GREEN & WHITE FOOTBALL

MSU gives suspended Curtis Blackwell another 1-month contract extension

Chris Solari
Detroit Free Press

EAST LANSING – Michigan State University has given suspended football staff member Curtis Blackwell a second one-month contract extension, a university spokesman confirmed today.

Curtis Blackwell.

Blackwell’s contract was set to expire March 31, but he was given the first extension as investigations into an alleged sexual assault on campus involving three MSU players continued. That case remains under review by the Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office. Blackwell’s involvement remains unclear.

The 39-year-old Blackwell was suspended with pay Feb. 9 according to spokesman Jason Cody. MSU announced the suspensions of a football staff member and three football players, all unnamed, that same day. Neither the university nor MSU coach Mark Dantonio has identified Blackwell as the staff member who was suspended.

More on Blackwell:

Michigan State enters key recruiting stretch without Curtis Blackwell

MSU football staffer Curtis Blackwell suspended

MSU Police sought four warrants in connection with the alleged sexual assault, which was reported Jan. 17. Ingham County Prosecutor Carol Siemon received the case March 14 and has not rendered a decision on whether to file charges. A spokesman for Siemon has said that one of the four requested arrest warrants was for an MSU staff member for obstructing an investigation, which would violate university ordinance. Obstructing an investigation also is a two-year felony.

Along with the criminal investigation, MSU hired an external attorney, Rebecca Veidlinger, on Feb. 2 to handle its Title IX investigation into the situation. The university also hired Jones Day law firm on Feb. 10 to look into the football program. Cody said those two investigations also remain ongoing.

Blackwell was hired by Dantonio in August 2013 as the football program’s director of college advancement and performance and to help in recruiting. It is not a coaching position. Blackwell earned $83,435 in 2016, according to a university salary database, and is on a year-to-year contract.

According to Blackwell’s LinkedIn page, his roles include developing and implementing MSU’s recruiting strategies, mentoring student-athletes, organizing official and unofficial visits for recruits, developing “recruiting mailings,” and promoting MSU football. The Detroit King graduate also created the Sound Mind Sound Body high school football camps, which are anchored in his hometown and have spread nationally in recent years.