A year ago, former Arkansas head coach and current Western Kentucky head man Bobby Petrino made headlines when he was fired for taking part in an extramarital affair with an employee he had hired. Her name was Jessica Dorrell, and we’re guessing you remember their April Fool’s Day rendezvous that ended in an Arkansas roadside ditch, and Petrino in the unemployment line.
Well a year later, (now) former Northern Kentucky AD Scott Eaton has looked Petrino in the eye, and not one-upped him in the “having an intimate relationship with your subordinates” department, but, well, actually five-upped him.
That’s because on Friday details emerged as to why Eaton was fired from the university on March 18. And oh, what a doozy it is. According to school president Geoffrey Means, Eaton had “inappropriate, intimate relationships” with four former employees of the school, and one student.
Hello!
Here are details from the Northerner, a self-described, “Independent, student-run newspaper” at the school:
According to the letter, Eaton supervised two of the women and three are no longer employed by NKU. Mearns did not comment on whether the former employees left the university because of Eaton’s termination or for other reasons, but no other disciplinary action has been taken. The student was in a class that Eaton instructed during their relationship and no longer attends NKU.
In an interview with Mearns, he said Eaton’s conduct spanned “at least 10 years,” but would not provide specifics on the individual relationships.
Now understand, this isn’t totally Crystal Ball Run’s territory, if only because, well, Northern Kentucky doesn’t actually have a football team. Still, this story was just too juicy to pass up.
Intimidate relationships, with five employees? Those are some high-level, FBS numbers right there, even if the Norse doesn’t have a football team, let alone play at the sport’s highest level.
Safe to say that interim athletic director Michael Cusack has a big search ahead of him for Northern Kentucky’s next AD.
The man who replaces Eaton has some large shoes to fill.
Follow Crystal Ball Run on Twitter @CrystalBallRun.
