Michigan’s athletics department made a pretty easy decision this week by firing football staffer Fergus Connolly. Days after being arrested for a suspected DUI and hurling physical and verbal assaults at a lab tech and a police officer, Michigan has announced Connolly is no longer associated with the athletics department.
Per Michigan athletics, Fergus Connolly is no longer employed by the school.
— Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) March 15, 2018
Connolly’s responsibilities on the Michigan football staff included overseeing the sports science training program and acting as the director of operations last season. Connolly previously worked with Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers. Connolly joined the Michigan program in 2016.
This was an easy decision to make for Michigan given the details learned from Connolly’s arrest, which we covered the other day. In addition to being arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence, Connolly threatened a police officer by saying he would put him in a wheelchair and he also allegedly bit a lab tech while in the emergency room at a hospital (Connolly was found with bloody feet as officers responded to a hit-and-run call).
Connolly certainly has some legal issues to sort through moving forward, but he won’t be returning to work with the University of Michigan after this episode.