Emotional Abuse in College Sports

What It Covers

NPR reporters Julia Haney and Elizabeth Santos investigate emotional abuse in college sports, documenting over 100 allegations since 2011. The episode traces two cases: Julia Pernsteiner, a Jacksonville University runner who died by suicide after reporting her coach, and Croatian twins Maria and Marta Golic, who sued the University of San Francisco and won.

Key Questions Answered

• •Reporting channels: Student athletes alleging emotional abuse can report through at least seven distinct channels — coaching staff, athletic departments, universities, national governing bodies, the NCAA, SafeSport, and the legal system — but the system is fragmented. No single body holds jurisdiction over emotional misconduct, and the NCAA explicitly delegates safety responsibility to individual schools, leaving over 500,000 athletes without a unified protection policy.
• •Scholarship threats: NCAA rules prohibit coaches from revoking scholarships based on performance or injury, yet many athletes are unaware of this protection. In the Golic case, secretly recorded audio captured coach Guttenbauer threatening scholarship removal multiple times. Athletes should verify scholarship terms directly with their institution's compliance office and request written documentation of any scholarship conditions before signing.
• •Hiring accountability gaps: USF hired Guttenbauer in eleven days without asking about prior verbal abuse allegations, despite documented suspensions at Chico State and UC Irvine, where administrators had formally identified a pattern of abusive remarks. Athletes and families should independently research a coach's employment history at previous programs, including contacting former athletic departments, before committing to a school.
• •Legal precedent: The 2023 Golic v. USF jury verdict — awarding Maria $250,000 in compensatory and $500,000 in punitive damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress, later upheld by appellate judges — establishes that persistent verbal degradation by a coach with institutional power can meet the legal threshold for outrageous conduct, even without physical contact, setting a replicable framework for future litigation.
• •Investigation conflicts of interest: When USF's HR department investigated Maria's bullying complaint, the investigator interviewed only Maria, Guttenbauer, and assistant coach Jones — no other players — and concluded no policies were violated. Attorneys representing athletes in similar cases recommend demanding that universities appoint external independent investigators, as internal reviews carry structural conflicts of interest that consistently favor institutional liability protection over athlete welfare.

Key Topics