POCATELLO — Nearly 50 Idaho State University football players gathered Wednesday to voice their support for coaches Rob Phenicie and Jay Staggs one day after news broke that the school is investigating Phenicie for alleged physical assault on a player and fired Staggs for allegedly sending racially and sexually inappropriate text messages.

The players who gathered at ISU’s Holt Arena unanimously stated their desire for Staggs to be reinstated as ISU’s safeties coach, and unanimously and repeatedly emphasized that Staggs never displayed racist tendencies while at ISU. The group that assembled Wednesday represented about half of ISU’s 99-player roster.

The players also disputed that ISU safety Jayson Miller, who filed a formal complaint against the two coaches, could have gotten bruised from what he called hammer punches from Phenicie, the Bengals’ head coach. Miller told the Journal the punches bruised his shoulder and provided photos of the bruising.

In Miller’s official complaint filed with ISU against Staggs and Phenicie, Miller alleges that Phenicie twice hammer punched him on the shoulder pads during halftime of the team’s game Nov. 10, 2018, against Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California. Miller also alleged that Staggs sent text messages with racist and otherwise inappropriate undertones to him and his teammates.

Stories about Miller’s complaint made national news on Wednesday with both the Associated Press and ESPN posting articles. Neither Staggs nor Phenicie has made a public statement on the allegations.

ISU said Staggs was removed from his position on Nov. 26 because of the allegedly inappropriate text messages. He was subsequently hired as an assistant football coach at Carroll College in Helena, Montana. But Staggs and Carroll College “mutually agreed to part ways” on Tuesday, according to a Carroll College press release sent a few hours after news of Miller’s complaint broke.

The ISU football players who spoke up on Wednesday feel Staggs did not deserve to lose one job — let alone two.

“He’s done nothing toward me or toward any other player of color, anything racist,” said ISU safety Christian McFarland, who is black.

“If anything, I would say that he does love us all equally. He looked at us like children, no matter what color you are.”

The players who gathered Wednesday made a point to note that neither of ISU’s two starting safeties last season — McFarland and Adkin Aguirre — are white.

The nearly 50 players who gathered also said none of them were interviewed by ISU about Staggs’ alleged text messages before Staggs was fired in November.

“We have a lot of guys who are wiling to speak out about the situation and would’ve loved to defend and tell our side of things, and that didn’t happen,” ISU wide receiver Mitch Gueller said.

ISU spokesperson Stuart Summers said in a statement Wednesday that “Idaho State University’s investigation yielded sufficient evidence of the inappropriate text messages and was able to confirm their credibility. The content of the text messages was not only unacceptable, but also did not adhere to the standards of the university. Therefore, ISU had adequate cause to take action.”

The group of players that gathered Wednesday said Phenicie’s halftime hammer punches on Miller were motivational and could have been used on any member of the team.

ISU was losing the game 13-7 at halftime and needed a victory to keep pace in the hunt for a Big Sky Conference title and FCS playoff appearance. ISU lost the game 37-14.

The players who gathered Wednesday argued that if Phenicie’s hammer punches on Miller were malicious, somebody would have immediately spoken up and run to Miller’s defense. They said Miller’s bruises were likely caused by the physical nature of football.

“We would have noticed if he said ‘ow’ or something,” ISU linebacker Luke Holloway said. “There was no flinching. Coach Phenicie was trying to hype us up because we were losing. … It was a motivation, like we head-butt each other.”

Miller filed a report with the Cal Poly University Police Department regarding the hammer punches and said he is pursuing criminal charges against Phenicie for the incident. ISU linebacker Oshea Trujillo said he was contacted by the Cal Poly University police and gave a statement on the incident, and has also given his first-hand account to ISU’s investigators. Trujillo said he does not believe Phenicie’s hammer punches were malicious or could have caused the bruising on Miller’s shoulder.

Miller’s complaint also outlined a failure by ISU to reclaim one year of his playing eligibility. Miller missed all but one game of the 2017 season with a knee injury, but proper paperwork was not filed by ISU to grant Miller a medical hardship waiver and an extra year of playing eligibility. Thus, he was considered a senior during the 2018 season.

ISU has admitted to wrongdoing in the matter and granted Miller financial aid through May 2020 and is attempting to reclaim a year of his eligibility.

The ISU players in attendance Wednesday side with Miller on that issue.

“We all agree that how he didn’t get his year back was messed up,” Trujillo said.

Some players Wednesday said that, in their opinion, Miller is upset about his lack of playing time and is therefore taking his frustrations out on the coaching staff. Miller was a backup safety who started one game and played six in 2018. In Miller’s formal complaint to ISU, he said he was upset about his lack of playing time, as well as inadequate communication from his coaches.

“Jayson didn’t play. He wasn’t good enough,” ISU running back Ty Flanagan said. “He had better safeties above him.”

Flanagan added that Miller’s allegations are “affecting the team.”

Summers also said that any person who would like to provide a statement related to this case may contact the ISU Office of Equity and Inclusion at 208-282-3964.