August 16th, 2018 at 12:03 PM ^
IMHO, hiring someone who errors in judgement is not sufficient grounds to be let go in and of itself. But, if you hire someone with a known pattern of erring in judgement, or you later learn that your employee errs in judgement repeatedly, then you need to do something about it. If the errs in judgement are egregious enough and frequent enough then it falls on the supervisor if they have done nothing.
Long way of saying that I agree with you ALL of them should be terminated. I also agree that it is likely that Meyer isn't terminated simply because he wins a lot of games. Take a guy who repeatedly goes 9-4 in Meyer's circumstances and OSU fires him.
August 16th, 2018 at 3:18 PM ^
Brian Kelly disagrees.
August 16th, 2018 at 11:49 AM ^
Durkin was present at the workout that lead to McNair's death, though McNair didn't die that day. http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/terps/tracking-the-terps/bs-sp-durkin-mcnair-workout-0713-story.html
August 17th, 2018 at 10:56 AM ^
No, he just hired the goon that killed him
August 16th, 2018 at 9:23 AM ^
He is very done. I think Ohio State and Maryland are playing a game of chicken as they look to tomorrow. Both wants to announce second. Maryland for doing the right thing and firing him hope it is overshadowed. And OSU doing the wrong thing and keeping Urban also hope for a much quieter news cycle.
August 16th, 2018 at 9:36 AM ^
Why would Maryland want to hide that? Firing Durkin wouldn’t be that controversial, given what’s happened.
August 16th, 2018 at 11:13 AM ^
Per Ira on WTKA yesterday, Maryland “can’t” afford to fire Durkin without cause. If they truly want to fire him (one of) the points of the current investigation is to gather the proof for dismissal. — This is difficult to prove as even Pitino thought he had enough to sue over. (SPOILER — He didn’t.)
IMO - The OSU and UMD cases are similar in regard to the HC. There is enough gray area to justify keeping the coach if that is the goal. If the school wants to remove the coach they are best served to fire for “cause”. The investigations can determine if cause exists. In the case of OSU the proof of cause is much more clear cut (Urban reported properly or not).
The difference (again IMO) is that OSU almost certainly is looking for ways to keep UFM and Maryland is looking for ways to rid themselves of Durkin.
August 16th, 2018 at 9:49 AM ^
Don't want to call anyone out **cough cough Hotel Putin cough** said will have some news today out of Ohio. I know, I know you can't trust the socialist commies but you never know.
August 16th, 2018 at 12:10 PM ^
Today makes no sense. Figure they will announce at 4:50pm tomorrow that Meyer is staying and they did a full “investigation” etc but Gene Smith is done. Standard Friday news dump. I think someone has to be fired and there is a zero percent chance it is Meyer.
August 16th, 2018 at 12:52 PM ^
Hotel Putingrad is pink down to his underwear!
August 16th, 2018 at 1:13 PM ^
Just a test.
August 16th, 2018 at 9:24 AM ^
Yes. All of our days are numbered at our jobs in one way or another, his are just in the single digits.
August 16th, 2018 at 9:25 AM ^
I think what they are doing, is figuring out next coaching staff (considering most coaches turned blind eye to the abuse) and a settlement amount for family. I think the way Maryland has handled this situation is top-notch.
Lets be honest..Durkin doesn't stand a chance. The whole coaching staff will probably be wiped clean except for Canada. Talk about piecing together a staff at the last minute...terrible.
August 16th, 2018 at 9:25 AM ^
Obviously
August 16th, 2018 at 9:25 AM ^
https://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/2018/8/15/17693280/to-hell-with-every-bit-of-this
A good read and it brought up a question for me. If you are Maryland's president, who would you want your actions aligned with, McNair's parents or the anonymous booster quoted in the Washington Post?
Maryland's president sounds like a serious guy. He has a PhD from Michigan and a law degree from Yale.
August 16th, 2018 at 9:32 AM ^
My guess is that Durkin is fired but will be a head coach again way down the road.
August 16th, 2018 at 11:38 AM ^
Separate of guilt or innocence - DJ is/should be gone. A tragedy occurred and at least some small part of it was due to the culture he created/promoted.
Durkin’s best move is probably to preemptively step down with a statement along the lines of “while I was not directly involved in this tragic incident - as the HC the buck stops with me. In regard to the other reports, I tried the best I could to improve and motivate my players and team. In retrospect these methods were not always fitting for the way UMD and I want to represent the university or myself. I plan on doing some soul searching to become a better mentor, motivator, and coach should another opportunity present itself in the future.”
