Mary Durrapins DJ Durkin, football coach back

Before anything else, before debating the meaning of the word "toxic" or the question of whether Maryland's football coach, DJ Durkin, can change his habits, let's not forget how hard Durkin Failed: Jordan McNair, aged 19, died, and his father and mother are left crying their son for eternity.

"I felt like I had a punch in my stomach and someone spit in my face," said Jordan's father Marty McNair. , after Durkin was reinstated in his Maryland coaching duties on Tuesday.

The board of directors of the University of Maryland and its commission of inquiry on football culture in Maryland acknowledged that: the university is responsible for McNair's death. heat stroke on June 13 after a training session on May 29; that the sports department was "dysfunctional"; and that a force coach, Rick Court, condemns, humiliates and humiliates the players. Despite this, the regents decided that it was in the interest of the school to keep Durkin on the sidelines.

And now we are supposed to believe that what happened under Durkin in Maryland is not his responsibility. The commission charged with investigating the culture of football in Maryland released a report released last week by ESPN, which concluded that even though there were abuses in the program, the culture did not show up. was not "toxic". He made a list of excuses for Durkin that were echoed by chairman of the board, James Brady, on Tuesday.

According to the report, Durkin did not receive the necessary training to work as a head coach for the first time, although this is the only thing he has studied throughout his adult life – under the command of two some of the most famous coaches in the country. Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh. How could Durkin keep his players safe?

"The only person who has paid for these failures is Jordan McNair."

Hassan Murphy, McNair Family Attorney

Durkin told the commission that he had no clear idea of ​​who was to oversee Court, his hand-picked strength and fitness trainer, despite the fact that he was the first employee engaged by Durkin in Maryland. Durkin has already told Sports Illustrated: "Rick and I are as close to the way we see things as you can."

Those who believe that these excuses do not understand how much a football coach controls his entire program.

Brady said, "We believe that coach Durkin has been unfairly accused of the dysfunction of the sports department," Brady said. In a moment, he stated that the board of directors felt that Durkin was "a good man, a good coach dedicated to the welfare of student athletes under his responsibility". Although Brady claims that Durkin, the sports director Damon Evans and the university president, Wallace Loh, all accept some responsibility for what happened, this message was lost as soon as Brady tried to justify his decision to keep Durkin.

The McNair family says that it was not enough. McNair died of a preventable death, largely because of the neglect and culture of intimidation that prevailed under Durkin. As McNair struggled to catch his breath, the coaches ignored or reprimanded him, not understanding the consequences until it was too late.

"I do not think it should be allowed to drag someone else 's child into such an environment," said McNair' s father, Marty, at ESPN 's August. "My child is dead there, it's something we will never find, it's a plague that will never heal."

This is where the underlying theme recurs in every collegial scandal: those responsible for these programs do not want to lead, assume, or take responsibility. All these platitudes they teach their players are simply not applicable to them, a shameful double standard that serves only one selfish cause.

While Durkin and Evans should compete for their work, it is the regents and administrators of the university who should stand up and defend the interests of the school and its students. In the end, the personal preference of influential boosters, board members, and university administrators outweighed the justice of Jordan McNair.

"The only person who has paid for these failures is Jordan McNair," said Hassan Murphy, a McNair family lawyer.

Meanwhile, only president to fully assume his responsibilities, the university president, Wallace Loh, who said at his initial press conference in August that the school had accepted the full "legal and moral" responsibility of the McNair's death, will retire in June. Loh could not even pronounce Durkin's name at the press conference.

And in the future, you have to wonder how much Durkin's presence will damage Maryland. Imagine how easy it will be for a Big Ten rival coach to walk around a rookie's lounge, take out the commission report and not even have to say a word.

How many parents will they send their sons to play for Durkin, knowing that he broke all the promises made to the McNair family to protect their son?

Where does Durkin even begin to repair his schisms in his own locker room, where several players would have left Tuesday while the coach was holding his first meeting since his paid leave? Ninety-four players participated in a survey conducted on September 8 by the independent commission. The commission then compared the results to similar investigations conducted by 32 Division I college football teams during the 2016 and 2017 football seasons (period on which the commission investigated).