Former USC Football Assistant Claims He Was Forced to Resign After Reporting Alleged NCAA Violations

A former coach who worked on the football staff at USC claims he was forced to resign from his position not long after he reported several alleged violations to the NCAA.

According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Rick Courtright claims he was hired on March 1, 2016 as a Senior Defensive Analyst for the USC football team. He claims he took a lesser position with the understanding that a more prominent position with the team would be made available soon.

Courtright says he worked closely under Clancy Pendergast, the defensive coordinator, and says he received several awards and a raise one year into his tenure.

In the Spring of 2017, Courtright claims he overheard two Graduate Assistants — essentially "intern coaches who perform entry-level coaching duties while simultaneously working on a postgraduate degree" — talking to one another in the defensive conference room.

Courtright claims he heard one tell the other that they "need to get more money from Clancy" so they could pay an undergraduate student for the work they were doing for his class.

He says that from that conversation, he learned that the two Graduate Assistants were both paying undergraduate students to "take and complete online graduate courses on behalf of the Graduate Assistants to fulfill the Graduate Assistant's graduate course requirement."

Courtright said he believed that Pendergast and the Graduate Assistants were committing academic fraud but he was nervous to report the incident, fearing retaliation.

A few months later, when asked to sign annual NCAA forms to confirm they were unaware of any illegal activities in the USC athletic department, Courtright claims he decided to go to the Compliance Office and reported the alleged infraction.

He claims the compliance officers assured him his identity would be protected.

Courtright also details two other alleged violations he ended up reporting — one involving the Graduate Assistants driving coaches around during player recruitment and another about players out on the field before games "running around without any supervision or protective equipment on."

With regard to the second alleged violation, Courtright claims he informed Pendergast about it but was told "not to worry about it" and the behavior continued. A few weeks later, Courtright claims two players were engaged in the same behavior when "the two ended up colliding into each other, and they received concussions as a result."

According to Courtright, after he reported the alleged violations, all of the Graduate Assistants were instructed to work in offices away from him and stopped having conversations in the defensive conference room.

He claims he was subjected to several other "harassing incidents," including someone gluing his mouse to the table, someone stealing a cap and jacket from his locker, and someone leaving sticky notes around his desk calling him an "a--hole" and a "d--khead."

"Everyone in the football department suddenly ostracized Courtright and refused to interact with him," the lawsuit claims.

In January 2018, Courtright claims that head football coach Clay Helton called him into his office and said he did not want to bring Courtright back next season, citing "chemistry" issues.

A few days later, during a meeting at Helton's private residence, Courtright claims Helton told him he was being placed on administrative leave. Then in April, Courtright claims Helton called him and said that Courtright either needed to resign from USC or be terminated.

"Rather than have a termination on his record," the lawsuit states, "Courtright was forced to send in a resignation letter on May 15, 2018."

Courtright also claims that since he left the program, the assistant position he was in line for went to someone with much less experience than him.

Courtright is suing USC and Clancy Pendergast for retaliation and negligence, among other claims, and is seeking damages in excess of $2 million.

The Blast reached out to USC and Pendergast for comment but they have yet to respond.