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Maryland player died of heatstroke, DJ Durkin placed on administrative leave

Gil Bang

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Goodman

Goodman 3273

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17 hours ago, Machinator said:

 

Once the president accepted accountability, his reign was over. This is why college sports will always roll in the mud, anyone who tries to have moral responsibility will get sent to the corner. We saw it at ou, at aggie, all over the sec, big10...Too much tax free money and bloated administrations with political responsibilities.

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19 hours ago, Tex Pete said:

Maryland is scrambling for legal cover to minimize the damage. It’s tantamount to Ralph Friedgen hiding behind a stripper pole. 

Unlike some other recent institutions, they DO appear to be trying to act upon it.

They’re not sitting there telling the world, ‘ We told one cop on our payroll and he said there was nothing to see here, so we moved on.’

Whether they are motivated by righteousness or the fear of litigation matters not to me.  The premise that they appear to be moving forward in a constructive manner, gives hope that both reconciliation and prevention of future tragedies from heat illness are now priorities for Maryland.

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Bateshorn

Bateshorn 9908

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I mean, if they fire the President after he did the right thing and took full blame, I don't know what to say.  What a horrible message to send.

Jordan McNair's death was entirely preventable and it wasn't advanced sport science.  Anybody who has a small child running a high fever has put them in a cool bath to bring their temp down. 

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Zavala

Zavala 1384

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1 hour ago, Bateshorn said:

I mean, if they fire the President after he did the right thing and took full blame, I don't know what to say.  What a horrible message to send.

Jordan McNair's death was entirely preventable and it wasn't advanced sport science.  Anybody who has a small child running a high fever has put them in a cool bath to bring their temp down. 

They didn't know he was running a fever, because nobody thought to take his temperature while he was having the heat stroke. Their trainers and Wes Robinson are shit-tier.

Quote

“There’s no way he finished on his own,” one of the players at the workout told ESPN.

”There were multiple people that said, ‘Wow, Jordan looks f---ed up, he doesn’t look all right,’” the player said. “We knew he was really exhausted, but we didn’t know he was in danger of his life. But that doesn’t mean that a medical professional shouldn’t know to put him in an ice tub.”

Multiple sources said that after the 10th sprint finished, Wes Robinson, Maryland’s longtime head football trainer, yelled, “Drag his ass across the field!”

A second player at the workout told ESPN: “Jordan was obviously not in control of his body. He was flopping all around. There were two trainers on either side of him bearing a lot of weight. They interlocked their legs with his in order to keep him standing.”

According to the Mayo Clinic, heatstroke can occur when a body temperature rises to 104 degrees or higher, and “the damage worsens the longer treatment is delayed, increasing risk of serious complications or death.” McNair’s body temperature was 106 degrees when he arrived at the hospital, per ESPN.

 

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You don't know me

You don't know me 1161

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29 minutes ago, Zavala said:

They didn't know he was running a fever, because nobody thought to take his temperature while he was having the heat stroke. Their trainers and Wes Robinson are shit-tier.

 

This is so fucking horrible.  This reminds me late 1990 when I was in the Marines.  We were in 29 Palms for training and going through a live fire infiltration course.  One of the Marines going through it with my group started to flop around.  The instructor on the course with us actually kicked the dude a few times, including his head (with kevlar on) while he was flopping.  We talked to some folks and the instructor was nowhere to be seen for the rest of our rotation.  I have no idea what happened to the instructor, but the guy with what I guess was heat stroke ended up being okay, but holy shit.  People are so stupid.  "You can't be tough if a little heat gets to you".  I sometimes really hate people.

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Zavala

Zavala 1384

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20 minutes ago, You don't know me said:

This is so fucking horrible.  This reminds me late 1990 when I was in the Marines.  We were in 29 Palms for training and going through a live fire infiltration course.  One of the Marines going through it with my group started to flop around.  The instructor on the course with us actually kicked the dude a few times, including his head (with kevlar on) while he was flopping.  We talked to some folks and the instructor was nowhere to be seen for the rest of our rotation.  I have no idea what happened to the instructor, but the guy with what I guess was heat stroke ended up being okay, but holy shit.  People are so stupid.  "You can't be tough if a little heat gets to you".  I sometimes really hate people.

Yeah it's fucked up. Heat stroke isn't just for 70 year olds mowing their lawns in the summer. If you push a 280 lb guy to run hard in the heat for 3 hours a day he may just have a serious malfunction. 

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Magus Ossis

Magus Ossis 2784

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1 hour ago, Orangechipper said:

They shouldn’t fire the president because he took ownership.  

 

Theh should fire him because he did nothing for 30 days and sat on his ass when they could’ve resolved this much earlier. 

And because he nixed the plan last year to increase independent medical supervision of training by outsiders.

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Beau Vine

Beau Vine 54017

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Sally Jenkins, wapo:

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Heatstroke didn’t kill Jordan McNair, the berserk excesses of coach DJ Durkin and his staff did. No amount of “honoring” McNair can pretty up that fact. The investigation into what Maryland did wrong after McNair collapsed is misplaced. It’s what came first — the deranged college coaching mentality that drove McNair to the staggering point — that requires full inquiry, and no one should be allowed to forget it.

