Stanford is investigating whether men’s water polo head coach Brian Flacks and members of his staff are retaliating against Cardinal players for participating in a recent confidential university-commissioned investigation into allegations of abusive conduct by Flacks, the Southern California News Group (SCNG) has learned.
While the original investigation did not substantiate the allegations of bullying and abuse, the university’s provost and general counsel offices are looking into allegations from at least 10 people that Flacks has threatened and harassed players for comments they made to a consultant hired by the university to conduct the original probe, according to university administrator emails obtained by the SCNG as well as interviews.
“So the last three months or two months have just put the (expletive) nail in the coffin for me,” Flacks yelled at a Stanford player in a late February meeting after the initial investigation was completed, according to an account of the meeting.
“You talk (expletive) about me behind my back,” Flacks also said during the meeting in which he raised the possibility of dismissing the player from the team.
Stanford is also investigating allegations that Flacks and Duke Rohlen, a Bay Area entrepreneur, Stanford graduate and father of a current Cardinal water polo player, also received a copy of the report or information from it, according to emails from university officials as well as interviews.
Neither Flacks nor Rohlen were authorized recipients of the report, Patrick Dunkley, Stanford vice provost, confirmed in emails obtained by SCNG. The school’s initial four-month investigation of the men’s water polo program was completed in February with Flacks retaining his job. Stanford has not released the results of the probe.
“As has been reported, a four-month long, third-party investigation exonerated me from claims that I mistreated members of Stanford’s water polo team, whose wellbeing I put above everything else,” Flacks said in a statement to SCNG.
SCNG provided Flacks with a detailed list of allegations against him including that he has retaliated against players since the completion of the four-month investigation. Flacks declined to comment on the allegations on the record.
“I don’t know about anything related to what came out of that,” Rohlen said in an interview, referring to the initial Stanford investigation.
A Feb. 13 “outcome” letter Stanford sent to Flacks found that his conduct had not objectively risen to a level of bullying and that he had not intentionally bullied players, according to a person familiar with the document.
The investigator also found that there was insufficient evidence that any athlete’s treatment was outside of Stanford’s athletics and sports medicine procedures, according to the person. Issues about overtraining were addressed by changes Flacks made prior to the investigation, the person said.
Dunkley did not respond to a request for comment. Instead, Stanford provided SCNG with the following statement:
“The health, safety and welfare of our student-athletes is of the utmost importance to Stanford Athletics. Upon receiving concerns regarding the men’s water polo program, the University initiated an independent third-party investigation. The investigation did not substantiate the claims that were raised, and the university will continue to follow established processes to review any new claims.”
But since the conclusion of the probe, Flacks has repeatedly targeted players for verbal and emotional abuse, and threatened to cut or bench players allegedly suspected of cooperating with the investigation if they returned for the 2025 season, 10 people allege in emails and letters to top Stanford officials including university president Jonathan Levin that have been obtained by SCNG.
At least one player said he feels “unsafe on campus.”
“One would think after being the target of a months-long wide-ranging investigation, that Flacks might have gained a bit of humility or might have understood that it is prudent to dial down his most egregious impulses,” a whistleblower recently wrote in a letter to Dunkley. “But, NO. Flacks dialed UP his anger, retribution, and vindictiveness. It is no exaggeration to say that he couldn’t WAIT to retaliate. When that pitiful little meeting ended on February 18, after Flacks said, I am ‘still the coach,’ he concluded with, ‘One-on-one meetings start tomorrow.’
“And during these meetings, these players were threatened, bullied, insulted, and retaliated against.”
Dunkley has had a series of meetings and conversations with Stanford players and their parents in recent weeks addressing the retaliation allegations against Flacks.
“I want to affirm that Stanford takes seriously the issues you raise,” Dunkley wrote in an email last week. “The non-retaliation policy is important to the university, and if there is sufficient evidence to support a violation of the policy Stanford will take appropriate action.”
