{"id":424297,"date":"2026-09-02T20:38:46","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T20:38:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/424297\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T20:38:46","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T20:38:46","slug":"tcu-coaches-ignored-tensions-that-led-to-fight-defense-lawyer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/424297\/","title":{"rendered":"TCU coaches ignored tensions that led to fight: defense lawyer"},"content":{"rendered":"

A defense attorney representing a former TCU player who faces an aggravated assault charge said the team\u2019s coaches knew about brewing tensions and did nothing to address the friction on the practice field before it erupted into a locker room fight<\/a> on Aug. 13.<\/p>\n

Lawyer Coby DuBose of Houston, who represents former safety Jacob Fields, also disputes the allegations laid out in the arrest warrant affidavit<\/a> signed by TCU police Sgt. RD Abbott on Aug. 24.<\/p>\n

Fields, 21, faces a charge of aggravated assault in the altercation with teammate Dozie Ezukanma<\/a>, who was hospitalized for three days with a brain bleed.<\/p>\n

DuBose questions the allegation that Fields\u2019 sucker-punched his teammate. Ezukanma made the claim in a now-deleted Instagram video about the altercation. A witness account in the arrest warrant affidavit says Fields punched Ezukanma in the forehead while Ezukanma was looking at his phone. Later in the affidavit, a trainer says the player told him that Fields hit his teammate in the back of the head.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat it\u2019s not what witnesses have told me,\u201d DuBose said. \u201cMy understanding is that Jacob walked up to Dozie and said, \u2018Hey, what\u2019s up?\u2019 And Dozie said, \u2018What\u2019s up?\u2019And then the fight was on.\u201d<\/p>\n

DuBose said Fields told the coaching staff several times about his frustration with his treatment on the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe stand by the idea that Jacob had repeatedly told coaching staff that he was tired of being cheap-shotted,\u201d DuBose said. \u201cHe was tired of having helmets put in his back to try to hurt him. He was tired of somebody trying to take his head off on illegal crackback blocks.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll this stuff that went on for days and days and days. We believe that multiple coaches were told about this, and that TCU had an opportunity to squash this. And in fact, not only do they not squash it, they encouraged it.\u201d<\/p>\n

A source within the TCU football program disputed DuBose\u2019s claims, and athletic director Mike Buddie said in a statement that the coaching staff handled the situation the right way.<\/p>\n

Fields\u2019 agent, Phillip \u201cRed\u201d Miller of PM3 Sports, corroborated DuBose\u2019s comments.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would agree with that from what Jacob has told me,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n

DuBose said he believed the staff viewed the conflict as typical tensions from fall camp and not something more severe initially.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there was an escalating situation here. The TCU coaches were aware of it. They, in my view, [know] football fights happen all the time,\u201d DuBose said. \u201cWe see it in NFL practices, and it doesn\u2019t normally end with a player going to the hospital, right? So, I think TCU believed, \u2018OK, whatever. If this does end in a fight, that\u2019ll be OK. It will take care of itself. It\u2019ll squash it.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThis could have been squashed well before it got to this point, if this program had taken the concern seriously and sat these two down. And in fact, right up to the point where this took place, I think the coaches were aware that this was brewing, that these two people might be fighting in the locker room, and took no action whatsoever to do anything about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

DuBose said the incidents went beyond the normal roughness of football.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been told that he got spit on<\/a> … there were other things like, \u2018Hey, I\u2019m just running down the field, and the play\u2019s on the other side of the field, and Dozie\u2019s come up and just put a helmet between my numbers in the back just to try to hurt me,\u2019 DuBose said.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, the late hits, being spit on … being kind of poked in the eye after tackles, things like that. I mean, the kind of stuff that people get mad about because one is disrespectful, but this isn\u2019t like a macho disrespect thing. It\u2019s when people are worried that they\u2019re getting hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller, the agent, confirmed this account.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the unnecessary crap was definitely going on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A source authorized to speak for the program spoke to the Star-Telegram on the condition of anonymity due to the criminal investigation cast doubts on the accounts from DuBose and Miller.<\/p>\n