An NFL player hasn’t died from heat exertion in 17 years. That’s the full measure of the crude, knuckle-dragging stupidity at work here. You know how many kids NCAA football coaches have killed with conditioning drills in that same period? Twenty-seven. I say “kill,” because that’s what it is, when tyrants force captive young men to run themselves to death, out of their own outdated fears of weakness. Why is the NCAA tolerating this kill rate, which is unmatched at any other level of football?

Professional coaches have understood since the lamentable loss of Minnesota Vikings lineman Korey Stringer in 2001 that you don’t build a player by driving him to the brink of organ failure in practice. Only the most backward or mean coach still thinks August sprints are the only way to breed toughness. Everyone else has learned better, everyone but lunatic over-striving NCAA wannabes who are in such a big a hurry to prove themselves big dogs. The Pete Carrolls and Bill Belichicks aren’t putting their players in the ground; they’re putting them in virtual reality chambers. Only the NCAA tolerates — and refuses to regulate — unhinged dictators who think football has to be conditioned with sadistic extremes.

“They get to dictate these things, and we get to keep burying athletes until we make definitive changes to the culture,” said Dr. Douglas Casa, a kinesiologist who serves as CEO of the Korey Stringer Institute at the University of Connecticut.

Since 2000, there have been 40 athlete fatalities in conditioning sessions in multiple sports across the NCAA, yet not a single death on the field, according to Casa. This despite the fact that schools have all the education and tools to prevent it: Heatstroke exertion is 100-percent survivable with a thermometer and some ice. The NFL has eliminated it altogether and to its credit continues to consult with the Stringer Institute on research and best practices to prevent sudden deaths. The NCAA, on the other hand, has remained lethally antiquated. Unlike NFL players, collegians have “no voice, and no rights,” Casa pointed out. McNair was forced to run 10 sprints of 110 yards, until his body temperature was 106. It was a nonsensical workout that had zero football relevance and demonstrated nothing about his character except that he was willing to work himself into a coma for fear of punishment from an all-powerful authority figure. “It’s a totally unregulated environment,” Casa said.

University of Oklahoma trainer Scott Anderson has a term for this idiotic and outmoded brand of collegiate workout: “irrational intensity.”

Anderson wrote a 2017 academic paper entitled, “NCAA Football Off-Season Training: Unanswered Prayers,” that documents the stunning kill rate in the college game.

“Collegiate football’s dirty little secret is that we are killing our players — not in competition, almost never in practice, and rarely because of trauma — but primarily because of non-traumatic causes in the off-season alleged to performance enhance,” he wrote.

Anderson cites the example of a player who died from exertion-induced asthma, after being forced to run 2,160 yards of serial sprints in just 12 minutes, with a 1:1 work-to-rest ratio. You know what the work-to-rest ratio in an actual football game is? Somewhere between 1:8 and 1:10. Even in a hurry-up offense, it’s 1:4.

 

Coaches conduct these workouts for only one reason: because they have backward notions of man-making and are completely unread in the latest sports science. Mesozoic notions die hard. Obviously, the medical fate of other people’s sons should not be in their hands. And yet there is no NCAA rule restricting conditioning workouts or mandating independent medical care and monitoring for student-athletes. Maryland’s president Wallace Loh declined to implement just such a proposal. So, McNair was left to lurch and pant into the hands of athletic department employees who answer not to a medical center but to a hopped-up, impatient-for-success head coach. If McNair had independent care, someone would have taken his temperature, and iced him down, and he would be alive. Instead what he got was a trainer screaming, “Drag his ass across the field!”

The heat didn’t kill McNair any more than the grass did. What killed him was an overheated attitude, that came straight from the top. DJ Durkin is not an outlier as a coach, and he’s not specific to Maryland. Far from it. He’s an acolyte of Ohio State’s Urban Meyer. He has coached at Notre Dame, Stanford, Florida, Michigan. He has worked under Will Muschamp and Jim Harbaugh. He has been everywhere. He is the all too common NCAA coach. You’ve seen and heard coaches like Durkin a million times.

He’s the guy who brags he’s only seen one movie in the last eight or 10 years, “Lone Survivor.” He’s the guy who once head-butted one of his helmeted players and made his own head bleed. He’s the guy who boasted in an interview to Sports Illustrated that Richard Sherman wasn’t that tough until he got ahold of him. Who bragged in the same interview that he has sat in meetings in which coaches decided whether a kid was a player, or “a phony, a fraud, total piece of garbage.” He’s the guy who divides players into two groups: wolfpack or prey.

And who has said, “When we’re with our players, we’re at a workout with our guys, that is all-in. We’re fighting for our lives.”

This guy, and all the guys like him, need to be prevented from ever jeopardizing young lives again.