In an email Wednesday to participants in the initial investigation, Dunkley also wrote, “for Coach Flacks to be terminated, however, university process requires that a finding of wrongdoing (such as retaliation), supported by appropriate evidence, is necessary to take such action.”
But players and parents allege that Stanford failed to live up to assurances to players that their comments to the outside investigator would remain confidential and that the university has not done enough to protect players from retaliation.
“We represent multiple families whose sons play on the Stanford Men’s Water Polo Team,” said Paula Bliss, co-founder/partner of Justice Law Collaborative. “These families are extremely concerned about the mental health of their sons and their teammates as a result of the psychological and emotional trauma they’ve experienced under Coach Brian Flacks. Their sons have faced targeted retaliation by Coach Flacks following the close of the investigation. The University has shown a complete lack of regard towards its student athletes by failing to protect them. The fact that Stanford continues to allow this coach to be poolside amidst the serious and specific allegations is appalling, but unfortunately, not surprising given the university’s recent history.”
The university hired an attorney in October to investigate what multiple players and their parents have described in emails to Stanford administrators and in interviews with the SCNG as a “culture of complete fear” under Flacks, the former Harvard-Westlake high school coach hired by the university prior to the 2022 season.
“Stanford received a complaint about Coach Flacks, alleging that (his) methods of coaching were leading to emotional and mental distress in a lot of the water polo players,” a Stanford player recalled Kate Weaver Patterson, the attorney and consultant hired by the university to conduct the investigation, telling him during an interview for the investigation. “That’s really what I’m trying to suss out.”
Cardinal players were guaranteed by both Patterson and Phung Truong, Stanford’s assistant vice president for employee & labor relations, that the contents of their interviews with Patterson would remain confidential, only shared with authorized recipients, and that they would not be retaliated against for comments made in those interviews, according to multiple emails sent by Patterson and Truong to Stanford players and parents.
Dunkley has told players and parents that he has discussed allegations against Flacks with “the Office of the General Counsel, the Employee and Labor Relations Unit in University Human Resources, and University Human Resources leadership.”
Stanford’s next step, Dunkley wrote to players and parents, is for Mark Wohrle from the university’s Employee and Labor Relations staff to conduct intake meetings with Cardinal players.
“After all necessary intake meetings take place, a determination will be made regarding next steps,” Dunkley wrote.
In the meantime, Dunkley wrote players and parents, “Stanford representatives will have a conversation with the coach to affirm the non-retaliation policy, and to advise the coach that any retaliation or other improper action will be promptly addressed.
“To ensure that there are ongoing channels of communication between” players “and Stanford representatives outside of the water polo coaching staff, the Athletics Department will schedule regular check-in meetings with (players) and Assistant Athletics Director, Richard Zhu, to provide an opportunity for him to share any feedback he thinks might be helpful regarding his interactions with the coaching staff.”
In a March 17 email to Dunkley, a parent asked if the Stanford official thought the retaliation allegations against Flacks stemmed from players being upset about playing time?
“In your email you ask if I think this is a playing time issue,” Dunkley responded in an email. “I can assure you that is not something I have thought or considered.”
Last week Dunkley wrote in an email to a Stanford player, “I appreciate how difficult it was for you to come forward to address these issues and I further appreciate your courage and your commitment to take this important step to address these concerns.”
Dunkley, who previously worked as senior university counsel and interim athletic director, ended the email by quoting civil rights icon John Lewis: “Choose confrontation wisely, but when it is your time don’t be afraid to stand up, speak up, and speak out against injustice.”
Patterson launched what Truong described as a “confidential” investigation on Oct. 8 into “concerns” raised about Flacks by whistleblowers, according to multiple emails to and from Stanford officials. The investigation took place with then-athletic director Bernard Muir’s knowledge, according to Stanford emails. Muir on Feb. 25 resigned unexpectedly after 13 years heading the Stanford athletic department. His resignation came a week after the Flacks investigation was complete and in the midst of Stanford administrators receiving multiple complaints from players and parents alleging Flacks was retaliating against players because of their participation in the Patterson investigation, according to 10 people familiar with the investigation and emails to Stanford emails.
