Couch: Tom Izzo has chosen a standoff with ESPN – one he might win

EAST LANSING – This much became clear Wednesday night: Tom Izzo is not going to let ESPN dictate the terms of how and when he answers their allegations.

In an age when big media stories move fast, intensifying as they steamroll their subjects, Izzo isn’t playing by the rules. He isn’t defiantly defending himself, as Mark Dantonio did on Friday. Nor is he admitting anything. He’s chosen Option C: A standoff by stonewalling.

After Michigan State’s home win over Penn State on Wednesday, and for the third time in six days, Izzo looked uncomfortable at a podium facing questions, though less so than he had Sunday at Maryland. His opening statement lasted 3 minutes, as he explained the details of his team’s win, delaying the questions he knew were coming in the wake of Friday’s ESPN Outside the Lines report and the hours upon hours of coverage since.

This time, ESPN’s Michelle Steele was on the scene: “One of your former players put out a statement lately denying any sexual assault, do you believe his denials?” she asked in the press room at Breslin Center.

“Well, I appreciate the question,” Izzo began. “And one thing I’ve done my whole career, I’ve had great respect for the media. And you have the right to ask. And, unfortunately, I have no additional comments. I’ve given my comments.”

“Do you have any inkling as far as timeline of when you might be able to provide a full account of the players involved in the Outside the Lines piece?” Steele followed up.

“I think there will be a time when I’ll be able to speak, but it isn’t right now,” Izzo said.

On one hand, he owes his community answers and assurances that, over time, he hasn’t treated accusations of sexual assault or abuse toward women by his players with callous disregard. This is a core question facing the university right now — does it listen and respond to sexual assault victims? And it’s the argument ESPN makes for coupling these two storylines. If the state attorney general’s investigation shows that Izzo and his program were dismissive or ignored appropriate steps, he’s in trouble and should be.

On the other hand, I don’t blame him for not giving ESPN easy material for a story that it has turned into a television drama.

Not with how ESPN has behaved, including irresponsibly plastering the faces of Izzo and Dantonio next to a picture of convicted serial sexual abuser Larry Nassar — on the same television backdrop — not-so-subtly conflating those two stories behind the headline, “Crisis at Michigan State.”

Even if you think the worst of Izzo and Dantonio, they sure as hell don’t deserve that.

MORE: Couch: Tom Izzo owes answers to the Michigan State community – and to his team

I don’t think Izzo is enjoying this fight. But it’s one he’s willing to have. This is his legacy at stake.

Coaches don’t usually survive an onslaught like this from big media and the mob that follows. Not in 2018. Certainly not on this subject. But I wouldn’t bet against Izzo. He has a few things in his favor: Loads of goodwill, a doting fan base that doesn’t want its hero to fall and an ESPN story that isn’t airtight.

And because of the hearsay in ESPN’s reporting and effort to place Izzo, Dantonio and Nassar characters in the same story, ESPN stands somewhat alone. There are voices elsewhere calling for Izzo to answer the questions raised by the network. But you don’t see other large media outlets pouncing on this story with the same sort of prosecutorial zeal.

ESPN has put Izzo and Dantonio the center of this story without any direct allegations of wrongdoing. Izzo and Dantonio aren’t being accused of the misdeed themselves. They’re being accused of perhaps mishandling or covering up the misdeed. That’s harder to prove, as evidenced by ESPN’s lack of evidence that Izzo and Dantonio were directly involved.

MORE: Couch: If change needed at MSU includes Dantonio, Izzo, so be it – but let's slow down

I’ve been hesitant to criticize ESPN, because doing so feels like joining a different mob — an MSU fan mob more interested in discrediting the famed four-letter sports and entertainment network than learning the truth.

If victims of sexual abuse weren’t heard because their assailants were prominent MSU athletes, that can’t be lost in ESPN’s missteps.

But ESPN is hard to respect right now. Beyond the secondhand hearsay and flimsy sourcing in places, there are lines in the initial report that reek of an agenda and sentences that mislead or needlessly build drama.

Here is one example:

“Even more, Dantonio was said to be involved in handling the discipline in at least one of the cases several years ago.”

This works if “Even more” is followed by solid evidence, instead of “was said to be involved” by someone who, it turns out, doesn’t have direct knowledge of whether or not he was. If ESPN has that more firmly, it wasn’t in the report.

Weaving the story between the Nassar case — one of the largest sex abuse scandals in this country’s history — and allegations against the football and basketball programs is grotesque, and I struggle to believe that it’s entirely well-intended.

MORE: Does NCAA have power to slam MSU over Nassar case?

MORE: Couch: MSU's callous response to Nassar victims rightfully catches NCAA's eye – but what took so long?

The Nassar case has given ESPN cover. Because MSU is rightfully under fire for systematically failing to protect more than 200 girls and young women. That is not debatable.

And so, with the weight of Nassar and ESPN’s devotion to all things MSU, the momentum of this story is ferocious.

On Wednesday night, Izzo essentially said, “Good luck with that.”

He is forcing the story to slow, leaving circling sharks to go hungry for the time being.

ESPN has no recourse, unless it has more to report. Izzo says he will address the allegations on his schedule — I’m guessing without giving ESPN notice — while also answering to an investigation from the state attorney general's office. That won’t be completed in time to make the "A" block of ESPN’s Outside the Lines anytime this week. To be fair to ESPN, the scope of that investigation might not have included MSU’s men’s basketball and football programs if not for the Outside the Lines report.

But you can't fight lack of governmental transparency with incremental reporting that lacks transparency.

Izzo has long been on a one-man crusade against social media, unfair media and the effects of an increasingly impatient and venomous culture. That world has, for the first time, turned on him. I’m sure he’d love to defeat it.

“I’m going to do what I think is right,” Izzo said later Wednesday, making it clear that he is no lawyer’s puppet. “But, I just, I’m sorry, I really am, because I watch a lot of TV and I see on shows that everybody thinks everybody has the right to ask a question and I’ve always believed that. I’ve always been a fan of the media. But I’ve got to have my rights, too. When the time comes, I’ll be able to speak out. I know it might be frustrating, but that’s just what I’ve got to do.”

He might die on this hill. But it’s clear he’s not going to give in until he’s ready. Not when he thinks he’s being wronged. And not when he’s still unsure what to say.

Larry Nassar coverage:

Meridian Township officials: 'We can be better' after mishandling 2004 Nassar complaint

At MSU: Assault, harassment and secrecy

'Magic' Johnson on abuse at MSU: Anyone who knew and didn't do anything 'should be fired

Larry Nassar sentencing: What to know for hearing in Eaton County

Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.