 

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phdhorn

phdhorn 6224

Posted
Posted (edited)

This part's particularly good from Jenkins:

22 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

DJ Durkin is not an outlier as a coach, and he’s not specific to Maryland. Far from it. He’s an acolyte of Ohio State’s Urban Meyer. He has coached at Notre Dame, Stanford, Florida, Michigan. He has worked under Will Muschamp and Jim Harbaugh. He has been everywhere. He is the all too common NCAA coach. You’ve seen and heard coaches like Durkin a million times.

She's right.

While this has happened at Maryland, you'd better fucking believe a boatload of teams are breathing a huge sigh of relief, because they do the same thing.  They just haven't had a player die yet to root it out. Plus, at Maryland, where the football coach's balls are not gargled (basketball, maybe, at times), there's no Cult of Keep at All Costs like in Jortland.  We alums don't hold any particular love for a coach, maybe because we don't have stellar seasons.  Shit went downhill when they fired Fat Friedgen.  The guy could coach, but the AD wouldn't meet his suggestions for upgrading facilities (which, uh, later, they did).

Maryland had a recent "Golden Age" under former President Mote (mostly in the 2000's).  They have done a great job of moving up the academic rankings and being a damn fine public school (US News has them only 4 spots below UT).  But sometimes they get politically correct and hire dumbasses.  This is what they did with the current Prez and AD.  Although I appreciate their candor in calling themselves accountable, they really aren't the cream of the crop (AD Evans especially is worthless).  Wouldn't trouble me in the least if they were shitcanned.

Which it looks like they're going to do. Fine, burn the shit down.

Lastly however, don't get caught in the trap that all this shit means that the team won't play well.  On the contrary they might play better if the Ding-Dongs are gone.  They should still lose to Texas by 2 TD's (yes, even at times fuck yourself in the ass Texas), but the team will be ready, at least not a total cluster fuck.


Well, except that they won't have that star-rising sophomore left tackle this year.  Or any.

 

 

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Spawn of Cthulhu

Spawn of Cthulhu 2241

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23 hours ago, Zavala said:

They didn't know he was running a fever, because nobody thought to take his temperature while he was having the heat stroke. Their trainers and Wes Robinson are shit-tier.

 

You don't need a thermometer. Simply seeing that he was confused ("altered mental status") and touching him would've told anyone with a functioning brain that he was quite hot. That's more than enough info to begin rapid cooling.

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Tex Pete

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23 hours ago, Spawn of Cthulhu said:

You don't need a thermometer. Simply seeing that he was confused ("altered mental status") and touching him would've told anyone with a functioning brain that he was quite hot. That's more than enough info to begin rapid cooling.

Given the circumstances in total, there would have been no question. It was negligence at best.

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phdhorn

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Evans is another douchebag.  He needs to go.

Maryland did a good job for awhile in hiring competent academic administrators and getting things going after the Lefty fiasco in the mid-80's - it got really bad when they settled for Debbie Yow (YOW is fucking right!... hey; guess who's the AD at North Carolina, y'know, where they've been having all those scandals lately?).  Hell, they essentially canned Lefty, and honestly he really wasn't to blame for that shit.  But if they jettisoned probably the most beloved sports figure in Maryland history, they'll have no problem letting anyone go, especially in football, if they deserve to go.

Patience, little asses, patience.  Unlike Tat U., Maryland is doing the investigation the right way, not rushing it because you know, legal and moral stuff MUST make way for Game 1!!!  Anyway, me and my alum peeps feel Durkin is about 90% gone - don't read into the "delay".  There is no "delay".  They're doing a thorough investigation and lining up their cards.  Plus it's a little more complicated - a BUNCH of players are defending Durkin, saying there is no "toxic culture".  Certainly enough to have the investigators make damn sure they have cause for firing him.  But I think they will.

However I don't have a lot of faith in the BOR to get a good group of administrators in there.  They hit the jackpot with Mote from '98 to '2010 and that guy singlehandedly put Maryland on the academic map again.  Hopefully they'll find someone who at least knows how to tie their shoe.

Football?  Who cares?  It's a basketball school.

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South Austin

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53 minutes ago, phdhorn said:

Evans is another douchebag.  He needs to go.

Maryland did a good job for awhile in hiring competent academic administrators and getting things going after the Lefty fiasco in the mid-80's - it got really bad when they settled for Debbie Yow (YOW is fucking right!... hey; guess who's the AD at North Carolina, y'know, where they've been having all those scandals lately?).  Hell, they essentially canned Lefty, and honestly he really wasn't to blame for that shit.  But if they jettisoned probably the most beloved sports figure in Maryland history, they'll have no problem letting anyone go, especially in football, if they deserve to go.

Patience, little asses, patience.  Unlike Tat U., Maryland is doing the investigation the right way, not rushing it because you know, legal and moral stuff MUST make way for Game 1!!!  Anyway, me and my alum peeps feel Durkin is about 90% gone - don't read into the "delay".  There is no "delay".  They're doing a thorough investigation and lining up their cards.  Plus it's a little more complicated - a BUNCH of players are defending Durkin, saying there is no "toxic culture".  Certainly enough to have the investigators make damn sure they have cause for firing him.  But I think they will.

