As The Big Ten Turns: Maryland And You
[Bryan Fuller]
This week in Big Ten programs one-upping each other in a race to the bottom: DJ Durkin should be fired into space. Full stop. There is no planet on which the Jordan McNair incident happens in a program constructed to value human beings, or even competently exercise:
"Our preliminary investigation reveals there is an unexplained one-hour time period when nothing significant was done to avoid the complications of heatstroke," Murphy said. "Although there is some evidence they allegedly tried to cool him down, he should have been iced immediately. He presented at the hospital with a temperature of 106, which means he was not cooled down.
"We're very concerned about the unexplained one hour between the time of the seizure and hyperventilating that was observed by a coach, and what happened in that remaining hour before the EMT people were actually called. This points to an utter disregard of the health of this player, and we are extraordinarily concerned that the coaches did not react appropriately to his injury."
That's a soon-to-be plaintiff's lawyer but given the explosive revelations about the Maryland program from many different anonymous sources, it's a plaintiff's lawyer about to be on the right side of a case.
[After THE JUMP: local relevance.]
ESPN's story detailing the "toxic culture" in College Park has what seems like at least six sources and is damning in its detail. It beggars belief that it's a conspiracy to paint Maryland in bad light and is summed up like so:
A former Maryland staff member said: "I would never, ever, ever allow my child to be coached there."
Unfortunately for the topics this blog covers, Durkin was employed by the University of Michigan. He was the defensive coordinator for Harbaugh's first year, and Jabrill Peppers went on the record about Durkin in the aftermath of the above:
"It's just the way he goes about getting the most out of his players," Peppers said. "Me being from where I'm from, I didn't like it but at the end of the day I knew what the overall goal was.
"The way I would describe it, it's kind of like bully coaching. I don't think he meant anything by it -- it's just kind of how it comes off."
"His tactics were different," Peppers said. "I felt extreme at times. But I'm just as shocked reading all the other stuff that's going on now. We thought he was only like that because it was his first time coaching us.
"He's a defensive coordinator, so he's just trying to get us to buy in to how he wants his defense to play. I thought that maybe once he became a head coach that he would calm down a little bit. Become more of a people person. A players' coach."
So it's clear Durkin was a dick even relative to often-dickish football coaches. It doesn't seem like it went anywhere near the culture at Maryland, but Harbaugh was familiar with Durkin after working with him at Stanford so either Durkin lost the plot a bit in the intervening years or Harbaugh was fine with Durkin's approach. Hopefully it's the former—and time under Will Muschamp might do that to you—but it's probably the latter. Harbaugh is not a player's coach; stories of his players getting sick of him are common.
That's not to say anything approximating the Maryland stuff was happening in Ann Arbor. There have been incidents of injured players feeling overlooked; Drake Harris probably thinks he got a raw deal. At the same time Michigan was more or less openly pleading with Lavert Hill to practice ever last year and that 1) apparently didn't work and 2) didn't prevent Hill from playing. Nobody forced Hill back onto the practice field even if they thought his injuries were of the minor variety. Instead they bitched about it in the media some. I'll take that.
It's highly likely that Durkin was restrained in what he wanted to do by the overall culture of the programs he was in and only let his freak flag fly once he got a head coaching job, but we don't know. We can suspect, though: I don't think a team operating like Maryland was going to let Amazon do a docuseries on them even if the school had final approval.
Unfortunately, Harbaugh's answer when asked about this stuff was weak and typical of the genre:
Asked whether Durkin's coaching style at Michigan ever gave him cause for concern, Harbaugh replied: "I can't speak for any other coach or any other program, other than my own."
They're asking about your program though?
I much prefer the Scott Frost style of dealing with these things. When Nebraska had a rhabdo incident just after Frost's hire he explained what happened in a forthright manner.
Full quote from Nebraska coach Scott Frost on two players being hospitalized with rhabdo. He takes full responsibility and explains what happened. #huskers pic.twitter.com/fcLoRdlFlV
— Sam McKewon (@swmckewonOWH) January 30, 2018
You might not believe him... but I more or less believe him. Frost acts like there is nothing to hide and then there is nothing to hide. That is never going to be Harbaugh's approach—we're lucky to get an updated roster—and there is an old-school approach he takes that is inevitably going to leave some pissed off people in his wake. Whether that rises to a level of offense is in the eye of the beholder.
