Would anyone else succeed there? Compared to other SEC programs, where do they fall in the order when it comes to facilities and financial support
A bit off topic, but tenured coaches on here, what say you about your colleague? Sorry, don't have guess access but can Google if can't open NYT. Some take pay to play to another level. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/64...er-bu-soccer-nancy-feldman-sexual-harassment/
Podcaster Alex Cooper accuses former BU soccer coach Nancy Feldman of sexual harassment By Rebecca Tauber and Tess DeMeyer June 10, 2025 2:52 pm EDT The prominent podcaster Alex Cooper says in a new documentary that she was sexually harassed by her soccer coach while at Boston University and that the school did not take action when she and her parents went to the athletic administration with their concerns. Cooper, the host of the popular podcast “Call Her Daddy,” said in the first episode of the documentary series “Call Her Alex,” which was released on Hulu this week, that while playing soccer at BU a decade ago, coach Nancy Feldman commented on her appearance and asked about her sex life. She said that Feldman once put her hand on Cooper’s thigh, and that Cooper worried about playing time and other consequences if she “didn’t follow this woman’s rules.” Cooper and her parents, who also appear in the series, said they brought their concerns to the athletic administration at BU, which, according to Cooper, “entirely dismissed everything I had been through.” “I started to notice her really starting to fixate on me way more than any other teammate of mine,” Cooper said of Feldman in the documentary. “It was confusing because the focus wasn’t like, ‘You’re doing so well. Let’s get you on the field. You’re gonna be a starter.’ It was all based in her wanting to know who I was dating, her making comments about my body and her always wanting to be alone with me.” Boston University and Feldman, who was the women’s soccer coach from the start of the program in 1995 until she retired in 2022, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. At one point in the documentary, teammate Alex Schlobohm remembers a team film session in which Feldman commented on Cooper’s body. “For whatever reason, every minute that Alex played was highlighted during that film session,” Schlobohm said. “It was all based off of her appearance, whereas I felt like when (Feldman) made comments about other players, it was about their performance.” Cooper said in the documentary that one time, Feldman asked questions after Cooper was dropped off at practice by a man she was seeing. “She asks me, ‘Did you have sex last night?’” Cooper said. “I’m like, ‘I’m sorry, what?’ She’s like, ‘I don’t know if you should be sleeping off campus.’ And I’m like, ‘All of the other girls on my team sleep off campus.’ I didn’t know what to do. And every time I tried to resist her, she would say, ‘There could be consequences.’ And there were.” Cooper said that the situation affected her playing time in the NCAA tournament. The documentary also features Cooper’s parents, Laurie and Bryan, recalling Cooper’s experience on the team and their meeting with BU administration. Cooper said that the family reached out to a lawyer who described the situation as sexual harassment, but that they decided to meet with the dean of athletics rather than bring a lawsuit that could stretch out for years. Cooper said that the administration told her they were not going to fire Feldman, but that Cooper could keep her full tuition scholarship. “No investigation. Within five minutes, they had entirely dismissed everything I had been through,” she said. “I got into the car with my parents, and when the door shut, I immediately broke down and I just started sobbing. I said to my parents, ‘I’m done. I don’t ever want to see this woman again.’” Cooper did not play her senior year and graduated in 2017. In 2018, she started “Call Her Daddy” with former co-host Sofia Franklyn. The show was initially owned and distributed by Barstool Sports. In 2021, Cooper signed a $60 million distribution deal with Spotify and then a $124 million deal with SiriusXM in 2024. In a short podcast episode released Tuesday, Cooper said that she learned “that other women had stepped onto that same field and experienced the same harassment,” though it’s not clear who Cooper is referring to. The “Call Her Daddy” host said on her podcast that the documentary was meant to focus on her touring her podcast, but that the focus changed after the opening tour stop in Boston, when she returned to BU for the first time since graduating. “The minute I saw Nickerson Field, I broke down, and I started sobbing. I didn’t realize how much I had suppressed and how much I was still carrying with me,” Cooper said. “It’s really painful to talk about, and I think a part of me also feels embarrassed that this happened to me, the ‘Call Her Daddy’ girl,” Cooper continued. “In coming forward, I was also afraid of retaliation. I also worried people would downplay or dismiss the severity of what I experienced because the abuse wasn’t physical. And with a podcast that focuses on empowering women, I felt shame, that my abuser happened to be a woman, and I was worried that sharing my story could quite literally undermine everything I stand for.”
Why is this just coming to light now? To help her platform? This kind of stuff sells these days. Or was Feldman really a predator? The question about sex is bad if it happened but in the current day and age it is becoming more and more difficult to decide what actually occurred and what is exaggerated victim mentality.
No coach should be asking any players about their sex lives. Period. Doesn’t matter when it happened.
Maybe it's to help her platform; Maybe not. Methinks if she's already got a $124million deal that's paying her good money BEFORE any of this info coming out, she doesn't really need help with her platform
As I long-time colleague of Nancy Feldman I will state that in over 35 years of interactions with her I experienced and saw nothing but high-end professionalism and someone who operates with a strong moral/ethical compass. My experiences have included coaching with her, recruiting with her, travelling internationally with her, working camps with her, serving on committees/rankings boards with her and non-soccer time. Not once did I ever see/hear/experience anything that could remotely be considered unethical/immoral/harassing.
Was just reading this! Pretty wild accusation. Not saying that it didn't happen, because I'm sure that the comments were made, but it's pretty wild that BU essentially decided to do nothing about it. P.S. It's always interesting to see which stories The Athletic restricts commenting on.