However I don't have a lot of faith in the BOR to get a good group of administrators in there.  They hit the jackpot with Mote from '98 to '2010 and that guy singlehandedly put Maryland on the academic map again.  Hopefully they'll find someone who at least knows how to tie their shoe.

Football?  Who cares?  It's a basketball school.

Whatever.  Maryland can't even produce graduates who accurately predict the weather.

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phdhorn

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While there is no "delay", Durkin's fate isn't supposed to be announced for a few weeks now (although it might be sooner), and the investigation has to run its course, this is one reason why it might be taking a bit longer and why he might, possibly, maybe, survive (though I doubt it).  And the Baltimore Sun is no fan of this episode:

Parents of Maryland players seem mostly supportive of DJ Durkin, saying team culture was tough but not 'toxic'

Don MarkusDon MarkusContact ReporterThe Baltimore Sun
 

Parents of University of Maryland football players met for nearly 90 minutes Saturday morning with athletic director Damon Evans, and many stayed around to talk with university president Wallace D. Loh and members of the commission hired by the school to look into media reports of a “toxic” culture in the program’s two seasons under coach DJ Durkin.

The meeting was the first for parents with Evans since shortly after offensive lineman Jordan McNair died June 13 from heatstroke suffered during a May 29 conditioning test. The parents of McNair, a Randallstown resident and former McDonogh School standout, said on national television Thursday that Durkin should be fired.

Durkin, who was at a meeting with parents in June, is currently on administrative leave pending the outcome of an external review that is expected to be completed by Sept. 15. Strength and conditioning coach Rick Court, who was among Durkin’s first hires, resigned Monday.

Darryl Turner, who grew up playing football in Prince George County and later played while he was in the Air Force, is among the parents who would like to see Durkin reinstated, saying he was more angry with the way ESPN’s article portrayed Durkin than anything the 40-year-old did as a coach.

“When the ESPN thing came out, I’m sorry to say, I was kind of upset with them, because this program is not toxic. This program is a great family environment,” said Turner, whose son, DJ, is a junior wide receiver. “My son has not complained about anything. None of the kids [have] and I know most of the team.”

Dave Baca has a different feeling about the experience his son, Steven (South Carroll), a junior tight end from Mount Airy, has had since coming to Maryland in Durkin’s first season leading the program. Baca said the death of McNair was the culmination of two difficult years for Steven, who is a preferred walk-on.

“Our hearts and prayers go out to the McNair family,” Baca said. “No amount of anything is going to bring him back. It’s a very sad situation. It’s not what we signed up for when Steven chose to come to Maryland. We entrusted his care to the coaching staff, to the training staff. How can something like this happen?”

Baca said the portrayal by ESPN echoed some of what he heard from his son about the team’s culture.

“It’s been a brutal culture,” Baca said. “We will be meeting after the parents’ meeting to share our feedback [with the commission]. Steven’s here for the education, and we feel like he’s getting a great education. He loves the sport, but he’s only had glimmers of enjoyment.”

Baca, who along with his wife are graduates of the Naval Academy, said his son knew it was going to be grueling and that many Power 5 teams are coached and trained similarly.

“He knew what he was signing up to,” Baca said. “I get a sense that some of this occurs in most D-I programs. But I don’t think this is a culture that is only at D-I. My [other] son played a little at the D-III level, and the profanity and breakdown of the kids, just the mental language that these coaches use, is not the type of language I want for my child to be built up. You can break them down without using such harsh language.”

Baca said linebackers coach Matt Barnes has been “pretty fair" and yells at his players on occasion, but it is not part of his character.

“When the head coach creates a culture, you [as an assistant] have to fit into that culture or you find yourself going somewhere else,” said Baca, who said he played lightweight football at Navy.

Turner said he is appreciative of what Durkin has done for his son, who as a freshman was suspended along with fellow freshman Lorenzo Harrison III, a former high school teammate at DeMatha, after being charged by police for shooting a BB gun on campus.

“I’m behind Coach Durkin,” Turner said. “I really hate that this happened from looking at what the circumstances are. Durkin did a lot to bring my son up to be a man. This is what this program is about. I’m going to say it again — this is not a toxic program. It’s a really good program and I stand behind it.”

Said Pamela Allen, whose son, Lawtez Rogers, is a redshirt freshman defensive end: “I like Coach Durkin. I’ve never had a bad report about him. My son really likes him, too. I do believe that things could have been handled differently that day what happened with Jordan. … My son even liked Rick Court.”

As for the way Court was portrayed for the way he trained the players in the weight room, Turner gave his support there, too. He reflected on his own background of having played the sport, and having coached it for three decades on the youth and high school levels.

“The work that these kids put in is their armor to play a tough game and you’ve got to get the best out of them,” Turner said. “I can’t say that sometimes coaches [don’t] go a little too far. Where is the line? … The way this program is, probably mirrors a lot of programs around the country. This is a tough game. You’ve got to be tough.”