He can work out a settlement with UMD that costs them less than a buyout but still gets him paid (If they did this for the SC coach who was directly involved/responsible they can do this for Durkin.). Then he sits out a year, takes a DC position in 2019 and sees what that builds into. If Briles, Petrino etc. can get jobs after a scandal so can DJ, though I think it will be a good long while before he would get another P5 HC gig.
August 16th, 2018 at 9:40 AM ^
Serious guy... Craig?
August 16th, 2018 at 10:15 AM ^
The point of the article is valid. But it didn't seem that well written. Actually had to read some of it twice because I wasn't sure the point the author was trying to make. Still not sure on some of the nuances.
August 16th, 2018 at 9:39 AM ^
Someone ask Brian Kelly
August 16th, 2018 at 9:40 AM ^
he's done at Maryland imo, but i don't know enough about the case to say he ought to be done from coaching altogether.
i don't believe this was premeditated - this was an accident. while one could argue it was callous disregard for player safety i don't think one could prove that he understood the full consequences of pushing his athletes to this extent unless previous players experienced similar levels of medical distress ie hospitalization...
the training staff were the ones most directly responsible and while Durkin was in charge, he might not have been there through the entirety of the event itself.
jmho
August 16th, 2018 at 10:21 AM ^
Of course it wasn't premeditated. It would take a special kind of sick to plan to push a player so hard that he'll collapse and die.
With all the information out there about hydration, rests, cooling the body... I don't think the standard should be "well I haven't personally experienced this before". The risks of pushing players too hard are known. If Durkin didn't know them, that is his fault.
August 16th, 2018 at 9:45 AM ^
DJ Durkin should, indeed, be fired. Jordan McNair died under Durkin's charge. There have to be consequences when coaches are derelict in their duties. Lives should not be lost because of some ridiculous concept of toughness that was not being exhibited.
However, I believe Durkin should be allowed to coach again. A Head Coach with a watchful eye should allow Durkin to be a defensive coordinator after a 2-3 year hiatus. It was a mistake, an accident. But, hopefully, Jordan McNair's death will not be in vain. Hopefully, coaches will see this and remember that these are human beings they're in charge of - not machines. Hopefully, coaches will learn not to cross the fine line between tough and brutal. Hopefully, coaches will learn to not cut corners when it comes to player safety. Football is dangerous enough. It doesn't need overzealous coaches increasing its danger with overly harsh training methods.
August 16th, 2018 at 9:48 AM ^
Mayhaps. I just don't understand how so many people come on and say "he gone", just like before their press conference. Why not just wait and see? Then you don't have to make yourself look stupid by proclaiming something that nobody knows.
August 16th, 2018 at 10:34 AM ^
What is the upside of keeping Durkin? A player died at one of his practices because his staff pushed them beyond the point of physical exhaustion and did not administer proper medical care. I can't understand any reason why Maryland wouldn't want to move on from that even if Durkin wasn't 100% responsible in that moment.
Seems like they would want to turn the page.
August 16th, 2018 at 11:50 AM ^
That isn't the point, at all. What they should do, and what they will do are not necessarily the same thing. Fact is, nobody here knows anything about what they will do. Everyone is just guessing.
August 16th, 2018 at 12:57 PM ^
Yes, thank you...Tooter! THIS WAS THE WAY THEY OPERATED! They worked players out in the hottest part on the day, and verbally abused kids who were suffering from heat exhaustion because of that. This wasn't coaching. This was an ongoing physical abuse of football players. Who aren't being paid for that shit, btw.
August 16th, 2018 at 9:57 AM ^
Unless he put in a comprehensive system (procedural, social, etc. that translated the values of student well being into clear practices) that was actively ignored for the first time by his staff, then he should be done.
August 16th, 2018 at 10:03 AM ^
he gone! Probably waiting for official investigation to complete so they can fire him with cause....and therefore no payout.
August 16th, 2018 at 10:10 AM ^
He's done at Maryland, but I don't think he's done coaching (head coach, maybe). The thing about coaching is it's such a small community, eventually someone will give him another shot once things cool down. There are countless disgraced coaches that eventually find work again.
August 16th, 2018 at 10:14 AM ^
If he wasn't there when this young man died, I don't see that its cut and dry, fire him......
That being said, the fact that this young man died AND all the other items surfacing about his methods, paint a very bad picture. If you create an environment with coaching described as bullying, humiliation and intimidation, most would reason that the players health and well being wasn't 1st and foremost on the mind of the staff....which could have lead to the tragic loss of this young man's life.
DJ will end up on staff somewhere in the next couple years as a position coach, then coordinator and if he changes his coaching style, eventually a HC again.
