'This is why people don't trust big-time athletics:' The sports world reacts to the University of Maryland's controversial decision to reinstate coach DJ Durkin
- University of Maryland's decision to reinstate football head coach D.J. Durkin following a player's death during a June practice was met with widespread criticism.
- Several players on the football team walked out of a meeting and shared their disagreement with the decision on social media.
- Much of the media blasted Maryland for the decision, calling it a "sham," "travesty," and an example of why people don't trust college athletics.
On Tuesday, University of Maryland's decision to reinstate football head coach D.J. Durkin was met with criticism by much of the sports world.
Durkin was placed on administrative leave in August following the death of 19-year-old offensive lineman Jordan McNair, who suffered from heat stroke during a June practice. The school launched an investigation that found there was a culture of fear and intimidation around the football team, but that it was not "toxic." Durkin received criticism and support from members and family members of the football team.
"I feel like I've been punched in the stomach, and somebody spit in my face," Marty McNair, Jordan's father, told ESPN's Heather Dinichand Adam Rittenberg.
According to ESPN, upon learning of Durkin's reinstatement, several members of the football team walked out of a meeting.
Hasan Murphy, the lawyer for the McNairs, told ESPN that the school had failed to protect its students, saying the reinstatement is "indefensible."
"The university has an obligation to protect, to educate and to nurture every one of its students," Murphy said. "Yet today, the board ratified and validated the heartbreaking actions by Coach Durkin and his staff toward Jordan in May by continuing the employment of the man who failed in his primary responsibility to Jordan. That is callous and it is indefensible."
According to ESPN, Maryland president Wallace D. Loh was not keen on retaining Durkin. However, according to ESPN, the board of regents insisted on keeping Durkin, believing he was incorrectly blamed for McNair's death, and threatened Loh's job if he did not keep Durkin.
"This is really not Dr. Loh's decision," a source told ESPN.
ESPN's college football expert Paul Finebaum ripped the school on Wednesday.
"This is why people don't trust big-time athletics," Finebaum said. "This is a complete and total sham. It's a travesty ... There's no rhyme or reason for this. There's no common sense. This is the big guys running the program."
Several Maryland football players also tweeted their criticism of the decision.
The decision has also been blasted by the media, from ESPN, The Washington Post, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, The Athletic, The Ringer, and more.
"I don't know when I've seen a case quite this egregious," Finebaum said on Wednesday, adding: "We have a young man who died here because of a culture at the University of Maryland.
"The thought that this board of regents would allow this coach - and this athletic director, who looked the other way in my mind - who wasn't paying enough attention, to continue, it just speaks volumes of the toxic nature of intercollegiate athletics."