The meeting with Evans and the interviews with the commission preceded an intrasquad scrimmage at Maryland Stadium, which only families as well as high-level boosters and their guests were allowed to attend. The team has mostly not been made available to the media, which spoke to interim coach Matt Canada for the first time Wednesday.

Evans, who was promoted from being acting athletic director in late June, said through an athletic department spokesman: “We have been communicating with our football parents for the last few months, but felt it was important to bring everyone together so we could hear their questions and comments in person.

“We also wanted to see their kids play in today's scrimmage. I appreciate all of our parents for coming out and for every question and comment they shared. We are keeping the lines of communication open and I encouraged all of them to reach out to me personally with their thoughts.”

Turner is not sure how things will wind up.

“We’re not getting a lot about how the investigation is going,” Turner said. “We expect the investigation to be strenuous. It’s going to be tough. And the outcome will probably be tough. That’s what’s supposed to happen. I believe that’s supposed to happen that way. Let’s let it work itself out.”

Turner said that like many, his thoughts and prayers are mostly with McNair and his family.

“We’re all grieving for Jordan. We really miss the kid; he was a really great kid,” Turner said. “DJ [Turner] and the rest of the team are holding together. They’ve come together better than they’ve come together at any time. I think they’re really focusing on getting ready for the season. All our prayers go to Jordan and his family.”

Sending a message to McNair’s parents, Turner said, “We’re behind you. We’re still family. Please come on back.”

Asked if he thought Durkin would be reinstated, Turner said, “My hope is that he comes back because he’s a good guy. Again, the situation is going to turn out the way it’s going to turn out. I’m throwing my support for DJ Durkin. If he comes back, great. If he doesn’t, we’ve got a season to get ready for.”

 

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/terps/tracking-the-terps/bs-sp-maryland-parents-meeting-0819-story.html#

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Still might not save him, but I bet there are more players/families that don't think the culture under him is toxic than those who do.  That's the word I've been getting from my peeps up there.  Of course he could be canned just because a guy died under his watch, but that remains to be seen.

However, he apparently is still pretty popular with the team as a whole.

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ChiTownDoc

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On 8/25/2018 at 1:37 PM, phdhorn said:

While there is no "delay", Durkin's fate isn't supposed to be announced for a few weeks now (although it might be sooner), and the investigation has to run its course, this is one reason why it might be taking a bit longer and why he might, possibly, maybe, survive (though I doubt it).  And the Baltimore Sun is no fan of this episode:

Parents of Maryland players seem mostly supportive of DJ Durkin, saying team culture was tough but not 'toxic'

Don MarkusDon MarkusContact ReporterThe Baltimore Sun
 

Parents of University of Maryland football players met for nearly 90 minutes Saturday morning with athletic director Damon Evans, and many stayed around to talk with university president Wallace D. Loh and members of the commission hired by the school to look into media reports of a “toxic” culture in the program’s two seasons under coach DJ Durkin.

The meeting was the first for parents with Evans since shortly after offensive lineman Jordan McNair died June 13 from heatstroke suffered during a May 29 conditioning test. The parents of McNair, a Randallstown resident and former McDonogh School standout, said on national television Thursday that Durkin should be fired.

Durkin, who was at a meeting with parents in June, is currently on administrative leave pending the outcome of an external review that is expected to be completed by Sept. 15. Strength and conditioning coach Rick Court, who was among Durkin’s first hires, resigned Monday.

Darryl Turner, who grew up playing football in Prince George County and later played while he was in the Air Force, is among the parents who would like to see Durkin reinstated, saying he was more angry with the way ESPN’s article portrayed Durkin than anything the 40-year-old did as a coach.

“When the ESPN thing came out, I’m sorry to say, I was kind of upset with them, because this program is not toxic. This program is a great family environment,” said Turner, whose son, DJ, is a junior wide receiver. “My son has not complained about anything. None of the kids [have] and I know most of the team.”

Dave Baca has a different feeling about the experience his son, Steven (South Carroll), a junior tight end from Mount Airy, has had since coming to Maryland in Durkin’s first season leading the program. Baca said the death of McNair was the culmination of two difficult years for Steven, who is a preferred walk-on.

“Our hearts and prayers go out to the McNair family,” Baca said. “No amount of anything is going to bring him back. It’s a very sad situation. It’s not what we signed up for when Steven chose to come to Maryland. We entrusted his care to the coaching staff, to the training staff. How can something like this happen?”

Baca said the portrayal by ESPN echoed some of what he heard from his son about the team’s culture.

“It’s been a brutal culture,” Baca said. “We will be meeting after the parents’ meeting to share our feedback [with the commission]. Steven’s here for the education, and we feel like he’s getting a great education. He loves the sport, but he’s only had glimmers of enjoyment.”

Baca, who along with his wife are graduates of the Naval Academy, said his son knew it was going to be grueling and that many Power 5 teams are coached and trained similarly.

“He knew what he was signing up to,” Baca said. “I get a sense that some of this occurs in most D-I programs. But I don’t think this is a culture that is only at D-I. My [other] son played a little at the D-III level, and the profanity and breakdown of the kids, just the mental language that these coaches use, is not the type of language I want for my child to be built up. You can break them down without using such harsh language.”

