Knowing heat is a danger, football coaches focus on player safety after colleague acquitted

Coaches focus on safety after colleague acquitted

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Bart Curtis knows running and conditioning are part of preparing football players for a game.

But, Curtis, the coach at Mishawaka, Ind., High School for 19 years and president of the Indiana Football Coaches Association, also knows that it can go too far.

“You’re balancing a fine line,” Curtis said. “I think all coaches are aware and try to do a great job and be aware of the conditions and go accordingly.”

Coaches like Curtis are putting even more effort into monitoring players during practice and games after one of their own, a former Kentucky head football coach, was charged with reckless homicide and wanton endangerment stemming from the collapse and death of a player.

A jury in Louisville on Thursday acquitted former Pleasure Ridge Park coach David Jason Stinson, 37, of both charges. The case stemmed from 15-year-old Max Gilpin’s death from heat stroke, sepsis and multiple organ failure. Gilpin, a sophomore offensive lineman, went down after running sprints at the end of a practice on Aug. 20, 2008, when the heat index and temperature were 94. He died three days later at a Louisville hospital.

From 1998 through 2008, 26 college and high school football players died from heat stroke, Dr. Fred Mueller, director of the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research at the University of North Carolina wrote in a report released last year.

“When you put equipment on kids and there is heat, there’s always a risk,” said John Erickson, executive director of the Minnesota State High School Coaches Association and a coach and official for 35 years.

Minnesota has had heat rules in place for high school athletes for nearly two decades.

“We’ve been ahead of the ball on that,” Erickson said.

Nationally, any ripple effects from Stinson’s case will depend on the rules different states have in place for hot weather for their athletes, Erickson said. Erickson said states with strict rules for practicing in the heat likely won’t make changes, but states with looser or no rules may take a second look before another case lands in court.

“Everybody tries to blame, blame, blame,” Erickson said. “There’s no coach I know of that has gone into the profession to hurt kids.”

But, Jefferson County Commonwealth’s Attorney David Stengel, whose office prosecuted Stinson, said coaches don’t need to set out to hurt children to be held accountable. Stengel argued that failing to take steps to protect players can result in legal issues, and he said coaches should be aware that any future deaths stemming from a practice will be investigated and prosecuted if the circumstances warrant.

“I think everybody is on notice that it could be considered a crime and is considered a crime,” said Stengel, who was disappointed with the jury’s verdict in Stinson’s case. Jurors have declined to be interviewed about their decision.

Stengel said Stinson pushed the players beyond reason, then failed to watch how the players were reacting. Once Gilpin went down, Stinson didn’t use the available equipment to properly resuscitate Gilpin and the school lacked some of the necessary items to aide players in distress, Stengel said. Schools should have the proper equipment and coaches should know how to use it, Stengel said.

“If they don’t want to do that, they can answer to the grand jury,” Stengel said.

Stinson’s lawyers did not return a message on Friday. During closing arguments in the trial, defense attorney Alex Dathorne said Stinson ran the same type of football practice as many coaches around the country. Dathorne also said while Stinson was talking to nearly 100 other players when Gilpin collapsed, the assistant coaches who did see the teen fall rendered aide as best they could.

“What’s wrong with his assistant coaches treating somebody?” Dathorne asked. “If he’s being attended to … let them treat.”

Curtis, whose high school is about 10 minutes from the University of Notre Dame in northern Indiana, said coaches generally react as best they can when players get hurt.

“We try to do what is right for our kids and still try to get your kids ready to play football” Curtis said. “Obviously, that was a unique situation (in Kentucky). You feel for coach Stinson, you feel for the family. It’s just a tragic thing.”

Gilpin’s parents also have a civil suit pending against Stinson and several other school officials. That case is set for trial in February. Jefferson County Public Schools spokeswoman Lauren Roberts said Stinson, who has not spoken publicly since the verdict, will meet with school district officials next week about returning to the classroom and possibly a coaching position.