Muir did not respond to a request for comment.
Among the allegations against Flacks to Stanford officials were that Flacks on almost a daily basis verbally abused players, publicly “shaming them and belittling them,” swearing at them, calling them “bottom feeders,” “losers,” “cheaters,” “lazy,” or telling them to “get the (expletive)” out of practice or off the team, according to multiple emails to Stanford officials and 11 people familiar with the investigation, including five current or former players.
“It’s like a dictatorship, like you couldn’t talk to anyone,” said a current Stanford player. “He was trying to keep people separated through these categories of bottom feeder, non-bottom feeder, so people couldn’t, like, gain strength in numbers together. And if you were seen helping someone in that regard, then you were considered a bottom feeder too, or part of the problem. He does it all the time and that’s all he does. He’s creating a divide between our team, like, on purpose.”
Stanford players said Flacks called them “bottom feeders” so often that they named their group for a video game “Bottom Feeders.” At least 14 Stanford players are members of the video game group according to screen shots that were verified by interviews.
Athletes and their parents also alleged that Flacks routinely pressured or bullied athletes to play or train despite suffering from injuries or concussions and, at times, attempted to “circumvent” instructions of the Stanford sports medicine staff, according to emails and interviews. Flacks on multiple occasions has accused injured or concussed players of “faking” injuries, playing the “victim” and letting the team down, according to emails to Stanford officials and 11 people familiar with the situation.
Flacks, a whistleblower wrote to the Stanford administration, “has a history of retaliatory behavior against players who question anything about his approach, tactics or treatment of the players.”
Flacks, one whistleblower said, has created “a culture of intimidation, fear and retaliation.”
Even top players were not immune from being targeted.
Five Stanford players on the U.S. junior national team called Flacks as a group from the 2023 World Junior Championships in Romania where Team USA claimed the bronze medal. The players, exhausted from the tournament and travel, asked Flacks if they could have a brief break from training. Flacks not only said no to the request, he berated and threatened the players if they ever called him as a group again, according to emails and interviews with seven people including two who were directly involved in the conversation with Flacks.
Multiple players, citing Flacks’ alleged abuse, reported having frequent anxiety attacks in practice and suffering from depression and sleep disorders, according to emails and interviews. One player on more than one occasion left practice to go to the emergency room to avoid being allegedly harassed by Flacks, according to emails and interviews. Multiple players, including starters, acknowledged breaking down crying during practices, immediately after practice or within hours of practice.
That culture has led to steady turnover on the Stanford roster.
Of the 33 players eligible to play for Flacks since he arrived on The Farm in 2022, nearly half of those athletes have either quit, been dismissed from the team or are currently being threatened with being removed from the team by Flacks, according to an analysis of Stanford rosters, emails to Stanford officials and interviews with six people with direct knowledge of the investigation.
Among those, 15 players (45.4 percent of eligible players) are All-Americans, and U.S. national and U.S. junior national players.
One player with Olympic aspirations walked away from the sport because, “I couldn’t bear to see Flacks,” according to emails and interviews with five people familiar with the situation.
Stanford water polo players are not afraid of working hard and all have at some point played for coaches who yelled at them, a Cardinal starter said.
“No one,” the player continued, “can withstand Flacks.”
Players, parents and other participants for this report have asked not to be identified because of fears of being retaliated against by Stanford and coaches and officials at USA Water Polo, the sport’s national governing body.
SCNG requested interviews from 34 athletes who have played for Flacks at Stanford. Six players responded. One player responded in support of Flacks, but declined to speak on the record and would not answer questions about specific allegations.
“You guys either have received emails or will most likely receive an email (from SCNG) about an article that is going to be written about our team,” Cardinal freshman Ryan Ohl wrote in a text in a Stanford player group chat that was shared with SCNG. “This story is supposed to be a negative story about us, so don’t engage with it because it’s possible the reporter will twist and manipulate your words.”
