COLLEGE FOOTBALL Maryland puts coach on leave amid investigation
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — The University of Maryland placed football Coach DJ Durkin on administrative leave Saturday in wake of news reports that players faced abuse and disparagement from staff members.
Athletic director Damon Evans sent a letter to university staff, boosters and supporters Saturday saying, “I am extremely concerned by the allegations of unacceptable behaviors by members of our football staff detailed in recent media reports. We are committed to fully investigating the program.”
“At this time, the best decision for our football program is to place Maryland Head Football Coach D.J. Durkin on leave so we can properly review the culture of the program,” the letter continued. “This is effective immediately. Matt Canada will serve as interim head coach.”
Athletic department officials had previously announced Friday evening that multiple members of the athletics staff had been placed on administrative leave but declined to identify the employees. In his letter, Evans did not specifically cite Durkin or make any reference to the coach’s future with the program.
Durkin was present at the team’s practice Saturday morning in College Park, according to a person familiar
with the situation. Evans was on-hand and met with the team before practice, that person said, though the nature of the meeting was not immediately clear.
Multiple people familiar with the situation confirmed that Rick Court, the team’s strength and conditioning coach, and athletic trainer Wes Robinson had been placed on leave by the athletics department. ESPN reported Saturday a third employee, Steve Nordwall, an assistant athletics director for training, has also been placed on leave.
School officials have repeatedly said they will speak in greater detail following an external review of the death of football player Jordan McNair. The 19-year-old died June 13 after suffering heatstroke at a team workout May 29. An attorney for the family has said that a lawsuit is likely.
The school has contracted with Walters Inc., an athletic training consulting firm, to review the circumstances surrounding McNair’s death. While that review isn’t expected to conclude until Sept. 15, the school was facing mounting pressure to act quickly in the wake of news reports that outlined a toxic football culture in College Park, which included regular instances of bullying, disparagement, and verbal and emotional abuse.
“There was just constant degrading of players,” one former player told the Post on Friday evening, “and that was the culture they brought to the program, and they thought it would toughen us up.”
ESPN published a lengthy report on Friday evening, citing current and former players and staff members who described an “environment based on fear and humiliation.” In his letter Saturday morning, Evans called the allegations “troubling,” but did not refute or address anything specifically in the report. Evans took over the athletics department’s top post in June, after serving as athletics director on an interim basis since last November.
The Terps football program was bracing for publication of the ESPN report, closing Friday’s practice to reporters and sending a letter to parents of Maryland players, signed by Durkin. The coach told the parents, “our priority every day is the safety along with the academic, personal and athletic development of your sons,” according to the Baltimore Sun. “During this time of healing, our focus needs to be on each other and unity within our program.”
Reaction was swift and loud, as the news reports began to spread. Ben Jealous, the Democratic candidate for Maryland governor, called for the school to suspend both Evans and Durkin, pending the results of the external investigation.
“The athletics director and the head coach are ultimately responsible for ensuring the safety of our student athletes,” he said in a statement Saturday afternoon. “For there to be reports of purposefully unsafe conditioning practices built on the foundation of verbal abuse, fear, and humiliation — even after the death of a teenager in their care — is the definition of inexcusable.”
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s office also issued a statement Saturday, calling the revelations about the football program “very disturbing reports.”
“Our administration is in contact with the University System and we have requested regular updates,” said Amelia Chasse, the governor’s spokeswoman. “We will be closely monitoring the investigation and results to ensure that all appropriate action is taken. No student athlete should ever feel unsafe or unsupported.”
School administrators have not addressed Durkin’s status with the team, though he continues to run practices. Maryland Delegate Brooke Lierman, a civil rights attorney from Baltimore, has called for the coaches to resign and said university administrators need to move quickly to suspend those involved.
“I am outraged that this egregious coaching behavior existed, that it lasted so long and that it led to the death of a young man,” she said in an interview. “The lack of oversight is incredibly troubling. That this was allowed to persist and that any coaches think this behavior is acceptable is incredibly disturbing.”