What we know about Maryland and the death of Jordan McNair

More details have emerged about Maryland’s mistakes in treating McNair, who died in June.

Maryland redshirt freshman offensive lineman Jordan McNair died June 13, two weeks after he struggled to recover during and after a team workout that involved a series of 110-yard sprints. McNair’s family announced in July that the cause of his death was heatstroke.

The fallout led Maryland to open two investigations, place head coach DJ Durkin on administrative leave, and part ways with top strength coach Rick Court.

On Sept. 21, Dr. Rod Walters, the training expert who led the investigation, released detailed findings about how Maryland treated McNair.

Maryland had already admitted wrongdoing. In a press conference on Aug. 14, Loh and athletic director Damon Evans acknowledged errors by Maryland that led to McNair’s death.

“Some of our policies and protocols do not conform to best practices,” Loh said. He added “the university accepts legal and moral responsibility.”

Walters added more detail. Some of what he said:

• “Rapid recognition, rapid assessment, rapid cooling, and rapid advanced care” are supposed to come within 30 minutes of someone showing heatstroke symptoms. Maryland didn’t meet that timeline, though McNair’s presentation of symptoms was “atypical.”

• What McNair complained about while he remained conscious, according to documentation, was “things like back cramps, low back pain, cramping,” which don’t align with usual heatstroke symptoms. The running of 10 100-yard sprints also doesn’t suggest heatstroke.
• The school used inadequate cooling devices in treating McNair. He added that McNair’s core temperature was not taken.

• Maryland didn’t use cold-water immersion to treat McNair, because he was a “large person” and the staff worried about the feasibility of treating him that way.
• McNair passed the first seven of 10 planned 100-yard sprints.
• There wasn’t video of the workouts that led to McNair’s heatstroke. Walters’ team did use surveillance videos to see bits and pieces of the workout, including when they started and stopped.
• Walters interviewed six players, as well as the coaching and strength staff present.

The university system has another investigation ongoing into the operations of the program and its day-to-day culture. That one’s still going on.

On Aug. 11, following a report by ESPN that included allegations of an abusive culture inside the program, Maryland placed Durkin on administrative leave.

That’s the subject of the second investigation. The timeline on that probe remains unclear. Durkin remains on leave, and the school says it’ll wait until that investigation comes in to make staffing decisions, most notably the one about Durkin.

After the initial ESPN report, Maryland cut ties with Court, the football team’s head strength coach. He was the first staffer to leave as a result of this story.

Court reportedly reached a settlement with the school.

The workout before McNair’s death involved a series of 110-yard sprints on a day when the high in College Park was in the 80s.

Evans said Maryland didn’t properly follow its emergency response plan, including a delay in taking McNair’s temperature and giving him cold immersion treatment. Loh was specific that Maryland’s athletic training staff — and not its coaching staff — erred on May 29.

The Diamondback, Maryland’s independent student newspaper, reviewed 911 recordings and a first-responder incident report that the paper said “suggest medical personnel did not immediately recognize the severity of McNair’s condition.” 911 tapes obtained by the Baltimore Sun indicated McNair was “unable to control his breath” after the workout. McNair was a listed 6’4 and 325 pounds.

A state medical examiner reportedly did not perform an autopsy after McNair died. The school hasn’t commented on the cause of death. Only McNair’s family has.

The known rough timeline from May 29, via Maryland blog Testudo Times:

4:15 p.m. — Workouts begin; team does 15-20 minutes of dynamic workout.

Approximately 4:30-4:35 p.m. — Conditioning tests consisting of 10 110-yard sprints begins.

After conditioning (time undisclosed) — Training staff notices McNair was having some difficulty recovering upon completion of the tests; training staff takes McNair inside football team house for “further observation and continued treatment.”

5:57 p.m. — 911 is called, unidentified caller reports that McNair is “hyperventilating” and “unable to control his breath.”

6:02 p.m. — Ambulance arrives with first-responders.

Approximately 6:07 p.m. — A first responder relays to dispatchers that there is a “male patient with seizure.”

6:08 p.m. — A paramedic crew is on its way to the scene.