The source said many of the allegations made by DuBose were never reported to the coaching staff before or in the immediate aftermath of the Aug. 13 altercation. The source denied the spitting allegation and said it never happened.<\/p>\n

The Star-Telegram emailed a TCU spokesperson a detailed list of DuBose\u2019s allegations and asked for a response. The athletic department sent a statement from Buddie.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are confident in the immediate response from our medical team, which includes team physicians who rendered care following the incident before a referral to the emergency room, as well as how our coaching staff and Coach [Sonny] Dykes reported and addressed the matter. As this is now an ongoing criminal investigation, we will have no further comment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Allegations of another fight<\/p>\n

DuBose painted a different picture of what occurred in the locker room, stating that Fields was also involved in an altercation with another player.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur belief and our understanding of the facts is that it wasn\u2019t this nice \u2018Oh, you can\u2019t do that. That\u2019s your teammate,\u2019 \u201d DuBose said, referring to the narrative in the affidavit that the teammates came to Ezukanma\u2019s defense and stepped in to stop Fields.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was that Jacob was told, \u2018You\u2019re not leaving this locker room.\u2019 You\u2019re essentially going to have to fight your way out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then they proceeded to fight, according to DuBose.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow Jacob essentially is being jumped by the [the players], and then that fight sort of ends, and nobody\u2019s hurt. So that part doesn\u2019t end up with the police, and you can understand how that might happen if they think that their teammate has been hit.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow those two [players] are standing up for their teammate, which matters a lot to me,\u201d DuBose said. \u201cIf we\u2019re going to rely on their version of the events, yet we don\u2019t properly contextualize that, in that moment, they were teammates who are coming there to essentially try to fight [Fields] after he punches the other [player] \u2014 so, important facts that kind of seem to have been left out.\u201d<\/p>\n

DuBose said Fields and another player clashed for roughly a minute after the altercation with Ezukanma. Miller agreed with DuBose\u2019s account of the second room locker room altercation.<\/p>\n

When asked if he had knowledge of the altercation, Miller told the Star-Telegram, \u201cCorrect.\u201d<\/p>\n

The player could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n

The source within the program also cast doubt on the validity of a second altercation allegation. The source said the allegation of an altercation with the player was never brought forward by Fields or his representation until Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Ezukanma could not remember what happened, but he told police that a teammate said Fields kicked Ezukanma when he was on the ground, according to the affidavit. DuBose adamantly denied the allegation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe dispute that, on every level,\u201d he said. \u201cWe don\u2019t believe that happened. Just we believe this was one punch, and Dozie kind of falls to the ground. I don\u2019t know whether he hit his head or not. I know that\u2019s been reported, and that seems to be what witnesses are saying, but we dispute this idea that there was a kick in the head.\u201d<\/p>\n

Locker room altercation<\/p>\n

The assault occurred about 1:30 p.m.<\/a>, according to the affidavit. A trainer drove Ezukanma to the hospital about 3:12 p.m. after the player saw the team doctor. He was released from the hospital on Aug. 16.<\/p>\n

His injuries also included a strained AC joint in his shoulder and abrasions on his face, the affidavit states.<\/p>\n

Ezukanma told police that he believes Fields hit him because Ezukanma was playing better in practice. Ezukanma showed police text messages that he received in which Fields apologized and said he wished he could take it back, according to the affidavit. \u201cI made an emotional decision cause how I felt played the last few practices,\u201d the texts said. \u201cI\u2019ll pay every hospital bill and then some to make this right.\u201d<\/p>\n

TCU police contacted Fields on Aug. 21, and he declined to be interviewed and told police to contact his attorney, according to the affidavit. Fields turned himself in and was booked into the Tarrant County Jail on Sunday morning, Aug. 30, and released that afternoon on $50,000 bond.<\/p>\n

TCU reported the assault to campus police Aug. 14, and Fields was dismissed from the team Aug. 15, according to a TCU athletics spokesperson. The team announced Fields\u2019 dismissal Aug. 18.<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A defense attorney representing a former TCU player who faces an aggravated assault charge said the team\u2019s coaches…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":424298,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-424297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424297\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/424298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}