The workout that ultimately killed Jordan McNair occurred a year ago as of this coming Wednesday. The turmoil his death inspired has largely left town, especially now that DJ Durkin is no longer the Terrapins' head coach. But the McNair family will be dealing with the fallout of Jordan's death for the rest of their lives, and on Thursday Maryland announced an important step to prevent another family from dealing with the reality the McNairs now live in.
Moving forward, Maryland's athletic medical staff -- its head team physician, athletic trainers, nutritionists and mental health professionals -- will no longer work under the umbrella of the athletics department. They will now be housed in the Division of Student Affairs in Maryland's University Health Center.
This is the final of the 20 recommendations made through an external safety review triggered by McNair's death.
"Our priority in the last year has been implementing the recommendations from the external safety review to safeguard the health and well-being of our student-athletes," AD Damon Evans said. "This plan will further enhance the physician-directed, autonomous care our student-athletes receive and advance our efforts to provide comprehensive, integrated, patient-centered care for our student-athletes."
This news follows a similar announcement earlier this week from Kansas, who revealed that their strength staff will now report to the University of Kansas Health System and Lawrence Memorial Hospital.
Maryland is looking for a new team physician, who will oversee the entire medical staff and report to UHC, not the athletics director.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.