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Many Maryland players refuted a Thursday report that striker Matt Barber said he was assaulted by a teammate during the first training session of DJ Durkin for his role as "whistleblower" in his discussions with the investigators.
Starting pitcher Wade Lees, who was previously considered the aggressor, tweeted that information about the fight between him and Barber was "far from the truth".
"There are a lot of inaccuracies in the way he describes the day," Lees tweeted. "In addition, the altercation has nothing to do with the reinstatement of coach Durkin."
Barber, a substitute bettor, told the The Baltimore sun that he was "assaulted" at Tuesday's training by an anonymous teammate who supported Durkin. Barber was already voiced against the culture with the program. The teammate he accused did not respond to the SunRequests for comments from, but several sources confirmed to the newspaper that an altercation had occurred.
Maryland linebacker, Tre Watson, called the report "factory" in a tweet Thursday afternoon. Watson's tweet was retweeted by Ellis McKennie, an offensive junior lineman who was a close friend of his former teammate Jordan McNair. On Thursday afternoon, McKennie denied these accusations more openly, saying the story was untrue.
On Wednesday, Billy Murphy, the McNair family's attorney, first alleged that a fight had broken out at Tuesday's training session when Lees hit Barber.
Junior defensive lineman Oseh Saine tweeted Wednesday night that Murphy's story about the fight was wrong.
Healthy weighed again Thursday, saying the fight "had everything to do with [Barber] choose one of the youngest players [sic]. "
Several other members of the Terps team also used social media to challenge the story. Some of the tweets are below:
Barber also said to the Sun that some of his teammates labeled him as a "whistleblower" who spoke to the investigators. He claimed that Durkin supporters had "provoked" him and thrown him footballs when the coach returned to training on Tuesday.
The bettor said the Sun this player held his arms behind his back as he repeatedly hit him in the face, causing him to bear a black eye, a dislocated shoulder and requiring sutures on his forehead.
"My shirt was bleeding," Barber said. "I had blood on my hands."
Barber said he was attacked around 6 pm towards the end of the practice and was followed by sports coaches. The bettor said the Sun that he spoke to a campus police officer. However, the campus police did not respond to the newspaper's request for comment.
"We take very seriously any case involving physical altercations," said sports director Damon Evans in a statement. "We are talking to the stakeholders and will take appropriate action based on the facts."
On Tuesday, Maryland's board of directors recommended the reinstatement of Durkin, which the university's president, Wallace Loh, agreed to. Several players would have left the team meeting during which Durkin's return had been announced.
After the growing public reaction, the university sacked Durkin on Wednesday night.
The questions about the management of the football program by Durkin began after McNair's death on June 13, two weeks after the collapse of heat stroke during a team training session. The university announced the opening of an investigation into the events surrounding the death of McNair.
On August 10, ESPN released a detailed detailed report describing a "poisonous culture" of intimidation and abuse in the Durkin program, which was put on administrative leave the next day. On August 14, Maryland announced the opening of an investigation and the committee took control of the investigation three days later.
Last week, the regents concluded the investigation, finding that the program had failed, but that it was not "toxic".
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