West Virginia football team, D-coordinator Vic Koenning part ways

West Virginia and defensive coordinator Vic Koenning have mutually agreed to separate, the school announced Wednesday, a month after it began an investigation into allegations of Koenning's mistreatment of players.

Safety Kerry Martin Jr. detailed the mistreatment that he received from Koenning in a social media post June 23, alleging that Koenning called him "retarded" during a team workout earlier that month and has made inappropriate comments about religion, politics and the recent protests against racism and police brutality.

Koenning, 60, who was placed on administrative leave following the allegations, issued an apology a day after Martin's post. He reiterated his apology again Wednesday.

"I remain apologetic to anyone who perceived something I said or did as hurtful. That was never my intent," Koenning said in a statement. "I wish to thank all the current and former players, coaches and colleagues -- of all different ethnicities and backgrounds -- whose support and encouragement have been invaluable to me and my family.

"I am relieved the process is over but will be forever changed by the experience. Personally, I'd love to get back to coaching our guys, but I know that doing so would create additional scrutiny and lingering distractions for our program. Taking all this into consideration, we have come to this mutual decision to separate."

Mountaineers coach Neal Brown said in a statement that the decision to part ways with Koenning "places us in the best position to positively move forward."

"Vic has meant a lot to this program over the past 18 months and to me, personally, for our time together both here and at Troy University," Brown said. "I know that Vic will find continued success as a coach. However, Vic and I both reached the conclusion that the current circumstances make continuing in his role as Defensive Coordinator challenging. At the end of the day, we all -- Vic included -- want what is best for our program."

Koenning will be paid $591,451 as part of a separation agreement -- 55% of the remaining value for the two years that remained on his contract.

He joined West Virginia's staff in 2019 after working in the same role under Brown at Troy from 2015 to 2018. Koenning spent three seasons as Wyoming's head coach and led Illinois in an interim head-coaching role in 2011.