Coach facing charges in Louisville

[fishfearme]

I just wanted to get some opinions on the high school coach facing charges in the death of one of his players. Anybody got comments?

[ELA]

He may be guilty of being liable in a civil court but I do not think this rises to the level of criminal negligence; however, I do not know the full facts of the case. From what has been reported, it does sound that he went too far at the end of practice but I promise you this same sort of thing happens every year at schools across Tennessee. We have talked about this very thing before on this website and on various radio shows. It comes up every summer just before two-a-days. What we don't know is if the boy was already suffering from dehydration from the previous practice, if he had had something to eat before practice and if he had been properly hydrated before practice (12 hours back). There are more factors that the medical professionals must take into consideration before they testify in front of a jury. Anytime you have a student-athlete die on the field, court, or diamond; coaches do face some tough questions and civil liability is always a possibility. I hope this criminal case does not start something bad for football coaches and high schools across the nation. As a coach, I can promise you this man is living a total nightmare for what has happened! No coach wants one of his players to suffer like this or to die while under his/her supervision! Nothing can be done to bring the young man back and coaches and schools across the nation are taking another look at what they do in light of this case... the bottom line is where do we go from here and at this time I do not think putting the man in prison accomplishes anything!

[Nitro14]

I just wanted to get some opinions on the high school coach facing charges in the death of one of his players. Anybody got comments?

 

How's it going "fishfearyou"? This is a touchy subject. I don't think any coach wants to see any player suffer injury or illness. It's a tough sport and you have to get the players in top shape. I pretty sure coaches are very educated about heat stress etc. If the coach gave them water breaks regularly and done everything he was supposed to, then it's no ones fault and certainly a horrible tragedy.

[fishfearme]

He may be guilty of being liable in a civil court but I do not think this rises to the level of criminal negligence; however, I do not know the full facts of the case. From what has been reported, it does sound that he went too far at the end of practice but I promise you this same sort of thing happens every year at schools across Tennessee. We have talked about this very thing before on this website and on various radio shows. It comes up every summer just before two-a-days. What we don't know is if the boy was already suffering from dehydration from the previous practice, if he had had something to eat before practice and if he had been properly hydrated before practice (12 hours back). There are more factors that the medical professionals must take into consideration before they testify in front of a jury. Anytime you have a student-athlete die on the field, court, or diamond; coaches do face some tough questions and civil liability is always a possibility. I hope this criminal case does not start something bad for football coaches and high schools across the nation. As a coach, I can promise you this man is living a total nightmare for what has happened! No coach wants one of his players to suffer like this or to die while under his/her supervision! Nothing can be done to bring the young man back and coaches and schools across the nation are taking another look at what they do in light of this case... the bottom line is where do we go from here and at this time I do not think putting the man in prison accomplishes anything!

 

I think the jury in this case needs to look into the offseason conditioning program and if this young man participated in it. Today too many kids sit around playing Xbox instead of actually working on their game. I don't know if this is the case here but the report I got was a heat index of 94 degrees, that is not too hot in my book for someone in good physical shape.

[66in74]

Such a tragic situation.

My prayers and thoughts go out to the Athlete's family, fellow students and to the Coach and Coaches as well.

 

I don't think criminal charges are in order here. Maybe a civil case.

 

Why was an autopsy not performed?

The Mother has reported that the Athlete was taking Creatine as late as July and was also taking a medication called Adderell for ADHD.

Could these be a contributing factor?

 

It has also been reported that the Athlete's Dad was at the practice. His Mother and Step Father are the ones pushing for prosecution and also filed civil charges.

 

No one is going to win in this case.

 

Good information about the case is at the Courier-Journal in Lexington KY.

[wpfast]

I pretty sure coaches are very educated about heat stress etc.

 

 

Thats so far from the truth...

 

Most schools have athletic trainers who look after this stuff. If anything, it's these professionals who monitor the heat index and other factors in the heat.

 

As a former athletic trainer, I have had many discussions with football coaches on heat index and practice times.

 

100% of the time, these coaches have ignored my recommendations of not practicing and moving their times. Each and every time, I have stated to them that the conversation is to be documented and it's their arse!

 

The NATA (National Athletic Trainers' Association) has many informational brochures out there, but stating that all coaches are prepared and educated on heat illness and even heat index and relative humidity is just ignorant.

 

I'm sure there are a lot of coaches around here that have dodged bullets many times on this same issue. It's one thing for a player to feel ill in the heat, and it's another thing to die from it.