Coach abuses Power yet again

What a tin. Luckily, I haven't encountered this.

They are not "girls" they are women

I hope you're trolling. There's a clear inbalance of power in these situations, which not only makes it inappropriate and unethical, but also against university policy at 99.99999% (hopefully 100%) of colleges and universities.

Has Huntington reached out to the coach about potential employment?

They weren't consenting though sadly. It says he “was particularly fond of young girls” and “preyed upon them when they were most vulnerable.”

The article says:

He was sending “sexually charged messages” and frequently offering opportunities in exchange for sex. Additionally, Figueroa allegedly insisted on performing private massages, which often led to coerced sex, according to court documents.
In one instance, Figueroa allegedly got the student-athlete drunk, coerced her into having unprotected sex and forced her to take a Plan B emergency contraception pill afterwards in order to prevent pregnancy, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that HCU “turned a blind eye” after several students spoke out against Figueroa’s alleged behavior. According to the suit, male student-athletes reported Figueroa for his preferential treatment of female student-athletes, but the university did nothing.

Sounds like a complete mess. Also sounds like a pattern of behaviour. But I agree with this poster that there is an imbalance in these situations which is why they are illegal. Not a good idea for coaches to get involved with athletes, just like it isn't a good idea for teachers to get involved with students, even if they are 18 or over.

If they consent why should we care? If they don't consent then it is a crime. Why should colleges have a policy for this?

Yes then throw a book at him.

Christians = predators/groomers

There is a clear imbalance of power in most relationships.

It's not just colleges, plenty of workplaces have policies regarding relationships between supervisors and their subordinates. Even if it's not illegal, you run the risk of powerful individuals taking advantage of their younger athletes, who may not feel like they have a choice. Especially if the coach is the one initiating it.

I'm always amazed at people who come on here and try to defend the "coach dating their athlete" thing. This is not some grave injustice, there are plenty of other romantic options out there. If you can't keep away from your athletes, you shouldn't be coaching at a school. Simple as that.

To begin with, pretty evident you did not read the article.

If someone controls your salary and threatens cutting it back if you do not do "X" you are being coerced. Even if there is no explicit (quid pro quo) you know that person has the power to harm you financially if you do not go along.

Likely. You probably feel at times like a woman has the power since she controls access to something you badly want. Let's say that is sex. In order for her to provide that you need to make her dinner. If you decide not to do that you have the choice of ending the relationship. Are you harmed? Probably not. You could find another partner.

In work place and college, jobs, income, scholarships and opportunities for advancement are tied in and that makes it a different kind of power dynamic.

Totally agree.

There are more downsides to workplace romances than upsides:

1) When the relationship goes south, what happens to the two parties? Even if there are in separate departments a breakup can lead to tensions as others might "choose sides" or just feel awkward around them or maybe one of them is not given a plum assignment as it might mean working with the other person.

2) If one gets a promotion, do people think it is because that person was sleeping with the other one. So it can give a person (usually the woman) a reputation of sleeping her way to the top.

3) A perception can be created that one person is getting preferential treatment like plum assignments. Or maybe in a track example, a chance to race in a highly desired meet.

There are probably others and these are involving consensual relationships.

Look at the hot mess on the tv show where the anchors were dating. It is complicated in that one (both?) was married. It apparently was having an effect on the crew and staff.

We are either a free society or we are not. Telling consenting adults they can't be together for whatever reason is not freedom. We have accepted these same young adults to go fight and die in wars but they can't date their coaches?

That's their problem. I don't get into the business of concerning myself with what consenting adults do.

You are describing sexual harassment but how does apply to consenting adults?

This why my argument only applies to consenting adults. If someone didn't consent then it's a crime.