Attorneys Say Arizona State Hockey Head Coach Administrative Leave Isn’t Enough

Lawyers for the family of Arizona State men’s hockey player Matthew Mayich and seven anonymous teammates say the university’s response to a catastrophic injury hasn’t gone far enough yet.

Sophomore defenseman Mayich collapsed during an Aug. 20 outdoor preseason workout on campus. The 21-year-old was hospitalized and remains on life support. On Sept. 21, more than a month after Mayich’s collapse, ASU VP James Rund released a preliminary report detailing the conditions of the workout. 

But on Monday, seven rostered players sent an anonymous letter via a lawyer disputing the school’s accounting of the workout, including the conditions around Mayich’s collapse and the care he received. The players withheld their names for fear of retribution from the coaching staff for speaking out.

“There were just so many discrepancies… that the players were just like, this is not fulsome, it’s not complete, it’s not truthful. We need to go out there, at least anonymously,” the players’ attorney Tim Casey told Bridget Condon in an interview with Front Office Sports Tonight.

On Wednesday, after immense public pressure, ASU put head coach Greg Powers on paid administrative leave. Powers was present at the workout, as were the rest of the coaches, who remain on staff. The program will be led by ASU assistant coach Mike Corbett as the Sun Devils open their season on Friday at Lindenwood.

Casey, as well as Mayich family attorney Leonard Aragorn, told Condon on Front Office Sports Tonight the entire coaching staff should similarly be put on leave.

“Only seven people came [forward], and they used an attorney so they wouldn’t have repercussions for coming out and speaking the truth. And that’s because the coaches and the staff have created an environment where people can’t come out and tell the truth because they may risk losing their scholarship, they may risk losing their playing time,” Aragorn said. “We’re asking for the whole entire staff to be put on administrative leave.”

The ASU hockey staff, Aragorn added, did not follow school protocols to protect players, including receiving approval from the university’s strength and conditioning coach that the workout was safe, and sanctioning an outside party to run a training session. The workout was conducted by former Green Beret Tim Zeisel, and was not submitted for advance review. 

“Those policies were not followed, and that’s another reason to put these coaches on administrative leave,” Aragorn said.

Both attorneys also renewed their call for an independent investigation, something they—along with Arizona politicians—have been pushing for. Currently, the ASU police department is handling an inquiry, and on Tuesday, the Maricopa County Attorney said she would not take over the case. Police in Tempe told FOS they are also not involved.

One of Casey’s specific concerns centers on assistant coach Alex Hicks. “He is well known to the players as Coach Powers’s right-hand man and his enforcer,” he said. “This coach is a very close friend of Coach Powers, and, for example, could very well and likely intentionally otherwise affect and influence testimony of the players.”

Their positions on the hockey team aren’t trivial, he asserts. “Most of these young men have spent most of their lives trying to get to a Division I–level hockey program,” he said. “Their ice time, their careers are very much in the hands of the coaching staff they have. The coaching staff has wide discretion and [the players] are very concerned about retaliation. All they want is to be able to tell the truth without retaliation.”