Sports

After Michigan staffer threatened Washington fans during loss, school says it will ‘handle the matter internally’

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1 month ago

October 9, 2024

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After Michigan staffer threatened Washington fans during loss, school says it will ‘handle the matter internally’

Chris Bryant has been on staff at Michigan since 2015. (Photo by Jaime Crawford/Getty Images)

Michigan said a staffer should not have confronted Washington fans during the Wolverines’ loss to the Huskies on Saturday.

In a video that’s been widely shared on social media, Michigan director of high school relations Chris Bryant went up to the stands on the Michigan sidelined and told fans to “chill the f*** out before you get f***** up.” The video below contains profanity.

In a statement to the Detroit News on Tuesday night, Michigan called the interaction “disappointing” and “unfortunate” and said the Washington fans that Bryant confronted had been using harassing language.

“We became aware of an interaction between Washington fans who were harassing our players by using over the top and offensive language,” the school said. “It was an unfortunate situation and should not have happened.”

“Our staff member should have asked the stadium staff to handle the matter rather than act in the emotional manner with which he did at that time. This is disappointing and we will handle the matter internally as a program.”

According to the Detroit Free Press, Bryant is still employed at the school, however there is “no information available” as of Tuesday night on the URL that leads to his staff bio. Bryant has been a member of the football staff since 2015 and stayed on under new coach Sherrone Moore after Jim Harbaugh left for the Los Angeles Chargers.

Michigan dropped to 4-2 with the 27-17 loss in the rematch of January’s national title game. The Wolverines fell from No. 10 to No. 24 in the AP Top 25 on Sunday after the defeat and are off in Week 7 before playing at No. 23 Illinois on Oct. 19.