The University of Oregon's football strength and conditioning coach, Irele Oderinde, has been suspended for one month without pay after three players were hospitalized due to his intense workout regimen.
According to CBS News, the school announced that all future workouts have been modified and Oderinde will now report to director of performance and sports science Andrew Murray instead of coach Willie Taggart.
“I have visited with the three young men involved in the incidents in the past few days and I have been in constant contact with their families, offering my sincere apologies,” Taggart said in the statement. “As the head football coach, I hold myself responsible for all of our football-related activities and the safety of our students must come first. I have addressed the issue with our strength and conditioning staff, and I fully support the actions taken today by the university."
After six weeks away from football related activities, players began the off-season conditioning program last week that was led by Oderinde, but just a few days into it a few players began complaining about “muscle soreness as well as other symptoms of potential exercise-related injury.”
The Oregonian reported that the mother of one of the players said her son was diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis, a condition that occurs when muscle tissue breaks down and leaks into the blood stream- which can lead to kidney damage.
One of the players, Doug Brenner, has since been released from the hospital and the other two young men are said to be in good condition but the school will still be suspending Oderinde for his role in their hospitalization.