A Stanford player provided SCNG a statement that read in part, “we stand behind our coaches, our teammates and the winning culture that has been built by Stanford Water (sic) for decades with the hopes that any outside distraction can be resolved quickly so we may get back to working towards the ultimate goal of winning at NCAA Championship.”
The statement was signed by 23 current and former Cardinal players, but according to five people familiar with the situation, some players felt pressured and intimidated by teammates to sign the document.
Stanford’s leaks investigation comes against the backdrop of Cardinal football coach Troy Taylor’s firing Tuesday, March 25, following a recent ESPN report that two university investigations found that Taylor’s treatment of employees, particularly women, was inconsistent with the school’s standards. Stanford hired former NFL coach Frank Reich on a one-year deal on Monday, March 31.
The investigations, according to ESPN, included complaints that Taylor tried to get the school’s compliance officer removed after she warned him of rules violations and that he engaged in hostile and aggressive behavior and personal attacks toward employees.
“Our firm knows all too well, the tragedy that can result from Stanford‘s utter disregard for the safety and well-being of its students,” said Kim Dougherty, co-founder of Justice Law Collaborative. “We are committed to ensuring that these young men are protected from being subjected to any continued harm. Stanford has a tremendous opportunity here to do what is right by its student athletes and we hope they will.”
The firm is also representing the family of Stanford soccer player Katie Meyer in a wrongful death suit against the university. Meyer died by suicide in 2022 after “facing disciplinary action for allegedly spilling coffee on a Stanford football player who was accused of sexually assaulting a female soccer player,” according to the suit.
The water polo players said they have no plans to sue Stanford.
Flacks, 37, was hired by Stanford in March 2022 after what the university described as a “national search” to replace retiring Cardinal head coach John Vargas. Vargas, a 1992 Olympian and head coach of the 2000 U.S. Olympic team, led the Cardinal to two NCAA titles and seven NCAA finals in his 20 seasons on The Farm.
Flacks is 60-18 at Stanford. He is 12-16 against the other three schools in the sport’s so-called “Big Three” — Cal, UCLA and USC.
While Flacks coached Harvard-Westlake to four CIF Southern Section division titles in 11 seasons at the school and served as the U.S. youth team head coach and assistant on the U.S. national team staff, he had no college coaching experience prior to being hired by Stanford.
Flacks is a graduate of Harvard-Westlake where his mother, Dawn Barrett, was the school’s swimming coach for eight seasons. Flacks’ Stanford bio said he founded Los Angeles Premier Water Polo Club. Dawn Barrett was the CEO of the Los Angeles Water Polo Club, which later became LA Premier, from 1999 to 2010.
Craig Barrett, Barrett’s father and the former Intel CEO, is a member of Stanford’s Founders Circle, signifying donations of at least $1 million to the university.
Flacks is married to former Stanford volleyball player Katherine Sebastian. Sebastian’s grandmother, Mary Ann Heidt is listed by Stanford as a Founding Grant Society member. Heidt and her late husband John “Jack” Heidt, are also listed as “associate designees” by the school. The distinction is given to “alumni with long standing documented volunteer service (at least 10 years and active within the last five), a record of consistent giving to the university,” according to Stanford.
Flacks played in seven games for UCLA during the 2007 season, scoring one goal, after redshirting during the 2006 season. He later played another season as a graduate student at Loyola-Marymount.
Stanford surveys its athletes after each season. Prior to water polo players taking the post-2023 season survey Flacks threatened Cardinal players “not to talk (expletive) about me” and players were forced to take the survey in front of Flacks, according to emails to Stanford officials and interviews.
The university did not conduct a survey this past season.
Shortly after an August incident, Stanford president Jonathan Levin, provost Jenny Martinez and Muir received a complaint from a whistleblower outlining a series of alleged abuses by Flacks.
