The football program at the University of Maryland was struck by tragedy earlier this year when offensive lineman Jordan McNair died two weeks after collapsing in the aftermath of a team workout. Details about what lead to his death were sparse, but on Friday evening, ESPN published a pair of bombshell reports — one regarding the circumstances around McNair’s death, another revealing a culture of fear and intimidation within the Terrapin football program.
In the aftermath of those reports, three people involved with the team’s strength and conditioning staff were placed on administrative leave amid an independent investigation into McNair’s death. On Saturday afternoon, the university decided to go even further, placing head football coach D.J. Durkin on administrative leave. New offensive coordinator Matt Canada will take over head coaching responsibilities in the interim.
Damon Evans has announced Coach DJ Durkin is on leave effective immediately while a thorough examination of our coaching practices is conducted. Matt Canada will serve as interim head coach. We must do better, and we will rebuild a culture of respect in our football program. pic.twitter.com/lQArXIrkeB
— Maryland Terrapins (@umterps) August 11, 2018
ESPN’s main report into the culture at Maryland — authored by Heather Dinich, Adam Rittenberg, and Tom VanHaaren — paints the picture of a program where coaches and staff members routinely try to dehumanize players in an attempt to make them tougher. In fact, things were so bad that one anonymous former staffer said they “would never, ever, ever allow my child to be coached” by Durkin at Maryland.
The entire report is worth reading, as there are a myriad of passages that show how Durkin’s program would go beyond what is considered acceptable. For example, one passage tells the story of how the staff — led by Rick Court, the team’s strength and conditioning coach who was also placed on leave — made an injured player participate in a tug-of-war against all of the team’s defensive backs and berated him after he lost.
Another former player alleged the staff made an injured player do a tug-of-war competition against the whole defensive back unit.
“They made him do it with one hand,” he said. “Coach Court called him a p—- after he didn’t win. One [player] was doing a tug-of-war … and he passed out. … I saw his body slowly giving away, and the strength coach was like, ‘Keep pulling, keep pulling!’ … He collapsed on the ground. He looked at him like, ‘You quit on the team.’ It was really barbaric.”
With regards to McNair’s death, an anonymous current player told ESPN “It shows a cultural problem that Jordan knew that if he stopped, they would challenge his manhood, he would be targeted. He had to go until he couldn’t.”
Durkin was hired by Maryland prior to the 2016 season, when he came over after one year as the defensive coordinator at Michigan. He has accrued a 10-15 record with the Terrapins and a 5-13 mark in Big Ten play. The independent investigation into the program is expected to be released on Sept. 15, and there is no indication into whether Durkin’s future with the program will be decided before or after that occurs.
(Via ESPN)
