Mike Babcock's tenure with the Columbus Blue Jackets has allegedly gotten off to a bizarre start. The controversial head coach has reportedly been asking various players to see their phones, before then AirPlaying them on his office television.

The story was first broken by former players Paul Bissonnette and Ryan Whitney on the Spittin' Chiclets podcast on Tuesday morning.

The Athletic's Aaron Portzline, who covers the Blue Jackets, confirmed that the team “are aware of these allegations and looking into them. No official response yet.”

Babcock did not respond to requests seeking comments on Tuesday afternoon. In response to Portzline's tweet, Bissonnette asserted that the allegations were “100% true.”

If they are indeed accurate, it would be a startling start to Babcock's time in Ohio. He was run out of town in Toronto after allegations surfaced about a toxic work environment he had fostered back in November of 2019.

That included the mistreatment of then-rookie Mitch Marner. Babcock was confirmed to have asked Marner to rank his teammates in order of their work ethic, before sharing the list with the rest of the team without Marner's knowledge.

Babcock apologized for the tasteless incident, expressing regret and stating that he had apologized to Marner for what happened. He was let go by the Leafs on Nov. 20, 2019, the first time he had ever been fired from coaching hockey.

He hasn't coached at the National Hockey League level since.

Various players have been vocal about their criticism of the 60-year-old's personality and coaching tactics. That includes former Detroit Red Wing Johan Franzen, who played under Babcock for a decade in Michigan.

He called the head coach “a terrible man, the worst person I've ever met,” and accused Babcock of verbally abusing him. Chris Chelios also corroborated the allegations against him.

While these new allegations are far from confirmed, it paints a picture of an old-school coach who hasn't seemed to learn his lesson after four years away from the NHL.

It will be intriguing to see if the report ends up being true, and if so, what the fallout will be this time around for Mike Babcock.