Baca said linebackers coach Matt Barnes has been “pretty fair" and yells at his players on occasion, but it is not part of his character.

“When the head coach creates a culture, you [as an assistant] have to fit into that culture or you find yourself going somewhere else,” said Baca, who said he played lightweight football at Navy.

Turner said he is appreciative of what Durkin has done for his son, who as a freshman was suspended along with fellow freshman Lorenzo Harrison III, a former high school teammate at DeMatha, after being charged by police for shooting a BB gun on campus.

“I’m behind Coach Durkin,” Turner said. “I really hate that this happened from looking at what the circumstances are. Durkin did a lot to bring my son up to be a man. This is what this program is about. I’m going to say it again — this is not a toxic program. It’s a really good program and I stand behind it.”

Said Pamela Allen, whose son, Lawtez Rogers, is a redshirt freshman defensive end: “I like Coach Durkin. I’ve never had a bad report about him. My son really likes him, too. I do believe that things could have been handled differently that day what happened with Jordan. … My son even liked Rick Court.”

As for the way Court was portrayed for the way he trained the players in the weight room, Turner gave his support there, too. He reflected on his own background of having played the sport, and having coached it for three decades on the youth and high school levels.

“The work that these kids put in is their armor to play a tough game and you’ve got to get the best out of them,” Turner said. “I can’t say that sometimes coaches [don’t] go a little too far. Where is the line? … The way this program is, probably mirrors a lot of programs around the country. This is a tough game. You’ve got to be tough.”

The meeting with Evans and the interviews with the commission preceded an intrasquad scrimmage at Maryland Stadium, which only families as well as high-level boosters and their guests were allowed to attend. The team has mostly not been made available to the media, which spoke to interim coach Matt Canada for the first time Wednesday.

Evans, who was promoted from being acting athletic director in late June, said through an athletic department spokesman: “We have been communicating with our football parents for the last few months, but felt it was important to bring everyone together so we could hear their questions and comments in person.

“We also wanted to see their kids play in today's scrimmage. I appreciate all of our parents for coming out and for every question and comment they shared. We are keeping the lines of communication open and I encouraged all of them to reach out to me personally with their thoughts.”

Turner is not sure how things will wind up.

“We’re not getting a lot about how the investigation is going,” Turner said. “We expect the investigation to be strenuous. It’s going to be tough. And the outcome will probably be tough. That’s what’s supposed to happen. I believe that’s supposed to happen that way. Let’s let it work itself out.”

Turner said that like many, his thoughts and prayers are mostly with McNair and his family.

“We’re all grieving for Jordan. We really miss the kid; he was a really great kid,” Turner said. “DJ [Turner] and the rest of the team are holding together. They’ve come together better than they’ve come together at any time. I think they’re really focusing on getting ready for the season. All our prayers go to Jordan and his family.”

Sending a message to McNair’s parents, Turner said, “We’re behind you. We’re still family. Please come on back.”

Asked if he thought Durkin would be reinstated, Turner said, “My hope is that he comes back because he’s a good guy. Again, the situation is going to turn out the way it’s going to turn out. I’m throwing my support for DJ Durkin. If he comes back, great. If he doesn’t, we’ve got a season to get ready for.”

 

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/terps/tracking-the-terps/bs-sp-maryland-parents-meeting-0819-story.html#

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Still might not save him, but I bet there are more players/families that don't think the culture under him is toxic than those who do.  That's the word I've been getting from my peeps up there.  Of course he could be canned just because a guy died under his watch, but that remains to be seen.

However, he apparently is still pretty popular with the team as a whole.

You know where the line between tough and toxic lies?  Yeah...

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phdhorn

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On 8/26/2018 at 1:58 PM, ChiTownDoc said:

You know where the line between tough and toxic lies?  Yeah...

In this case?  Not yet.  And neither does anyone else outside of the investigators.

2 developments:

1) Predictable, but a buncha donors sent a letter in support of Durkin to UM Regents saying they "take issue" with the toxic environment.  This probably helps him a little:http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/terps/tracking-the-terps/bs-sp-champions-club-durkin-0830-story.html
 

2)   Word up here is that the BoR is split on him being canned, they're hashing it out. But so far it doesn't appear to be a done deal, either way.

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Machinator

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Two former players told of a 2016 weight-room incident in which a player was vomiting in a trash can following a workout. Court was speaking at the time and grew upset that he was interrupted. Court pushed the player into a refrigerator, screamed at him and tossed the trash can across the room. He then forced the player to clean the mess, the players said.

That's normal, right?

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Machinator

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http://www.dbknews.com/2018/10/01/maryland-football-coach-dj-durkin-scandal-investigation-abuse-espn-jordan-mcnair/

Despite mounting evidence, top boosters stand by Maryland football’s DJ Durkin
 

Quote

Soon after DJ Durkin was named Maryland football's head coach in 2015, he organized a fundraising dinner for about 40 donors.

After eating dinner on the field at Maryland Stadium, he brought the donors into the locker room and gave a pitch for them to join his newly minted Champions Club.

