Three former Pace University football players have accused head coach Andrew Rondeau of roughing them up off the field, according to a published report.

In an interview with the New York Post, the three students claim Rondeau shouted at them, wrote insulting emails and became physically violent on a few occasions. In one alleged incident, Rondeau after a hip injury took his crutch, pushed it against a player's throat and pinned him against the wall. In another reported incident, Rondeau allegedly threw his crutch through the locker room, narrowly missing the head of another player who was recovering from a concussion.

In the interview, the former players describe Rondeau as a "Jekyll and Hyde" figure.

News 12 attempted to contact Rondeau for comment, but the calls went unreturned.

In a statement, a spokeswoman wrote, "This incident is the first that we heard of any such allegations... An internal investigation is being launched." Administrators also told News 12 that they would meet tomorrow to discuss the accusations.

Meanwhile, Pace University's athletic director says two of the three accusing players were kicked off the team two weeks ago for "continuously ignoring team and department rules."

However, the two students told the Post that they were tossed off the team after confronting the coach for allegedly "lying to them regarding degrees they had hoped to attain."