Rhabdo at Oregon

[Harshy]

Hey Rip,

Three Oregon football players got rhabdo from the workout run by their new strength and conditioning coach. The university has suspended the coach for a month without pay. While I agree with punishing the coach, shouldn't he be straight fired for gross negligence? Anyone at this level of coaching should not program a workout that takes an athlete anywhere near rhabdo.

This happened at Iowa in 2011 as well, and that coach gets accolades for developing athletes...

[Mark Rippetoe]

Fascinating. Some S&C coaches at the D1 level are incompetent. This is a groundbreaking development.

[TimWeis75]

Part of the "workout" was pushups and up-downs for an hour without rest.

Considering the benefits of such a workout, I'm pretty sure this was a hazing ritual disguised as a workout.

[Mark Rippetoe]

That's okay. Oregon is not really a "sports" school anyway.

[Mark E. Hurling]

That's okay. Oregon is not really a "sports" school anyway.

Oh tsk-tsk, Rip. The wine and cheese crowd of the Pacific Northwest certainly consider it to be one. After all, Nike and Prefontaine are products of the Ducks. For what that's worth.

Also, when you consider the hooplah over even ONE football player's demise in preseason practice, it's amazing that this hasn't created a bigger stir. Albeit nonfatal but more widespread.

[thras]

I have a friend who went back to college after a baseball career in the minors. He was still college eligible, and he played football as the oldest guy on the team. He had fun, and wound up with a degree from a very good school for free. So whenever I read a story like the above, I wonder if training takes a bigger toll on older athletes than actually playing their sport does? With a more conservative training program -- at the professional level, of course, not college -- could the upper end of a football player's longevity be higher than it is today? In fact, even at the college level, are we seeing more injuries and sub-peak performance because of loopy training programs?

[Cliff]

"However, a source told ESPN.com that the workouts weren't as strenuous as The Oregonian reported, indicating for example that players haven't started using weights yet." I would like to know the source for this quote. How does one become a strength and conditioning coach at D1 level? Bunch of certifications in their title?

[Harshy]

I'm pretty sure this was a hazing ritual disguised as a workout.

It continues to amaze me for some reason why D1 coaches think this type of activity provides proper motivation to their athletes. Can we cut the Bob Knight crap some day?

[Christopher Anderson]

I haven't read much on this, but I heard that this was a newer coach of theirs. If so could this possibly be a product of him trying to "set the tone" of him being a coach to respect and fear as a BA? I've had coaches like that before and it is the worst way to approach a situation as a new member of the staff.

[Harshy]

I heard that this was a newer coach of theirs.

He came in with the new head football coach. Not a great way to endear yourself to your new players.

"However, a source told ESPN.com that the workouts weren't as strenuous as The Oregonian reported, indicating for example that players haven't started using weights yet." I would like to know the source for this quote.

I think this was one of the other players.

The argument that not using weights means it isn't strenuous is ridiculous. Doing crap like this caused rhabdo in the 2015 CrossFit games where the women were dropping like flies doing Murph in the heat. Had to look up what Murph is... 1 mile run, 100 "pull-ups", 200 push-ups, 300 bodyweight squats, 1 mile run. Similar stuff to Oregon's workout.