Former Duluth East hockey coach Mike Randolph created ‘hostile’ culture, report finds

DULUTH – A private investigator hired by the Duluth school district found that former East High School hockey coach Mike Randolph threatened parents and players with legal action, created a hostile environment and violated other employee conduct policies.

Other allegations of physical abuse and financial misdeeds weren’t substantiated, according to the report, that was considered confidential by the school district and completed in 2021. It became available legally upon the closure of a fraud case Duluth police opened following a complaint from a parent of a former East player. Duluth police referred its investigation to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. The St. Louis County Attorney’s Office declined to file charges against Randolph upon completion of that investigation.

Randolph, one of the state’s most successful high school hockey coaches, resigned as head coach amid the investigation and took a job as an assistant coach at St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights shortly after. He was named head coach the following year, but was dismissed last spring. Now he’s coaching for the Pequot Lakes school district.

At the time of his resignation, Randolph said he no longer wanted to fight “a losing battle.”

“We all know what’s going on here,” he said at a 2021 news conference. “Coaches across the state are being run out by parental pressure.”

On Wednesday, Randolph, who led East teams to 18 state tournaments, with two championships and six second-place finishes, declined to comment when reached by phone.

He said St. Thomas Academy had a copy of the report, and he has seen it.

“That is way behind me. I’ve moved on from that,” he said.

The investigation, completed by Duluth-based Terch & Associates, spanned several months and included more than 50 interviews, along with review of hundreds of documents.

It says that Randolph “used unnecessary threats of legal action to intimidate and discourage parents and student-athletes from complaining about his conduct to school authorities” along with violating the district’s policy on harassment by his conduct toward players, which included offensive language. He also allowed a trainer access to players without providing the proper supervision or a required background check, the report says.

Randolph also created the perception among many parents and players that participation in his summer camps was mandatory, in violation of the district’s policy concerning conflicts of interest, Justin Terch wrote.

Among the legal threats, one parent of a player said in the report that Randolph told families at an annual meeting in the fall of 2020 that he had an “attorney on call,” when discussing the number of people who have tried to influence his removal, including an attempt that prior summer.

“I’m going out when I want to go out, not when you want me to go out,” Randolph said, according to a transcript in the report.

The parent had a recording of the meeting.

Several interviews detail severe mental health issues allegedly spurred by Randolph’s coaching style and treatment of players.

A player told the investigator that Randolph “openly attacks” and “publicly humiliates” team members by “bringing everybody together just to make an example out of you.”

One parent shared that it felt as if they were “condoning child abuse” by allowing their son to be a part of Randolph’s culture.

Randolph was described as a “demoralizing” gas-lighter who played mind games, who created a “toxic culture” and who players feared approaching. His coaching led to the departures of several members of the team through the years, several interviews recounted.

The Minnesota Star Tribune is not naming parents and players interviewed because the conversations were intended to be confidential, and some of the students were minors at the time.

The report includes two interviews with Randolph. He said that he had two goals as a coach: to make players better people and better teammates. He denied that his private camp was a requirement of players.

Not all of the interviews were negative; a fair amount of players and parents reported positive experiences with Randolph, some saying they never witnessed him belittling players.

“To me, he was fabulous,” one parent said, noting their child “blossomed” under Randolph.

Terch wrote he was not able to substantiate an allegation that Randolph received payments from the East End Hockey Boosters, although he did find “unusual financial management practices” by the booster club, including a misrepresentation to parents about the use of at least some of what they paid, a commingling of funds between events and “unorthodox” accounting practices. Several parents said they felt they had overpaid many times without explanation. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension began investigating the former East hockey booster club in 2023 for alleged embezzlement. The status of that case is unknown.

In response to the report’s release, Duluth Public Schools Superintendent John Magas said in a statement that he can’t discuss personnel matters, but the district takes all reports from students and families “very seriously.”

“Our primary goal is to ensure that students have the best possible experiences, both in the classroom and in extracurricular activities,” he said. “We are committed to thoroughly investigating any concerns brought to our attention and taking appropriate action” to maintain safe and positive learning environments.

St. Thomas Academy didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.