It does seem like Harbaugh realized the mistake he made by hiring a brick-dumb yelly guy who'd never really been his own man (being DC under Muschamp is being Assistant To The DC). When it came time to replace Durkin, Harbaugh found a brilliant yelly guy who'd turned scrap into excellent defenses for decades. Don Brown seems universally beloved both inside and outside the program. So we've got that going for us.
August 20th, 2018 at 2:04 PM ^
I wish Harbaugh had addressed the Durkin situation directly. His non-response response had the whiff of covering for Durkin and "protecting the shield" as it were.
I also wish that someone in the room had asked a follow-up in the line of Brian's comment - "Did you ever witness such behavior from Durkin during his time here at Michigan?"
August 20th, 2018 at 2:58 PM ^
My first instinct when Harbaugh said that was that there was probably a non-disparagement clause in the separation agreement. Pretty standard stuff.
August 20th, 2018 at 3:49 PM ^
Just in general, an investigation is ongoing at another school in your conference. As much as we want him to say something so we can all unclutch our pearls, his answer is appropriate, if not altogether satisfying.
Once they wrap up the investigation and do what they do with Durkin (I can only assume fire him into the sun), I can see Harbaugh elaborating on how Durkin was here if asked directly, and I hope he does.
August 20th, 2018 at 5:53 PM ^
I'll give Harbaugh credit; any other answer than the one he gave would have made it a much bigger story and distraction for the team.
Maybe that's his sole calculation in not answering the question.
August 23rd, 2018 at 10:17 AM ^
Additionally,
while I don't like the lack of transparency, hasn't UM flat out told guys who wanted to play that they weren't medically eligible? Guys who they could have used? The guy who retired from Western comes to mind but my memory isn't clear.
August 20th, 2018 at 2:05 PM ^
Great opinion post. I whole-heartedly agree except that I'm not convinced "realized the mistake he made by hiring a brick-dumb yelly guy who'd never really been his own man". I certainly hope that's the case, but it's hard to identify that when Durkin left for a HC job. Would be a lot easier sell if it had been more of a lateral move.
August 20th, 2018 at 2:05 PM ^
Thanks for being willing to call out our program. This is the type of stuff that (hopefully -- ah who am I kidding) neuters irrational fandom before it starts.
It's important though, so thanks for it.
August 20th, 2018 at 2:05 PM ^
Scott Frost, much like his surnamesake, took the road less traveled. And that has made all the difference.
August 20th, 2018 at 2:26 PM ^
So you are allowed to send your players to the hospital but if you craft your apology well you are a great guy?
It's ok to think football's culture is barbaric and a little nuts but it's the choosing of sides between heroes and villains based on the slightest of differences that has me perplexed.
August 20th, 2018 at 2:39 PM ^
It has nothing to do with the apology and more to do with being transparent and actually explaining the situation. It feels a lot easier to take someone at their word when they fully explain what happened. The question of whether or not Frost is lying or withholding key pieces of information is a different issue...
August 20th, 2018 at 2:44 PM ^
Why are you bending over backwards to defend a coach whose approach led to one of his players dying? As in, actual death.
August 20th, 2018 at 3:18 PM ^
Because we don't have evidence his approach lead to death, but he has already been convicted. How many of these stories have to be retracted before people pause before stoning the accused to death?
I believe the toxic culture stuff is bullshit and goes on almost everywhere. It's football culture which may be bad in your eyes but talk about it as a whole.
The Mcnair facts are coming from the family's lawyer.
I have no idea how Maryland has handled this, but I would be shocked in this day and age that after his death there was not a full investigation that was already done or still being conducted. If they didn't then surely the Mcnair's have every right to get one and sue the living shit out of Maryland if they acted wrongly.
August 20th, 2018 at 3:33 PM ^
"no evidence his approach lead to death"?!?
There's a whole report detailing the inadequate nonactions taken by his staff led to his death and multiple reports he created this toxic environment.
Yes it is true we don't have his side of the story, but what would exonerate him? "everybody does it" is BS, and not true. I work with many ATs, many of them who've worked for D1 programs, and they'd never let this occur.
