Four-month investigation leads to Todd Woodcroft's firing as Vermont men's hockey coach

Todd Woodcroft, the former University of Vermont men’s hockey coach, was fired without pay after a four-month investigation, the university's athletic director Jeff Schulman confirmed in a news conference Wednesday.

A formal complaint into Woodcroft’s alleged “inappropriate text messages with a UVM student,” was filed to the university’s Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity (AAEO) on March 16 after a staff member in the athletic department was alerted of the conduct.

“The complaint was only about inappropriate text messages,” Schulman said. “And I guess I do want to just be really clear that there was no allegations or indication of anything beyond inappropriate text messages.”

Schulman, who did not have the exact date of when the investigation began, said it did start before the end of March and concluded on Monday. Woodcroft was then fired the following day.

Woodcroft, 50, signed a five-year contract with the university in April 2020 and had a base pay of $286,855 during the 2022-23 season, according to university records. Schulman said in the news conference that the university does not owe the coach any further compensation.

The Burlington Free Press filed a public records request to obtain Woodcroft’s full contract details and information regarding the AAEO findings.

Woodcroft was not put on administrative leave at any time during the investigation, but was forced to work away from the campus.

“(Woodcroft), in addition to being instructed not to have any contact with any of the students who were involved, was instructed to work from home until the matter was resolved, but he was not put on leave,” Schulman said.

Schulman clarified that the messages involved just one student, but refused to give any details regarding the student or the content of the text messages citing privacy concerns of the student.

“It's not uncommon in a situation like this for there to be one student involved, but also witnesses and other students that are connected to the process in some way,” Schulman said.

The investigation found that only the text messages between Woodcroft and the student were of concern.

The university's AAEO office, which works independently of the athletics department provides “thorough and impartial investigations of complaints of discrimination and harassment,” according to its website.

Schulman, who hired Woodcroft, expressed his confidence in interim head coach Steve Wiedler to lead the Catamounts during the 2023-24 season. The Catamounts went 11-20-5 last year, knocking off Maine in the first round of the Hockey East tournament.

“I'm comfortable with where the hockey program is at, but obviously a disruption that we didn't anticipate,” Schulman said. “But we're gonna move on and support our student-athletes in the program in the best way possible.”

Woodcroft and his attorney, Andrew Miltenberg, are denying the results of the investigation.

"We vehemently disagree with the process and the findings of a proceeding that lacked fundamental fairness and due process," Miltenberg said in a statement to the Free Press on Tuesday.

Contact Jacob Rousseau at JRousseau@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter: @ByJacobRousseau.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Vermont hockey coach Todd Woodcroft fired after investigation