Stanford men’s water polo head coach Brian Flacks is being investigated by the University for retaliation against some of his players. Flacks—who just completed his third season as head coach of the team—was put under investigation last fall after parents raised concerns about Flacks being abusive towards the team. At least three players and their respective parents were involved in that investigation reporting Flacks for his alleged retaliation towards them.
A spokesperson for Flacks denied the allegations and told the San Francisco Chronicle that he is “an esteemed water polo coach with an impeccable reputation earned during multiple seasons and levels of competition.” The spokesperson added that an independent investigation from an outside law firm found no wrongdoing in the first investigation.
The players coming forward with the accusations are being represented by the Justice Law Collaborative, which is the same firm that represented Stanford women’s soccer goalkeeper Katie Meyer’s family after she died in 2022. The firm is raising concerns about the mental and emotional health of the players. Multiple players have reportedly had to enter therapy after their poor treatment and have reported experiencing panic attacks and suffering from depression.
In a letter reviewed by The Daily, 13 current water polo players issuing their support for their coach and “denounce[d] any slanderous accusations and defamation against our team, our culture, and our coaching staff.”
They wrote that Flacks, along with assistant coaches Matt Farmer, Ryan Neapole and Kevin Zhang, “have dedicated their careers and lives to creating a winning team that is founded on the core principles of leadership, commitment, hard work, and integrity. This culture is demanding but fair and is representative of a culture that any winning team must have.”
Dylan Woodhead ’20 M.S. ’22 and Ben Hallock ’20 — two former water polo players turned Olympians — also stood behind their former coach in an op-ed published in The Daily on Monday.
The allegations against Flack follow similar allegations against former football head coach, Troy Taylor. Taylor was fired last month for mistreatment of his staff.
In response to a request for comment, Stanford told the Chronicle that the “University takes concerns of retaliation seriously, and we have a policy specifically prohibiting retaliation against individuals who in good faith report or provide information during an investigation. Stanford also investigates allegations of retaliation.”
This story is ongoing and will be updated.
This article has been updated to include the statements from the 13 current and two former water polo players.
This article has been updated to correctly reflect the number of players who are a part of the accusations against Flacks and that only those players are being represented by the Justice Law Collaborative, rather than the whole team.