August 20th, 2018 at 7:07 PM ^
Former NCAA D1 S&C coach here - killing a player via heatstroke is 100% related to an approach. I've run and lifted guys to exhaustion, pushing them, etc. While doing that, you (and the training staff) continually monitor for signs of physical distress beyond the activity simply being hard. I've told guys who were exhausted and in exertion related pain to suck it up and keep going. I've also pulled players out or stopped conditioning all together if the conditions (heat index, wind chill, etc) were unsafe. You get the best out of the players by having them trust you that you are looking out for them both by pushing them to be great and by protecting their health and safety. Never any judgements, reprimands, or recriminations if I have to pull a player out. Certainly no yelling/screaming - if I have to remove a player, they've already given more than they are physically capable of - how could you ask for more?
August 21st, 2018 at 1:50 AM ^
The Maryland president and AD have already admitted the staff and trainers failed Jordan McNair. This isn't just the lawyer.
The friggin school isn't even taking your stance by saying that there is a lack of evidence that the approach led to his death. The very institution with the most to lose (many millions of dollars and incalculable reputation damage) are saying, in fact, that the approach very much did lead to death.
August 20th, 2018 at 3:12 PM ^
Woah woah woah, what's all this about Robert Frost being a bad guy?
That yellow wood seems scary from my POV.
August 20th, 2018 at 4:22 PM ^
I guess he took the road more traveled by after all...
August 20th, 2018 at 3:15 PM ^
@Ziff72 A lot of this going on. There's certainly selective outrage. But you ask, if Penn State happens at Baylor, is the outrage the same? It seemed to be, at least here at Mgo, so I don't know if that's it. And despite Durkin's lackluster effort in the 2015 OSU game, not many people seemed to have an issue with him until this happened.
August 20th, 2018 at 3:41 PM ^
It's never good to send your players to the hospital. HOWEVA, if one does go to the hospital providing the details on why, what your thinking was, and how you'll be sure not to do it again is beneficial.
Frost said "The workout was X. We were being careful by planning Y. When Z happened, our response was to..."
Picture Durkin's statement: One of our players had a seizure and convulsions after (I don't know the details, but describing the workout). He appeared to be having symptoms of heat stroke. We let him lay on the turf for 1 hour prior to calling EMS.
The whole university didn't do anything for two months after a kid died.
August 20th, 2018 at 3:59 PM ^
I pointed this out earlier, but local news reported that the team doctors were called prior to EMS being called. The timeline is still uncertain and obviously McNair should still be alive, but I don’t think it’s fair to say that they just left him on the floor without any assistance. I’m hoping more facts come out to that may help give the family closure. Regardless, several people need to be fired, including Durkin.
August 20th, 2018 at 2:05 PM ^
Very concerned about this, I don't ever want to see anything like that happen at Michigan (or anywhere else obviously).
Also I think I like Scott Frost now? I am confused...
August 20th, 2018 at 7:24 PM ^
His response was perfect. Forthcoming, accepting blame, and even elaborating on things he had no need to elaborate on. He did a good job with that. Let's hope he coaches more poorly.
August 20th, 2018 at 2:09 PM ^
Well... this explains a lot.
August 20th, 2018 at 2:12 PM ^
Is there any benefit to Harbaugh or UM by answering though?
The media or public may want to hear it, but what's the point of saying it to the media? If he's approached by attorneys, then I'd expect him to be more forthcoming.
August 20th, 2018 at 2:19 PM ^
Yes, I'd think so. A non-answer almost looks incriminating to Michigan because then people start to ask "Well, were you ok with this type of behavior at Michigan? Did this happen at Michigan? Why are you being dodgy about this?"
August 20th, 2018 at 3:13 PM ^
Yeah, but there's speculation or they will parse every word he says. It's probably better to be less interesting. What if he wasn't "prepared for the question" and took a page from the Urban Meyer book of speaking to the media? I think coaches will start to say less and less and I don't think anything is wrong with that. It isn't just coaches btw, but any public figure runs the risk of inciting up to half the country over nearly anything they say/post.
August 20th, 2018 at 3:22 PM ^
Agree. There is no upside to commenting on this. His comments have no bearing on the outcome so why should anyone care. He can't save his job by saying he's great and he would be firing himself if he said he was a lunatic. All his comments will do is stoke the fire of the internet one way or another for 3 days.
August 21st, 2018 at 1:58 AM ^
You only have to be worried about saying less and less if the truth is bad and you don't want to admit it or you don't want to lie to cover up that truth. Full stop. There are no exceptions for anyone.