August 16th, 2018 at 10:38 AM ^
my guess is he ends up getting hired at a small program or a struggling D1 school after a season or two to rebuild his career. although if having him actually coach on the field is an obstacle, he may land somewhere as an "analyst" watching film and advising the coaches.
nfl is a possibility too, they are willfully killing their players left and right, durkin can find an under-the-radar gig with some nfl team.
maybe he'll be right for the new XFL
August 16th, 2018 at 11:56 AM ^
Probably true, but also Maryland wasn't all that good under Durkin either. It's only 2 years and they had a lot of injuries, but it's still a team that isn't demonstrably better than they were before he showed up, and their defense has been atrocious over that span. Still obviously a young guy, but some guys are just cut out to be coordinators.
August 16th, 2018 at 10:34 AM ^
I mean, sending in a player with a potential concussion rightfully got Hoke and Brandon shown the door. When a practice drill causes a player's death, of course Durkin is done. Whether he will coach again at any level is less certain - someday someone will give him a chance on a very short leash. Unless he reaches an agreement with the family not to coach again in exchange for them lobbing him a smaller sueball
August 16th, 2018 at 10:37 AM ^
He'll never be a head coach again. But like, Tom Bradley, got assistant coaching jobs after the Penn State disaster. Jim Leavitt physically assaulted a player himself and got DC jobs. Mangino and Kevin Wilson landed on their feet after player torture issues.
The only difference I can see here is the forceful way Maryland appears to be taking responsibility for the matter instead of doing the Michigan State/UCF/Notre Dame thing. That might put a darker spot on him than other coaches.
August 16th, 2018 at 10:42 AM ^
They should just solve this Dantonio-style and have the team vote on it.
/s
August 16th, 2018 at 10:53 AM ^
I don't know about his coaching future, but he should definitely have his security clearance revoked.
August 16th, 2018 at 10:54 AM ^
The number of days he will be football coach at Maryland is very small.
August 16th, 2018 at 11:08 AM ^
I am not a Durkin fan, and don't really care if they keep him or not. But to say that just because this athlete died Durkin must be derelict seems like a leap. Unfortunately these incidents happen frequently. Frequently enough that I think they have changed practice rules. I don't remember hearing people calling for the coach's head each time this happens. I think the fact that there are allegations of verbal abuse are putting the picture in people's heads of Durkin running behind the kid calling him and faggot and pussy and questioning his manhood until he drops dead. There are plenty of scenarios where this happens and Durkin hasn't done anything wrong. Maybe the kid shouldn't have been cleared by the medical staff. I don't know. But sometimes we do everything correctly and bad things still happen.
August 16th, 2018 at 11:45 AM ^
It's pretty clear that Durkin was terrible toward a decent chunk of his team and maintained a culture where multiple players reported behavior that simply shouldn't occur to anyone. The image of Durkin running behind the kid might not be true, but we have a couple of players claiming Durkin would call them derogatory terms in front of others during meetings, and he also apparently used Court to unleash on guys because that way he could claim some distance.
Durkin didn't kill the kid, but that's not the point. This isn't a criminal case trying to prove intent and agency; it's about your HC creating a culture where a kid was pushed well beyond his physical limits in practice and him dying, and someone has to take responsibility for that.
August 16th, 2018 at 12:35 PM ^
"just because this athlete died Durkin must be derelict seems like a leap" This is right.
"sometimes we do everything correctly and bad things still happen." This is right to, but I would even make it more expansive and say "sometimes we do everything reasonably and bad things happen". However, it is not clear Durkin did everything and encourage a culture were his employees did everything reasonably.
August 16th, 2018 at 11:18 AM ^
I mean he’s got to be held accountable to avoid an even larger lawsuit coming down no?
August 16th, 2018 at 11:18 AM ^
He's done.
August 16th, 2018 at 11:35 AM ^
Yes, and they should be if the reports are true.
Also, he really sucked against OSU in 2015.
August 16th, 2018 at 11:37 AM ^
Yep. I also think this further improves Urban Meyer's odds of sticking around, as OSU can just draft off of the outrage directed at Maryland.
August 16th, 2018 at 11:38 AM ^
He's as good as gone.
August 16th, 2018 at 12:00 PM ^
Unfortunately he’s done. Peppers said he was a bully coach too at UofM, I guess he didn’t calm down when he became a head coach. It’s a shame a young man lost his life. I get the media making a big deal about a young man losing his life. But the media doesn’t make a big deal when a military service member loses his life. Our society is screwed up, athletes get more lime light than the courageous people that protect our freedom.
August 16th, 2018 at 12:07 PM ^
I am still amazed that Brian Kelly escaped with his job after two deaths in 2010. It makes you wonder if it had happened in today's society, would the outcome be any different?