Another Major College Football Program Gets Rocked By Scandal. What Is Going On?
The University of Maryland is the latest college football program to get rocked by scandal.
Head coach D.J. Durkin was placed on administrative leave over the weekend after allegations of abuse in the program were reported by ESPN. Matt Canada, who once coached for the Wisconsin Badgers, has taken over as the interim head coach. Terrapins player Jordan McNair died over the summer several days after struggling during a practice, and it appears that this death played a major role in the problems at Maryland. Strength and conditioning coach Rick Court appears to be at the center of this storm for his alleged treatment of players.
ESPN reported the following on the allegations:
ESPN on Friday reported allegations from current and former players, and current and former staff members, of bullying, verbal abuse and humiliation directed at players. Coaches have reportedly endorsed unhealthy eating habits and used obscenity-laced epithets meant to mock players’ masculinity. One player reportedly was belittled verbally after passing out during a drill.
ESPN also reported Friday that McNair, 19, died of heatstroke after showing visible signs of distress during a workout May 29, including difficulty standing up and seizing. Court led the workout during which McNair became ill, but was not involved in treating him afterward. McNair died June 13. A formal report into his death by a university-hired investigator is expected Sept. 15.
This is just an ugly situation all the way around. The stuff about a player being “belittled verbally” doesn’t bother me a ton. Stuff like that happens all the time in sports. It just comes with the territory. I’m not saying I agree with it, but it’s the nature of our reality in the sports world.
COLLEGE PARK, MD – NOVEMBER 25: Head coach DJ Durkin of the Maryland Terrapins walks off the field following the Terrapins 66-3 loss to the Penn State Nittany Lions at Capital One Field on November 25, 2017 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
McNair’s death on top of everything else is going to be a major issue for the Terrapins program. The school could be in extremely hot water if it’s proven coaches pushed him to an unsafe level, and it resulted in his death. (RELATED: A BOMBSHELL REPORT HAS DROPPED ABOUT OHIO STATE. IT COULD BE A MAJOR PROBLEM FOR URBAN MEYER)
Here’s something else I’m going to say, and it might really upset some of the older generation with an old school outlook on football and college sports. At the end of the day, there’s never a situation where an athlete should be pushed to the point of injury or potential death. It’s a sport. It’s not a war. I know players get competitive, coaches get competitive but at some point, somebody has to be smart enough to blow the whistle. That responsibility rests on the coach. Here’s a perfect example from the ESPN report:
Extreme verbal abuse of players occurs often. Players are routinely the targets of obscenity-laced epithets meant to mock their masculinity when they are unable to complete a workout or weight lift, for example. One player was belittled verbally after passing out during a drill.
Why would you ever allegedly belittle somebody because they passed out during a drill? How about getting him immediate medical attention instead. There’s nothing in football worth dying over or getting serious hurt for.
Hopefully, we get to the bottom of what’s going on at Maryland, and any coaches who did inappropriate things are dealt with correctly.
