged by Soaries and held at the prominent senior pastor’s office, the following was agreed upon: Rutgers will honor Tyree’s athletic scholarship through the remainder of the 2013-2014 academic year, and Rutgers general counsel John Farmer Jr. will review the incident “and assess all relevant facts and any subsequent actions taken by the university’s athletics department,” according to a statement released by the school.

Jevon Tyree

“The Rutgers attorney gave [Tyree’s family] some comfort and assurances this will not be swept under the rug and the facts will lead to where they have to,” Soaries said. “We all believe this will be fleshed out in the review.”

Tyree’s abrupt withdrawal from the team earlier this month created a storm of controversy, after the redshirt freshman from Montclair, N.J., alleged he was bullied and verbally abused by defensive coordinator Dave Cohen last spring. Tyree claimed Cohen (Hofstra’s head coach before the school dropped its football program) used inappropriate language in dealing with him, such as calling him a “p—y” and a “b—h,” and threatening to head-butt him during a study-hall session.

“It was important for them to state for [Hermann] to hear what they believe happened to their son, not only in that incident, but in the ensuing weeks and months as related to his experience with the team,” Soaries said. “What we did not do was dispute facts or ask her to confirm facts. She seemed to be more familiar with the details than I had expected. None of what they said to her seemed to surprise her.”

Hermann previously said she spoke with Tyree’s father, Mark, however, Mark Tyree denied such a conversation took place. At Wednesday’s meeting, that issue also was ironed out, Soaries said. After speaking to one another, they agreed to give each other the benefit of the doubt — that Hermann did field a call from a man who identified himself as Mark Tyree and that Mark Tyree himself never spoke to Hermann.

“That brought some relief to the situation and allowed some steps to move forward,” Soaries said.