The attorney for the family of deceased Maryland player Jordan McNair wants coach D.J. Durkin to lose his job over what has happened at Maryland.
Billy Murphy, who is representing McNair’s family after the offensive lineman died of heat stroke suffered during a May workout, said Maryland’s coaching staff showed “absolute indifference” when the player began exhibiting signs of illness, and it should cost Durkin his job.
“No. 1, what he did, No. 2, what he didn’t do, and No. 3, the impact on this football program,” Murphy said, via Heather Dinich of ESPN.
Murphy added that the family may file a civil lawsuit stemming from McNair’s death, but it was likely no decision would be made until Maryland finishes its own internal investigation.
“Had this coaching staff done even minimal heatstroke training, they would have seen immediately that that’s what was going on,” Murphy said. “They would have iced him and called the ambulance immediately, but there was this unexplainable one-hour delay from the time that he had a seizure and the time the ambulance actually came. That’s really concerning.
“If this coaching staff knew rudimentary, from the internet, from any number of sources, what the symptoms of heatstroke were, Jordan would be alive today. There’s no question about it.”
Allegations have also emerged that Durkin and his staff cultivated a “toxic culture” at Maryland, and he has been placed on administrative leave while the school investigates.
