The head strength and conditioning coach of the Maryland Terrapins’ football program resigned from his post in light of the allegations of abuse reported by ESPN.
While Court did not admit to any wrongdoing in a letter posted to Twitter Tuesday, he said he was “stepping down to allow the team to heal and move forward.”
As many of you know, I resigned yesterday as the head strength coach 4 @TerpsFootball. I wanted 2 thank Coach Durkin & all of my colleagues & players for their support, love & commitment. I am blessed for the relationships I have built and wish nothing but success for our team. pic.twitter.com/llT2HABKUC
— Coach Court‼️ (@courtstrength) August 14, 2018
“Jordan McNair’s life and death are what we must all remember to put first as we face the future,” Court wrote. “What did we learn? How will we improve? What can we do to pay tribute to Jordan’s life?”
The university provided preliminary findings from the independent investigation into Court’s death Tuesday. Athletic director Damon Evans said that athletic training staff did not follow proper protocol for emergency response and did not identify or treat McNair’s heat illness, which led to his death two weeks after he collapsed at a team workout.
An investigative report ESPN published Friday included allegations that Court was responsible for a “toxic” culture of fear and intimidation in Maryland’s football program. Anonymous players said Court threw small weights in the direction of players, knocked a plate of food out of a player’s hands and called an injured player a “p——” after he was made to compete in tug-of-war singlehandedly against the entire defensive backs unit.
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