If any of the key figures in Maryland’s sports administration survive the twin debacles of McNair’s death and the hiring of counsel with school funds to defend two players accused of sexual misconduct, even I, as cynical as I am, will be surprised.
Boy, that Urban Meyer coaching tree is really something these days.
Filed under Big Ten Football
I swear, it’s almost like Maryland resents Ohio State sucking all the oxygen out of the media tent.
Before he resigned from his post as the University of Maryland’s athletic director, Kevin Anderson intervened in a sexual misconduct case involving two student-athletes, which a university statement said showed a “serious lack of judgment.”
In 2017, Anderson authorized the use of $15,000 in funds controlled by the athletic department for legal representation of two football players accused of sexual misconduct. Later, he did not follow orders from the university administration to cut ties with the lawyers, according to the statement, and the administration conducted an internal investigation into his actions.
The information about the payment, which was obtained by The Diamondback through a public information request and interviews with sources familiar with the matter, provides details about the months leading up to Anderson’s departure from the university, which had previously been shrouded in mystery.
It gets better.
The attorneys began representing the players in June 2017. About two months later, then-executive athletic director Damon Evans — who had not been consulted in the decision to hire the attorneys — notified the administration of the payment, and the university president’s office directed Anderson to cut ties with the attorneys, according to the statement. The next month, they learned he had not done so, prompting an internal investigation…
Anderson could not be reached by The Diamondback prior to publication. In comments to The Washington Post later Thursday night, Anderson said: “That report is inaccurate.”
Pffft… kids, running a student newspaper. What do you expect, right?
Um… not so fast, brother.
On August 29, 2017, university administration first learned that the then-Athletic Director directed the hiring of an attorney, who had been representing two student-athletes in a sexual misconduct case for approximately two months. The attorney had been promised funds controlled by the Athletic Department to represent the accused.
This was brought to the attention of the President’s Office immediately by the then-Executive Athletic Director after first learning of the arrangement when the lawyer submitted an invoice to the department. The President’s Office, the Office of General Counsel, the Athletic Compliance Office and the then-Executive Athletic Director were not involved in or consulted on the original decision made to hire and pay the lawyer. Protocols requiring General Counsel to retain outside counsel had not been followed in the hiring.
In response, the President’s Office immediately directed the then-Athletic Director to cut ties with the attorney.
NCAA bylaws allow member institutions to pay for legal counsel for proceedings that might affect a student-athlete’s eligibility to participate in intercollegiate athletics. However, the decision to hire this lawyer showed a serious lack of judgement in a sexual misconduct case, given the university’s commitment to a fair and impartial handling of all such matters.
On September 27, it came to the attention of the President’s Office that its previous instruction to cut ties with the attorney had not been followed. The President’s Office directed the Office of General Counsel to immediately launch an internal investigation to determine why this had happened.
A sexual misconduct scandal and a dead player, all in one summer. Helluva conference you’re running there, Delany.
Filed under Big Ten Football
Man, this is stirring.
The conference with a heart. Besides, Jim Delany’s too busy figuring out how to invest his bonus money to have time for crap like this.
Filed under Big Ten Football
Yeah, this seems ill-advised.
One year before University of Maryland football player Jordan McNair died after collapsing at a team workout, the school’s athletic department submitted a proposal that would have fundamentally changed how health care was delivered to athletes, a drastic overhaul aimed at better aligning the school with NCAA recommendations. But the plan was never implemented, its recommendations nixed by Maryland President Wallace D. Loh, according to three people with knowledge of the situation.
Kevin Anderson, Maryland’s athletic director at the time, sent a memo to Loh dated May 19, 2017, that spelled out the changes the athletic department aimed to make in its management of athlete injuries and illnesses, calling for the school to establish an independent medical care model. The memo, which was obtained by The Washington Post, also called for athletic trainers to report to the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore and to be autonomous from any influence by the school’s athletic department.
“This relationship also better aligns resources and expertise under one umbrella aimed at improving patient care, staff education and clinical research in the care of athletic conditions and injuries,” the memo read.
Loh rejected the proposal last August because he did not want to allow medical personnel decisions to be made by another institution, according to the three people who had direct knowledge of Anderson’s proposal and Loh’s response.
Another disclosure or two, and I figure every mesothelioma lawyer in the country will start running solicitation ads for Maryland players on late-night cable TV. It’ll be like shooting fish in a barrel.
Filed under Big Ten Football, The Body Is A Temple
Well, now.
What comfort it must bring those in charge of Maryland athletics to know Brett McMurphy has taken an interest.
Filed under Big Ten Football
If there’s one thing you can say about Corch and Ohio State, it’s that they’re a good fit for each other.
Filed under Big Ten Football, Urban Meyer Points and Stares
One thing about August — it gets easier to fill the chafing dishes.