As Durkin spoke, Michele Jaklitsch turned to her husband, Rick, a personal injury lawyer in Prince George's County.

"Oh my god, he sounds exactly like Gary Williams," she said. "I want to go play for this man right now."

About half of the donors Durkin pitched on his vision for the program immediately joined the club, committing to donate at least $25,000 per year for five years. Three years later, as Durkin's future with Maryland remains uncertain, those original members are standing by a coach — and a program — they feel has been unfairly attacked by the media and the university itself.

"He's the right guy," said John LaPides, the CEO and founder of an Annapolis-based investment firm and Champions Club member. "He represents the university well and brings the right kind of culture."

As soon as he took over, Durkin strove to make changes to a middling program attempting to make the jump to Big Ten football standards. He hired Rick Court, a fiery strength and conditioning coach, to be his right-hand man and instill a winning culture. He gave the team impassioned motivational speeches, and ran competitive practices and grueling workouts, which have been under scrutiny following the death of offensive lineman Jordan McNair.

To get the team on board, Durkin told them that if they performed well on and off the field, they could become a part of the players' version of the Champions Club. As then-Terps quarterback Perry Hills said in 2016, the club rewarded players who did "everything right," serving as a greater incentive than anything the program had in the past.

"If you're not in Champions Club, [Durkin] has a hard time trusting you," Hills said, "because you're not doing the right things."

As several players and parents soured on Durkin — and reports from ESPN and The Washington Post painted a picture of a toxic team culture — the boosters in the Champions Club remain ardent supporters, even as Durkin nears a second month on administrative leave as a Board of Regents-led commission investigates the program.

A separate investigation found Maryland trainers made fundamental mistakes that led to McNair's death. The donors don't feel that should be held against Durkin, who was at the workout where McNair suffered heatstroke; they echo the university's public stance that the training staff and coaching staff are separate entities.

"The coach continues coaching and the training staff takes care of any player that can't complete drills," Rick Jaklitsch said. "It's so ridiculous that [Durkin is on leave]."

And even following a lengthy report from the Post on Sunday that highlighted experiences of former players and parents and alleged physical and psychological abuse from Durkin and other staff members, members of the Champions Club remain firm, based on their first-hand experiences around Durkin and the team.

"I have faith that the committee will thoroughly investigate all these claims and issue a comprehensive report soon," Harry Geller, an "entrepreneur in residence" at this university's business school and Champions Club member, wrote in a text message Sunday afternoon. "From my experience as a booster and educator close to the program, there is no toxic culture as reported and coach Durkin deserves to be reinstated as soon as possible."

Champions Club members cast doubts over the use of anonymous players as sources in the ESPN and Post reports, though multiple players allowed their names to be published in both of them.

So while the investigation into the team's toxic culture is ongoing and reports like Sunday's paint an ugly picture, most members of the Champions Club think they know what the outcome will be: Jaklitsch confidently proclaimed that "there's no toxic culture there," and he feels "it's ridiculous that [Durkin's] not the coach right now."

That sentiment spurred the group, along with other donors, to send a letter dated Aug. 27 to the Board of Regents in support of Durkin, after the board assumed control of the investigations.

Rich Novak, a Champions Club member who played quarterback for the Terps from 1959 to 1961, said the allegations of a toxic culture are "preposterous," and seeing the reports "made my guts sick."

"I'm sure [Maryland's conditioning is] the same as is Ohio State or Michigan or Alabama or USC, you name them. If you're competing in big-time athletics, you need to have good conditioning and so forth," he said. "But toxic? And where you berate players and so forth? I've never seen that."

Martin McNair, Jordan's father, said on Good Morning America in August that Durkin "shouldn't be able to work with anybody else's kid." McNair's family hired the Baltimore law firm Murphy, Falcon and Murphy, and last month the firm filed "notice of claim" forms, which allow them to seek legal action against the state but do not guarantee a lawsuit is forthcoming.

Champions Club member Bob Pinkner, the CEO of a Baltimore-based beverage distribution company, felt that was disingenuous. Pinkner pointed to the fact that Durkin spoke at McNair's funeral in June, which he said Martin asked the coach to do.

"If he hated him that much and wouldn't trust his kid with him and all that, why would he ask him to give a eulogy?" Pinkner said. "All this hatred bit came up later, was all orchestrated by [the family's attorney] Billy Murphy."

Murphy, the senior attorney for Murphy, Falcon & Murphy, did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

The investigation into the program's culture is expected to conclude by early October, although it doesn't have an official end date. Harvey Sanders, a 1972 alumnus and member of the University of Maryland College Park Foundation's board of trustees and Champions Club member, said that if the investigation proves the program had a toxic culture, Durkin should be relieved of his duties, though Sanders maintains he doesn't believe such a culture exists. Other Champions Club members echoed that sentiment.

But from what those members have seen and heard, they find the allegations hard to believe. Even after a lengthy stint on leave that has stretched well into the Terps' season, Jaklitsch believes Durkin can still be "welcomed back by the fans, by the players, by the donors with open arms."

