The Falcons named LaTroy Lewis their new assistant defensive line coach just 17 days ago. In the days since then, serious sexual assault allegations have surfaced against him from an unnamed alleged victim, per Darko State Media reporter and host of The Spiro Avenue Show podcast Justin Spiro.
An initial statement released by the Falcons (via Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk) read, “We are aware of allegations regarding LaTroy Lewis. We are in the process of gathering information and will have no further comment at this time.”
It shouldn’t have been too difficult for Atlanta’s decisionmakers to glean information on the situation. Per Spiro, Lewis was in his hotel room in Indianapolis, “where he is attending the NFL Combine with other Falcons staff,” when Spiro called him for comment on the accusations against him. About two hours after the team’s statement, Greg Auman of FOX Sports relayed that the Falcons had dismissed Lewis after a little over two weeks of employment.
The allegations against Lewis stem from a time during which he was a part of what has become a very controversial coaching staff at the University of Michigan. Working as a graduate assistant under a newly promoted head coach in Sherrone Moore, Lewis reportedly met his accuser through a social media dating platform. Spiro provided screenshots of alleged communications from Lewis to his accuser that very quickly include threats of physical and sexual violence. “Under coercive circumstances,” Lewis demanded a collection of money and items totaling around $25K. The two had still not met in person up to that point.
Shortly after, Lewis’s accuser traveled to Ann Arbor for a work-related event, and the then-Michigan staffer allegedly made his way to her location under false pretenses before physically and sexually abusing her; Spiro’s breaking report included photographs to support many of the woman’s claims against Lewis. Following the Ann Arbor interaction, the alleged victim, who was acquainted with Lewis’s head coach outside of her interactions with Lewis, reached out to Moore to make him aware of the actions of his staffer as she was too scared to go to police. A mandatory reporter under Title IX, as dictated by the University of Michigan’s policy, the head coach allegedly shirked his responsibilities when she confided in him, refusing to report Lewis to the proper authorities. In fact, Moore himself allegedly began to harass Lewis’s accuser, while recommending Lewis for a position as the defensive line coach at Toledo.
Moore has since been fired from Michigan and arrested for stalking and breaking and entering. After a year at Toledo, Lewis accepted a job a UConn before leaving to accept his most recent position with the Falcons. In the wake of his dismissal, Lewis will likely be sought to participate in the newly opened investigation by the Ann Arbor Police Department. For now, though, his short stay in the NFL ranks of coaching has come to an end.
He seems nice.
There he is, Jets!