College football coach suspended after saying Hitler was undeniably ‘a great leader’

Grand Valley State University suspended a newly hired member of its football coaching staff after he made laudatory remarks about Adolf Hitler during an interview with the Michigan school’s student newspaper, saying, “The way he was able to lead was second-to-none.”

During the Q&A-style interview, published Thursday by the Grand Valley Lanthorn, sports editor Kellen Voss asked Morris Berger a variety of questions intended to help fans learn more about the football team’s newest offensive coordinator. Toward the end of the interview — as a nod to Berger’s degree in history from Drury University — Voss asked him to name any three people in history he’d like to have dinner with, excluding football figures.

“This is probably not going to get a good review, but I’m going to say Adolf Hitler,” Berger replied. “It was obviously very sad and he had bad motives, but the way he was able to lead was second-to-none. How he rallied a group and a following, I want to know how he did that. Bad intentions of course, but you can’t deny he wasn’t a great leader.”

Berger, who was named the team’s offensive coordinator on Jan. 20, rounded out his trio with John F. Kennedy and Christopher Columbus after the Nazi leader, whose policies resulted in millions of deaths in the Holocaust.

In a statement, Grand Valley State spokesperson Mary Eilleen Lyon said Berger had been suspended and that the university was conducting an investigation.

“The comments made by Offensive Coordinator Morris Berger, as reported in The Lanthorn student newspaper, do not reflect the values of Grand Valley State University,” the statement said. In a follow-up statement to the Lanthorn, the university said it was committed to the editorial independence of its student newspaper. Read More