Patterson did not interview all the athletes who have played for Flacks at Stanford, according to emails and interviews. At least one player who was allegedly consistently emotionally abused by Flacks was not interviewed by Patterson. Stanford instructed Flacks not to conduct any one-on-one interviews with players during the investigation but Flacks scheduled individual meetings anyway before a university official canceled the meetings, according to emails to and from Stanford officials and interviews.
Patterson asked a player if there was anything to change the culture of the team short of firing Flacks.
“No,” the player said.
But Flacks remained in place after the investigation was completed on Feb. 18.
“I am writing to inform you that this investigation has now concluded,” Truong wrote in emails to Stanford players early on the morning of Feb. 18. “Thank you very much for your participation. If you have any concerns in the future, I encourage you to contact Angie Jabir, Executive Associate Athletic Director, Sport Administration.”
“I’m still the coach,” Flacks told the team later that afternoon, two days after Dunkley wrote to two people who participated in the investigation that he was “looking forward to the opportunity to review the report after which I will reach out to you to discuss next steps.”
Hours after Flacks’ announcement to the team, an investigation participant questioned Dunkley about Flacks’ statement and why Dunkley had not gotten back to them. A week later on Feb. 25, at 10:23 p.m., hours after Muir’s resignation was announced, Dunkley responded to the person with an email.
“I have now received the report and would like to schedule time to meet,” Dunkley wrote.
Stanford has not released the report or shared the investigation’s findings with those interviewed by Patterson.
Almost immediately, Flacks began threatening and retaliating against players, again warning them “not to talk (expletive)” about him and stating that players “giving him trouble” would be dismissed, according to allegations made in emails to Stanford administrators and interviews.
“Stop talking (expletive) about me,” Flacks told the team, according to allegations made in emails to Stanford officials and five people familiar with the investigation. “Otherwise, this is the end of the program for you.”
In emails prior to the start of the investigation, Truong and Patterson assured potential participants that Stanford was “conducting a confidential investigation.”
“Our office is responsible for overseeing workplace investigations,” Truong wrote in an email to a Stanford player in December. “The university is conducting a confidential investigation to look into concerns that have been recently raised at Stanford Athletics and we have engaged a neutral, outside investigator, Kate Weaver Patterson, to conduct the investigation. You are not the subject of the investigation, however, we believe you may have information that would be relevant to these concerns.”
Other Stanford players received similar emails, according to interviews.
Truong in other emails emphasized that “Stanford protects all those involved against retaliation for participating in an investigation process.”
Around the same time, Patterson also told participants she would keep her interviews confidential, except in a report to authorized recipients and asked interviewees to keep their comments to her confidential as well. She also told participants that retaliation was “strictly prohibited.” If participants were retaliated against, she told, them they should contact the athletic department.
But players and their parents allege in emails, letters and conversations with Stanford officials that all or parts of the report must have been shared with Flacks. Players who cooperated with the investigation were being subjected to direct “retaliation” by Flacks and assistant coach Matt Farmer, according to emails to Stanford officials and 10 people with direct knowledge of the investigation.
Flacks warned players who were “saying (expletive) about me being a bad person” would be run off the team or would not see playing time, according to 10 people and emails to Stanford officials.
“You won’t get in the pool,” he said, according to a person familiar with the conversation.
Stanford assistant coach Matt Farmer told a player, “I hear everything that’s going on … when there’s no ability for Brian to be able to be himself,” according to emails to Stanford officials and interviews.
“We hear everything, dude.”
Farmer declined to comment on the record.
While Stanford proceeds with its leaks investigation, Cardinal players have been encouraged by Angie Jabir, executive associate athletic director-sports administration, and Jacquelyn Kulgevich, deputy athletic director for student athlete success and director of leadership and development, to share any concerns with Flacks, according to email and interviews, adding that they were confident he was open to feedback. Jabir and Kulgevich’s suggestions have come despite players repeatedly telling the administrators don’t feel comfortable talking to Flacks.