6:36 p.m. — McNair arrives at Washington Adventist Hospital, in Takoma Park, per the county’s report.

Later that night — McNair is airlifted to R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.

A current player told ESPN that McNair was visibly exhausted at the workout.

“There were multiple people that said, ‘Wow, Jordan looks f---ed up, he doesn’t look all right,’” the player said. “We knew he was really exhausted, but we didn’t know he was in danger of his life. But that doesn’t mean that a medical professional shouldn’t know to put him in an ice tub.”

Maryland opened the doors in 2017 to a $196 million practice facility that includes an indoor field. But Maryland had McNair and other players running outdoors the day he fell ill.

The McNair family’s lawyer, Billy Murphy, told ESPN that a lawsuit was “likely” coming. McNair’s family has unequivocally called for Durkin’s firing.

Durkin attended the workout on May 29, the school has said. A handful of players and their parents have defended him in public, alongwith some anonymous boosters.

It remains unclear whether there’s video of the workout that led to McNair’s death. Evans didn’t answer a question about that at the end of the Aug. 14 presser.

ESPN released its report on Maryland’s “toxic” football culture on Aug. 10. That led to Durkin’s exit and led to the second investigation.

Reporters Heather Dinich, Tom VanHaaren, and Adam Rittenberg detailed a list of stories shared with them by current and former players and others close to the program. Their reporting is worth reading in full, but some of the most notable items:

-There is a coaching environment based on fear and intimidation. In one example, a player holding a meal while in a meeting had the meal slapped out of his hands in front of the team. At other times, small weights and other objects were thrown in the direction of players when [strength coach Rick] Court was angry.

-The belittling, humiliation and embarrassment of players is common. In one example, a player whom coaches wanted to lose weight was forced to eat candy bars as he was made to watch teammates working out.

-Extreme verbal abuse of players occurs often. Players are routinely the targets of obscenity-laced epithets meant to mock their masculinity when they are unable to complete a workout or weight lift, for example. One player was belittled verbally after passing out during a drill.

-Coaches have endorsed unhealthy eating habits and used food punitively; for example, a player said he was forced to overeat or eat to the point of vomiting.

When McNair died, Evans was only Maryland’s interim athletic director. He then got the permanent job, before ESPN’s reporting came out.

Later in June, Maryland gave Evans the long-term athletic directorship and signed him to a six-year contract worth at least $720,000 per year.

Maryland opened its football season against Texas on Sept. 1.

While it mulls a potential lawsuit against the school, McNair’s family has started the Jordan McNair Foundation in his honor.

The foundation says it “seeks to diminish the occurrence of heat-related illnesses and improve player safety.”

“Our plans did not include his death,” Jordan’s father, Martin McNair, wrote in a letter on the foundation’s website. “Our plans included something more. Our plans included him. But God had other plans. Jordan gave us 19 great years, and we will miss him. He was a great son, grandson, cousin, nephew, brother, friend, student, roommate and teammate.”

When the university system shared results of Walters’ report on Sept. 21, it said the McNair family had approved the release of the information in it.

Maryland has honored McNair in a few ways during the season.

Two of McNair’s friends on the offensive line, Ellis McKennie and Johnny Jordan, said Aug. 20 that the team would wear helmet decals with McNair’s No. 79, plus:

McKennie said the team will wear No. 79—McNair’s number—decals on their helmets every game of the season and already have moments of silence planned for the season opener against Texas and when Temple comes to College Park. McKennie also announced the creation of a Jordan McNair scholarship that will be given to one Maryland player a year.

“This season Jordan’s spirit will be living within each and every one of us,” McKennie said. “Every play we make, every snap we take will be in Jordan’s honor.”

Jordan then announced that no player will wear the No. 79 until after McNair would have graduated in 2020. McNair will also be honored on senior day that season with the rest of his class. On top of that, McNair’s locker will be encased in glass in Gossett Team House, and will move over to Cole Field House with the rest of the team. The offensive line room in Cole will also be in Jordan McNair’s name.

The team lined up in a missing-man formation and took a delay of game to honor McNair on its first play of the season. Texas declined the penalty yardage.

We’ll update this post as more information becomes available.