Agree with post #60. Nancy Feldman worked with tons of coaches in Region 1 over the years via ODP and her recruiting at Boston. Never saw or heard anything 'below the line' in terms of her behavior. I would also add I have witnessed myself a bias in these situations over the years with same-sex relationships. Very many ADs would tell you privately they do not want to deal with these situations and risk being perceived as homophobic. They react very differently with male coaches or supervisors or athletes being accused by female victims. Not judging either way but it's real. And there was a thread here about 'coach behavior' in case anyone want to take this there...
I am not taking a side here but there are many, many examples of people that have been caught off guard because their experience with an individual didn't match the crime that was committed. What is reported in this article indicates that this behavior was isolated to Brett Cooper and not anybody else. Your character reference for Nancy Feldman does support her side of the equation but it is still weak support. If you said, " I witnessed countless interactions between Feldman and Cooper and there was no hint of anything inappropriate", then that would be a much stronger statement.
I would say that 10 years ago was about when I realized that I ALWAYS needed an asst. in the room with me with players. I think that communication is tricky because there is what I say, and how it is interpreted. I knew Nancy F. years ago---not well enough to say anything for sure --what I will say is I could also see this happening..... One week a kid comes to practice tired--hey coach--I'm exhausted I was at my gf/bf's house and I didn't sleep well. A week later they come to practice looking exhausted-- coach says--oh were you at your gf/bf's house again?? Athlete thinks ---that's weird coach is asking about my sex life. Coach is thinking that they are just checking if the athlete slept poorly again because they look exhausted. Neither the coach or the athlete is wrong in their head. I know many things I have said came back to me interpreted as something totally different, as a coach it is impossible to know the lens that each kid hears your communication through so it is crucial to have someone else in the room to help keep the communication on track and sometimes to clarify things. I had an asst. who. was great at that and it made all the difference.
This could have come up because of the recent situation at BU involving the accusations against the former HC.
My daughter plays on a summer team in houston & her teammate who plays at McNeese just told her HC resigned & assistant will be interim for the season. So changes still happening if true!!
I also agree and saw what was mentioned in posts 60 and 63. I’ve lived in New England for quite some time. Never saw anything from Nancy Feldman that didn’t display high ethics and professionalism. She was a very well respected coach at BU. I had her as an instructor as well with an NSCAA course and found her to be quite detailed and organized with a professional demeanor. I did see the first episode on Hulu. The way Cooper describes herself is quite self serving. Kid was an attacking player who scored 1 goal in three years. The one goal did come in an important NCAA game but not much else of note in her career. They also interview her best friend on the team, Alex Scholbohm, and she was a peripheral player as well. Hearing them each speak you would have thought they were each Marta-level. The only reason I bring this up is this is a reminder to all coaches to be careful who you bring on to your roster. The fringe players are typically the ones that create the most issues for coaches. I won’t comment on what happened between the player and Feldman, as I wasn’t there. Perhaps it was miscommunication and/or misinterpretation as mentioned on another post. I just find it really hard to understand this one player’s commentary when I see decades of moral and professional behavior from the coach. We as coaches understand this more than anyone. I’m biased towards the coaching side because of this and just find this harassment claim to be difficult to fathom based on what I have witnessed over years.
Describing Feldman as a decent and professional coach isnt juicy and won’t increase viewership for the show there needs to be some type of drama so people will be intrigued. However there needs to be a degree of authenticity to it or she could be sued for libel. I would not be surprised if Feldman is weighing up legal options if there are lies in this.
Latest now is that Cooper said then assistant coach Casey Brown was in the room when Feldman asked Cooper how she got mono. And Cooper looked at Brown and asked for help. Brown stating now she doesn’t remember that interaction at all. Casey Brown would go on to become the BU head coach and was let go after this season when it came to light she had an improper relationship with a player herself. Maybe that could have triggered Cooper to come out now with information knowing that BU would be dealing with another situation with a sexual nature, at least harassment. And definitely helps with her podcast ratings. Cooper now saying she’ll “go after everyone”. BU was always seen as a successful and stable program before this jolt. Could badly use some stability now. Megan Burke and staff did a terrific job last fall as Brown was told to stay away during the investigation and ultimately was let go. Wishing her and the program the best as that program heals and goes forward.
I'm confused... What current seat, that is presumably hot, is the current conversation referring to? I get that it's pretty slow right now, but wouldn't all of this rumor, speculation, innuendo, and outuendo be better directed somewhere like the Coaching Behavior thread?
OPEN: Akron - Maggie Kuhn (Akron assistant; INTERIM) McNeese State - Juan Yepes (McNeese assistant; INTERIM 6/17) FILLED: n/a Updated to start the season, still maintaining the other as there are still two vacancies.
OPEN: Akron - Maggie Kuhn (Akron assistant; INTERIM) McNeese State - Juan Yepes (McNeese assistant; INTERIM 6/17) Northern Iowa - Alex Place Thomas (Wartburg assistant and HS coach; INTERIM 6/20) FILLED: n/a Updated to start the season, still maintaining the other as there are still two vacancies.
Sorry, had this in the wrong thread earlier. Which jobs will open after the 2025 season? I’ll start 1. UNI 2. Akron 3. Michigan 4. Iowa state 5. Syracuse 6. Ole Miss 7. Missouri 8. Iowa (Iowa coach will go to Michigan) 9. St Thomas (Minnesota) 10. Texas AM (Call it a retirement