Ryan Brady's controversial exit from Saginaw Valley State just added an intriguing second chapter, and it's now going in front of a judge.
Brady, who Saginaw Valley State parted ways with last December after six seasons, has filed suit against the university in the Michigan Court of Claims. In a complaint filed at the end of May, Brady says he was dismissed because he refused to violate SVSU's nepotism policy and hire the son of Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics John Lewandowski as an assistant coach, according to MLive.
Brady claims in the complaint that Lewandowski used him "as a pawn in an attempt to circumvent the Nepotism Policy and actively pressured to get his son hired notwithstanding that policy."
That's a serious allegation against the very same administrator who signed off on his firing.
When SVSU announced the move in early December - despite finishing second in the GLIAC, beating rival and top five ranked Grand Valley State (D-II - MI) team early in the season and taking national power Ferris State (D-II - MI) to double overtime before losing on top of some other hurdles with the program (not fully funded with scholarships and one less full-time coach than many of their GLIAC counterparts) - Lewandowski cited the program's failure to meet the expectation of reaching the NCAA Division II playoffs in his decision to part ways.
Back when the news broke, all things considered, it seemed like there had to be more to the story.
Now, Brady's account paints a very different reason behind the decision, and the two sides will face off to sort it out in court.
Brady went 39-27 at Saginaw Valley State across six seasons (2019 and 2021 through 2025, with the 2020 fall season wiped out by the pandemic), including a 22-19 record in GLIAC play. His teams put together four straight winning seasons, including a 7-4 mark in 2024, before a 6-5 finish in 2025 that ended his run.
A former quarterback at Grand Valley State, Brady came to Saginaw Valley in March 2019 after a very successful seven year run on the Ferris State staff, where he first developed two-time Harlon Hill Award winner calling the offense before making the move to defensive play caller to help pave the way for a 75-15 record with three GLIAC titles in Big Rapids. His path to the college game ran through the high school ranks in Michigan, with stops that included a head-coaching job at Perry HS, plus time as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator at Grand Rapids Community College, where the offense was among the most productive in the country during his tenure.
Nepotism policies exist at nearly every school for exactly this kind of situation, and Brady's suit puts SVSU's own policy at the center of the case. The school's nepotism policy prohibits anyone from accepting a job "within the scope of supervision or authority of a member of the same family." A son working in the athletic department being run by his father would certainly seem to fall within that policy.
If his account holds up, it's an athletic director pushing a head coach to break a rule the department is supposed to enforce. If the university's version holds up, this is a coach who had a fair amount of success, but missed the postseason and is looking for a reason to make a change.
SVSU has not publicly responded to the specifics of the complaint. Lewandowski had spent two decades at Michigan State before resigning following "serious allegations" regarding his conduct were raised following internal investigations that were never made public. He went on to spent six years at ULM as senior associate athletic director for communications before returning to Michigan and the post at SVSU.
Lewandowski's son, Davis, had worked on the ULM football staff during his time with the athletic program there, but that coaching job ended following the dismissal of Terry Bowden in the fall of 2023. After serving in a volunteer capacity at SVSU, Davis has since landed the assistant receivers coach position on Tony Ellliot's staff at Virginia.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest as this one moves through the Court of Claims.