August 20th, 2018 at 2:23 PM ^
I agree with this, and it was my first thought as well. He is not protecting anyone by not answering the question this way. Harbaugh has to answer everything so bland and off kilter since the press puts words in his mouth. Look at the chicken comment thing for crying out loud... It is sad that the media makes it so difficult to get the facts out without spin to get traffic.
***this was a response to the first comment***
August 20th, 2018 at 2:16 PM ^
The best thing that could happen would be for Durkin to be tried and face jail time. That's the only thing that's going to get through the CTE addled brains of a lot of coaches.
These schools also have to have medical professionals on site at all times during physical activity who do not report to the athletic department. That's not going to solve every problem seeing as there's some schools where the leadership of the overall university are co-opted by the athletic department in unacceptable ways, but it will help keep this from happening at many schools.
August 20th, 2018 at 2:20 PM ^
Durkin should go to jail because the whole industry operates one way and his own President turned down the proposal you speak of?
Tough standards there.
August 20th, 2018 at 2:53 PM ^
If what the plaintiff's attorney alleges is true that the young man was forced to stay out in the heat while suffering from heat stroke for an entire hour, somebody ought to go to jail for that. That's manslaughter.
If that's an industry standard for dealing with heat, it's only going to change if the real world steps in and slaps that shit down.
August 20th, 2018 at 3:26 PM ^
That's not manslaughter; it's not the law to be able to recognize and treat the symptoms of heat stroke. Is it part of his or his staff's job? I should hope so and, if it's not, it damn-well better be soon and not just at Maryland but everywhere. Not to under-sell the situation but this should absolutely be a wake-up call to programs around the country and an opportunity to learn from this.
This isn't me defending Durkin, I just think you're reaching a little bit there.
August 20th, 2018 at 11:51 PM ^
Eh, it’s not quite that easy. What the law requires depends on the person. A doctor is required to recognize things that others are not. I’m not sure if that would reach up to Durkin, but an SC “expert” could be in trouble.
August 20th, 2018 at 3:28 PM ^
Plaintiff's attorney is the key phrase. If a guy was dying and the trainer forced him to keep working per the instructions of the head trainer then yes you could send the trainer to jail.
Do you really believe that is how it happened? Does that seem plausible that all his teammates watched this happen and did nothing and continue on?
August 20th, 2018 at 3:35 PM ^
"Does that seem plausible that all of his teammates watched this happen and did nothing and continued on?"
Yes, if the type of culture that is being described at Maryland is accurate that seems completely plausible and would probably be the most likely response from players who were often subjected to the same treatment as McNair.
I am on-board with a fair amount of what you are saying, but I think that you are kind of wondering into no-mans-land now. Multiple witnesses have said that other teammates and team personnel were "interlocking their legs" with his so that he could stay up right and finish the final sprint. That shit is crazy and any coaches and/or trainers who were present and either encouraged it or did nothing to stop it should be at least civilly, and possibly criminally liable.
August 20th, 2018 at 3:35 PM ^
The situation, as I understand it, is that the kid was seizing up so I don't think it was physically possible to force him to keep working. I think, and I'm no lawyer, the worst you'd be able to get stick might be criminal negligence.
Edit, I had not heard the interlocking legs part mentioned above ^
August 20th, 2018 at 2:17 PM ^
I'm a little surprised after the whole Free Press stretchgate thing that Brian is taking some shaky reporting and giving it full weight. I guess we will see.
The Mcnair situation willl play out with actual facts. No need for anyone to speculate.
As to the toxic culture and Durkin is a huge dick.
1. How come Durkin's recruiting was going better than their record? If the staff is full of dicks they couldn't recruit without success on the field. The players would give the scoop to recruits. If they did manage this large conspiracy to keep their dickness quiet then.....
2. Wouldn't a team with a "toxic" culture suffer massive losses in transfers? I've heard nothing to suggest a problem before.
We continue to have this clash of cultures. Football is brutal and when things don't go well you will have people with stories to tell. Coaches like this are romanticized when things go well and demonized when they don't.
Durkin coached under some of the biggest names in college football. You think he's doing anything that drastically different then what he learned. I'm pretty sure Alabama is not all sunshine and roses in the conditioning room.
Brian uses Frost as an example of how to handle it, but Frost is one misstep away from being with Durkin if one of those players had died.
