A Michigan college has suspended its football team’s offensive coordinator after he said Nazi tyrant Adolf Hitler had “bad intentions” but was a “great leader.”
Grand Valley State University announced that Morris Berger would serve as the Division II football program’s new offensive coordinator on Jan. 20. However, three days after the announcement, Berger sat for an introductory interview with the Grand Valley Lanthorn, GVSU’s student-run newspaper.
Berger covered his experience, his coaching philosophy, and how he has adapted to living in the area, but the reason for his suspension came in the last round of questions concerning which three people from history he would like to have dinner with.
“This is probably not going to get a good review, but I’m going to say Adolf Hitler. It was obviously very sad, and he had bad motives, but the way he was able to lead was second to none,” Berger said. “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 was a great leader.”
Berger’s other two choices were former President John F. Kennedy and the 15th-century explorer Christopher Columbus.
The university announced on Monday that it had suspended Berger while it investigates his comments.
“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,” GVSU said in a statement. “Berger has been suspended and the university is conducting a thorough investigation.”