"Could [Durkin] have stopped what took place that day with McNair? And if the answer's no, then I have no problem with him coming back," Sanders said. "If the answer was yes, obviously it's a different situation. But if you're just saying the head coach was responsible, well, who's responsible for the athletic department, and who's responsible for the school?"

One player interviewed by Dr. Rod Walters said head trainer Wes Robinson yelled across the field to "get [McNair] the fuck up," and another player reported Robinson yelling to "drag his ass across the field," corroborating the original ESPN report from August.

Another player interviewed said McNair didn't look ready for the training session, and according to Walters' report, McNair gained 16 pounds between April 9 and his final workout May 29. McNair also told trainers he hadn't eaten since having a bowl of cereal the morning of the conditioning test, and his gallon of water provided by the team was later found unopened in his locker.

Walters said McNair's heatstroke was "atypical" but pointed to several significant mistakes made by trainers, such as failing to take his vital signs and waiting for more than an hour before calling 911 after he first was symptomatic.

"As much as we hate to say this, Jordan didn't do what Jordan was supposed to do," Jaklitsch said. "A trainer like Wes Robinson thinks a kid's properly hydrated and runs a drill set up for kids that are properly hydrated, and when the kid didn't drink the gallon he knew he had to drink, that's going to send the wrong signal to the person running the drill."

A Post report published Sunday included numerous interviews with former players and parents recalling abusive treatment that in some cases triggered depression. Though no Champions Club member disputed any of the specific examples of abuse in media reports, they still take issue with the stories as a whole.

"It is interesting to note that every negative player quoted in this article never played or very little. And that the few quoted that did or do get on the field feel good about DJ," Pinkner wrote in a text Sunday afternoon. "Otherwise I think this article is BS and will sell papers."

Of the five players identified by the Post as having a negative experience with the program, two did not play before transferring from Maryland and two more combined for eight appearances in 2017. Wide receiver Deandre Lane, whose criticisms to the Post were mostly directed at the training staff, played in 26 games during his four-year career.

"DJ cares about his players as much as he cares about his own kids," Jaklitsch wrote in an email Sunday night in response to the Post story. "I agree with the assessment that he pushed people to make them better—that's why we hired him."

While there are plenty of concerning stories published publicly, Jaklitsch said that from conversations he's had with numerous members of the commission — many of whom are alumni or are otherwise closely connected to the university — he's gathered that the task force is "truly impressed with how much Durkin cares about his players."

Durkin rests at the center of Maryland football's storm, but University President Wallace Loh and athletic director Damon Evans are far from being in the clear. And some members of the Champions Club believe the most logical move would be removing Loh from his post, not Durkin.

Members of the Champions Club disagree with Loh's reaction to the ESPN reports, which included placing Durkin on leave. Loh and Evans have not faced any public repercussions stemming from McNair's death.

"I've never felt [Loh] really has the pulse of the school," Pinkner said. "I've just never had a warm feeling for him. I've never thought he was that involved in athletics. … Maybe it's because of my friends — everybody has the same feeling, that Dr. Loh has to go."

Most members of the Champions Club are fine with the Board of Regents assuming control of both investigations and feel the task force investigating the program's culture will do its due diligence.

But the crux of the Champions Club's complaints — the reason for their letter to the Board of Regents — was Maryland's response to ESPN's allegations in August. For a group allotted more access than most into the inner workings of a Big Ten football team, Champions Club members say they haven't seen evidence to back up ESPN's coverage, which included multiple reporters but was spearheaded by reporter Heather Dinich, who has drawn the ire of some Maryland fans and boosters.

"To take advantage of that tragedy and blow this whole thing up … was, pardon my French, bullshit," Pinkner said. "She took advantage of a tragedy and made it this big, big yellow journalism article."

"It's a spectacular failure of leadership that Dr. Loh didn't go and attack that misnomer of the football program," Jaklitsch said. "Instead of believing DJ Durkin and all the players in that program, [he] believed Heather Dinich — which is ridiculous and absurd. And for that, Dr. Loh should lose his job."

Champions Club members did not point to any specific example of ESPN's reporting as being false. When asked for comment, ESPN spokesperson David Scott provided a five-word statement: "We stand by our reporting."

Not all club members want Loh to lose his job. Novak doesn't find fault in either Evans or Loh's handling of the fallout; he feels the president is usually methodical in his decision-making.

Geller said he goes to practices when he wants to and has eaten numerous meals with the team. He said his experience talking to players shows how much they like the program and Durkin.

"If it's a toxic culture, you can sniff it out pretty quickly," Geller said. "It just didn't seem to be that way whatsoever."

The Champions Club feels they were close enough to the program that they would've known if Durkin, Court or the trainers were mistreating players. So, viewing themselves as having first-hand, insider knowledge of the program run by a man to whom they pledged at least $125,000, they dismiss the mounting evidence against him.

"From what I've heard — they haven't finished their investigation, they have another week," Jaklitsch said, "but they haven't seen any evidence anywhere of any toxic culture at all."

 

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