It's good to hold these coaches to a high standard to protect the health of the kids but some perspective is needed. ESPN can target any team in the country and find ex players or staffers willing to give dirt on the team and spin it ugly.
August 20th, 2018 at 2:25 PM ^
just speculating, but to respond to your point 1, it was probably easy for Durkin to hide his style from the recruits before they were enrolled. And I don't think a lot of current players would be likely to say "dude's a bully, don't come here." could you imagine being the player who said that to a recruit and got found out? if durkin is crazy, you're probably afraid to cross him that way. also, the players they use in the recruiting efforts would be the ones who are the biggest fans of the program. in other words I think you could get away with hiding the dickishness from recruits pretty easy.
August 20th, 2018 at 2:31 PM ^
Word gets around to high school coaches and players especially with the internet nowadays that stuff is hard to contain. If I still concede your point wouldn't they all leave once they got there?
Their record sucks, nobody would blame them for leaving.
August 20th, 2018 at 4:38 PM ^
People often don't leave abusive situations. They don't have the best perspective on whether what they are experiencing is normal; they may buy into the charisma or power of the abuser; they may assume it will end or they will overcome; they may cling to the dream that put them where they are or think they are traitors for wanting out; they may fear repercussions (including social ones); they may believe they are stronger than they are. It's not surprising that players stayed around.
August 21st, 2018 at 2:26 AM ^
This guy above nailed your #2 ^^ and to add to both points:
1) Durkin had a ton of success under Meyer, Harbaugh and others so he did/does have on-field success to sell. One year of transition and one year of having every QB on his roster get hurt means he could still sell his prior success and the impending turnaround that he was surely selling.
2) Because of his track record and the guys he coached under, to the point above, an 18-year-old kid is probably just going to assume that's how college coaches are so why transfer? That was entirely normal to the young guys and to the older guys, they probably assumed, well, this must be what it takes to get better if this is what the Florida's and Michigan's are doing.
3) EVEN IF some guys were like, eh, I really don't like this, and I'm certain it'll be better elsewhere, the sit-out-for-a-year-rule is a really strong deterrent to transferring out of a program.
It's common in lots of situations to rationalize staying in an abusive situation rather than deal with change (which is something humans are extremely uncomfortable with - even moreso than abuse in many cases)
August 20th, 2018 at 3:02 PM ^
In what way is the reporting shaky? The only thing I've heard criticized is the use of anonymous sources, but, as many people have pointed out, this is far more of a whistleblower situation than "sources close to the program" fluff, which are kept anonymous for nonsensical reasons.
After Stretchgate, you immediately had people challenging not only the accuracy of the reporting but the reporters understanding of the situation itself. The only challenge to the reporting I've come across is Will Muschamp's crazy shouting.
August 20th, 2018 at 3:45 PM ^
Using anonymous sources to tell a bunch of stories about how football culture has bullies in it is ok I guess, but linking them to a story about a young man dying is manipulative.
Stories about guys getting their lunch thrown on the ground are stuff of legend if told 20 years from now if Maryland shocks the world and wins the Big Ten. It has nothing to do with the young man dying.
Have you ever heard the story of Bo Schmebechler grabbing Dan Dierdorf by the stomach and saying he was fat and he was his? Dan Dierdorf looks back on this fondly. If that exact story was in the Maryland piece it would be vilified.
Again, to be clear I'm not judging if it is right or wrong. I'm just saying that's how football is in general not just at Maryland.
August 20th, 2018 at 4:07 PM ^
In some cases, the anonymous sources were speaking directly about the workout that led McNair to collapse into seizures and later die.
"There's no way he finished on his own," one of the players at the workout told ESPN.
"There were multiple people that said, 'Wow, Jordan looks f---ed up, he doesn't look all right,'" the player said. "We knew he was really exhausted, but we didn't know he was in danger of his life. But that doesn't mean that a medical professional shouldn't know to put him in an ice tub."
Multiple sources said that after the 10th sprint finished, Wes Robinson, Maryland's longtime head football trainer, yelled, "Drag his ass across the field!"
A second player at the workout told ESPN: "Jordan was obviously not in control of his body. He was flopping all around. There were two trainers on either side of him bearing a lot of weight. They interlocked their legs with his in order to keep him standing."
