An assistant coach for the Austin Peay State University football team in Tennessee was arrested last week in connection to a sex trafficking sting operation.
According to a spokesperson for the Austin Peay Athletic Department, Patrick Kugler resigned from his position on Sunday, Aug.18 — which was just after the operation took place.
It would have been Kugler’s first season in the position, according to multiple outlets.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigations, which acts similarly to the FBI at the state level, said the undercover operation began on Aug. 16 when officers placed decoy advertisements on websites that had known links to prostitution.
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The agency said the goal was to find “individuals seeking to engage in commercial sex acts with minors” in the Montgomery County area.
Six men were arrested and booked into the Montgomery County Jail as a result of the operation, including 29-year-old Kugler.
Kugler was charged with trafficking for sexual servitude, which is defined in Tennessee’s state code as “a person knowingly subjects or maintains another in sexual servitude or knowingly recruits, entices, harbors, transports, provides or obtains by any means another person for the purpose of sexual servitude.”
The charge is a Class B felony in the state, which can result in a prison sentence of 8 to 30 years and a fine of up to $25,000.
Kugler’s bond was set at $5,000, according to the TBI.
Austin Peay provided the following statement to Scripps News Nashville regarding the arrest: “Austin Peay State University is aware of the arrest of former football assistant coach Patrick Kugler, who resigned his position on Sunday, Aug. 18. The Clarksville Police Department are the lead authorities for the arrest and any additional questions should be directed to them. Austin Peay will have no further comments on the matter.”
Kugler is a former University of Michigan offensive lineman who played for the Wolverines from 2015 to 2017 under former head coach Brady Hoke and Jim Harbaugh, who is currently the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers.
According to Sports Illustrated and CBS Sports, Kugler was previously an offensive line coach at Maine and Howard and spent time as an offensive analyst at San Diego State before accepting the position at Austin Peay.
Austin Peay’s football program is a member of the NCAA Division 1 United Athletic Conference, while its other sports compete in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
