University of Maryland reinstates football coach following following investigation into death of a player during practice
- The University of Maryland has reinstated head coach DJ Durkin after investigating his role in the death of 19-year-old offensive lineman Jordan McNair.
- McNair died of heatstroke suffered at a team workout earlier in the year, triggering an investigation into the "toxic culture" of the program that Durkin had fostered.
- Several of McNair's teammates expressed their disgust with the decision to bring Durkin back.
The University of Maryland reinstated head coach DJ Durkin, who was placed on paid administrative leave in August while the school investigated the death of 19-year-old offensive lineman Jordan McNair.
McNair collapsed after running sprints at a team workout on May 29 and was later hospitalized with heatstroke. He died two weeks later.
The decision to bring Durkin back was announced by the University System of Maryland board of regents, who were investigating McNair's death and the team's football program.
"We believe that Coach Durkin has been unfairly blamed for the dysfunction in the athletic department," USM board chair James T. Brady said after the announcement. "While he bears some responsibility, it is not fair to place all of it at his feet."
In a statement, Durkin said he was proud of his team.
"Our thoughts have and will continue to be with Jordan's family," Durkin said. "I am proud that the team has remained united and represented themselves and the University well during this difficult time."
Many people close with the program are disappointed with the decision. According to ESPN's Heather Dinich and Adam Rittenberg, several players, including starters, walked out of the meeting where the news was announced to the team.
McNair's family also expressed disgust with the decision. "How can a student-athlete be called a p---y as he is in the early stages of death, dying before their eyes, with no action taken, and yet no one be held accountable?" asked Hassan Murphy, the attorney representing the McNair family.
Several of McNair's teammates posted of their disappointment with the decision as well.
According to Dinich and Rittenberg, reinstating Durkin was of high priority to the USM board, which could not directly make hiring and firing decisions regarding the coach. However, according to ESPN, they put pressure on the school's president Wallace Loh to retain the coach.
"Because they can't hire and fire anybody, which they finally realized, they told Wallace Loh that they wanted him to bring DJ back, and the clear message was that if Loh was not willing to bring DJ back right away they would fire [Loh] immediately and then see who the acting president was and get that person to [retain Durkin]."
The investigation was prompted in part by an earlier ESPN report that uncovered a "toxic culture" within the Maryland football program fostered under Durkin.
"It shows a cultural problem that Jordan knew that if he stopped, they would challenge his manhood, he would be targeted," one of McNair's teammates told ESPN at the time. "He had to go until he couldn't."