In others, the surrounding stories gave context to illustrate that his death wasn't an anomaly, but part of a broader pattern of mistreatment that many stressed went beyond the expected norms of football programs in general. This use of anonymous sources seems entirely appropriate to give that context:
A former Maryland staff member said: "I would never, ever, ever allow my child to be coached there."
A second former staffer said that while he has seen and heard coaches curse at players, he'd never been on another coaching staff with this kind of philosophy. "The language is profane, and it's demeaning at times," he said. "When you're characterizing people in such derogatory and demeaning terms, particularly if they don't have a skill level you think they need to aspire to, or they may never get, then it's rough to watch and see because if it was your son, you wouldn't want anybody talking to your son that way."
"The way they coach us at Maryland, tough love -- it's really more tough than it is love," one former player said.
August 20th, 2018 at 3:38 PM ^
I think you (Ziff72) make several good points and tend to agree with your general tone on this. Here's a couple of my thoughts that I think everyone should consider.
1. Let's say that everything about this Maryland story is exactly the same except for one major fact: rather than dying, Jordan McNair has a full recovery at the hospital. ESPN still runs their expose claiming Maryland is out of control. Can you honestly say that you would feel the same way as you do today?
2. During the movie Miracle when you watched the scene where Herb Brooks skated his team into exhaustion as a punishment, were you appalled? Did you even consider for a second that maybe it was wrong? Even as his assistant coach tried to get him to stop?
August 20th, 2018 at 2:20 PM ^
There is a big difference between being a dick (or bully) coach and leaving a player who might be in serious trouble on the side of a practice field to die for an hour. There is ample evidence to suggest that Harbaugh can be the former at times, or least tolerates it from his assistants.
I don't think we have any evidence that he (or anyone on his staff) has ever done the latter. I would hope that the program has in place safeguards that take any and all decisions dealing with player safety out of the hands of the coaches and into the hands of trainers and medical professionals. We should have doctors and/or trainers at all practices / workouts, and they should have the authority to stop the practice or workout for any individual player at any time if they feel it necessary, with no questions asked from the coaching staff.
August 20th, 2018 at 2:21 PM ^
i'll reach back to harbaugh's media campaign after the peters thing at purdue, i'll say he cares about player safety, and maybe just enough to keep durkin's BS reigned in. also recall he said UM would be taking a lead role in addressing the issues with "standard of care."
“We are going to look at everything we are going to do for the visiting team, as it relates to a standard of care for the visitors. On multiple levels,” Harbaugh said. “It’s become apparent after going around to all the visiting schools in the last couple years that it’s a conscious effort of gamesmanship. … It is unsportsmanlike when you have locker rooms that are too small. They’re not heated or cooled properly. There’s no air conditioning in this case, such a tight, cramped environment.
“People walking by, they’re watching you dress. A number of urinals or bathrooms for players, I think there were two. There’s not even a private door around it. And then mainly the health and safety of the players. Very small space for a training room that had nothing different.
“This is no different than the facility I saw in 1986. I’m not putting this on Purdue. This needs to be addressed by the league and by the commissioner. We’re going to lead the way.”
That said, it's a little disturbing that Harbaugh brought him to UM after already working with him at Stanford. We've talked at length about how Meyer made this mistake bringing Zach Smith to OSU because it's not like people really change from stop to stop. Durkin was already a jerkbag at Stanford, was apparently one at UM, and it caught up to him at Maryland.
So although Harbaugh and the wider policies and standards at UM may have kept Durkin's crazy slightly at bay, I hope JH is doing a little soul searching on how he evaluates assistants and how being loyal to your network might cause trouble.
August 20th, 2018 at 2:44 PM ^
If Durkin was simply a dick as an assistant, then that's not a reason not to bring him along. A lot of football coaches are dicks. It became an issue when a player's health was put in jeopardy, but there's no evidence of that happening at Stanford or Michigan.
August 20th, 2018 at 2:34 PM ^
Just to balance the reporting.
"These accusations are false," Junior Punter Wade Lees told CBS affiliate WUSA-TV. "I really hope coach Durkin comes back to coach us ... because he's done all the hard work to getting us so close to succeeding."
Turner said he continues to support the university's football program.
"The program is not toxic," he told WUSA-TV, and mentioned that his son has not complained about anything to him. "It's a tough game and you gotta be tough."
"I'm behind Coach Durkin," Turner added. "Durkin did a lot to help bring my son up to be a man."
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