Plancher Trial Day 10: Former UCF Player Contradicts O'Leary

((HT: Orlando Sentinel/Limon))

Iliana Limon's must read of the Ereck Plancher trial continues with Day 10 disclosing another former University of Central Florida saying head coach George O'Leary would pull water from certain drills for what was termed "mental toughness."

Former wideout Brian Watters was one of five to testify on Day 10. Robert Jackson, the only certified athletic trainer on duty that day, said that he could not testify with certainty if water was inside the fieldhouse or not that day. Members of the Plancher family also testified on the emotional distress of the family.

Here's the O'Leary greatest hits from Day 9...
 

The trial is supposed to resume Monday morning with a tour of the UCF facility...

Plancher Trial Day 9: O'Leary Grilled...

((HT: Orlando Sentinel/Limon))

The Ereck Plancher trial continues in Orlando, and on Day 9 UCF Head Coach George O'Leary was ((pretty much)) ordered to take the stand despite the school's insistence that the coach's need to be present for his on-campus clinic superseded the trial and the judge's wishes...

So much for that idea...

O'Leary maintained that he did not order both water and training staff out of the training facility on the day that Ereck Plancher collapsed and eventually died.

The Orange County ME and two football players have said the opposite in open court and O'Leary was questioned for more than three hours on the stand Thursday.

Here's Limon's recap for Day 9...
 

The UCF approach seems to be to create enough confusion among the important personnel on campus to diffuse the Plancher family's case. Part of the testimony today was to create a "Yes, they did- No, they didn't" know among the training staff as to whether or not they all knew Plancher was diagnosed with sickle cell trait.

The Plancher family attorneys seem confident that their side of the case will wrap up Friday...

Plancher Trial Day 6: Teammate Testifies

((HT: Orlando Sentinel/Limon))

Week 2 of the Ereck Plancher trial had an ex-teammate on the stand relaying the events of the day Plancher dies from his perspective.

Wide receiver Anthony Davis testified that he recalled head coach George O'Leary telling trainers to leave the training facility and take water with them as they left. This was before Plancher collapsed during, what was termed by other UCF ex-players as "extra" workouts during a normal workout rotation...

From Limon:

Davis responded that O'Leary told the players before they gave their sworn statements "these people don't care about you" and to "keep it simple." Davis said Manny Messengeur, who currently works as O'Leary's personal assistant, was in the room while the attorney was taking the sworn statement. Davis said he didn't know Messengeur's exact role with the team at the time, but he recalled that he was friends with O'Leary. Davis said he was concerned anything he said during the sworn statements would be relayed to O'Leary.

"I had a stranger looking at me, monitoring what I am saying," Davis said.

He added that he never lied during any of his sworn statements.

Here's Limon's update...
 

The HQ thinks UCF is in so much trouble...

Plancher Trial Day 4: Cardiologist Says "Sickle Cell Trait" Killed Plancher

((HT: Orlando Sentinel, Limon))

A cardiologist and expert in sudden deaths testified that Ereck Plancher died from complications of sickle cell trait and could not have died from a heart problem.

Dr. Barry J. Maron said that there is no evidence that a cardiac problem killed the 19-year-old after a preseason workout.

Attorneys for the UCF Athletics Association are arguing that the undetected heart problem, fibromuscular dysplasia, caused Plancher's death on March 18, 2008. Attorneys for Plancher's parents say the athletics association is responsible for his death, thus the wrongful death suit...

"The death event is not only sudden, it's virtually instantaneous or within a few seconds because it's due to an arrhythmia," Maron said in testimony. "… [It] ends life right then. That's how it works."

Here's UCF spokesman Grant Heston on the day...
 

UCF Athletics Director Keith Tribble was also on the stand getting the standard amount of grilling from Plancher family attorney Steve Yerrid. They were the only two to testify on the day due to the contentious nature of the dueling legal teams.

Here's Yerrid's soundbite on the day...
 

Plancher Trial Day 2: Opening Statements

Any juror in a certain Orlando, Florida courtroom gets to figure out whether University of Central Florida football player Ereck Plancher died during a workout because coaches pushed him too hard knowing he had a medical condition diagnosed as sickle cell trait or whether it was from an unknown heart defect.

Attorneys for the Plancher family claim the university never told their son that he tested positive for sickle cell. They also say coaches and trainers didn't follow proper emergency procedures after Plancher collapsed at practice.

An attorney for UCF said he would show that Plancher died from a congenital heart defect following a "moderate practice."

Here was UCF head coach George O'Leary addressing the early questions brought about by investigations- specifically, one by Mark Fainaru-Wada at ESPN...
((HT: ESPN))


Fainaru-Wada's necessary reading indicated that the school was aware of the condition Plancher had. Those results are here...

He also interviewed two players who were present at the morning workout where Plancher collapsed. James Jamison described two additional drills that the team had never done previously- including a form of gassers wedged in the normal conditioning drills. It was during that section that Plancher collapsed.

A lab report picked up by Fainaru-Wada and the "Outside The Lines" folks confirmed that Plancher was diagnosed with sickle cell trait. Plancher was tested again, and again he tested positive.

The HQ would really like to know where in the blue hell the University of Central Florida thinks they're going to win this case. The HQ also hopes the Planchers get their pound of flesh...

Plancher Hearing: Ex-UCF FB Player Says Water Withheld At Practice

The Ereck Plancher hearing is going gangbusters in Orlando at present...

The Orlando Sentinel's Iliana Limon, who has covered this from its regrettable beginnings, says that former WR Anthony Dixon claims in a deposition that there weren't any athletic trainers assisting ((or allowed to assist)) Plancher at the time where it looked like he was having physical problems dealing with an assigned activity by his coaches.

Davis also says in his deposition that UCF head coach George O'Leary cussed at Plancher when he was having problems keeping up with his teammates.

UCF's lawyers, naturally, are questioning Davis' statements, saying that they're inconsistent with statements made by other teammates who say they were present during the same workout where Plancher collapsed and eventually died back in 2008. The lawyers also say Davis is contradicting himself from previous testimony...

The judge in the case is giving UCF a week to cross examine Davis and his words...

Here's Plancher attorney Stephen Yerrid after Friday's work...
((HT: Orlando Sentinel))
 

UCF Staff Didn't Know About Plancher's Condition

((HT: Orlando Sentinel/Limon))

UCF football officials supervising Ereck Plancher ((pictured, thanks UCF SID)) the day he died did not know he tested positive for sickle cell trait, according to depositions and statements made in court.

Attorneys representing Plancher's family in a wrongful-death lawsuit contend no one at his final workout — including the sole athletic trainer present — was aware of Plancher's potentially lethal condition. Sickle cell trait was cited by the medical examiner as a contributing factor in Plancher's death.

The sworn statements of two assistant coaches contradict the school's long-held stance that all staff members were aware of the football player's medical history and monitored him closely during every workout.

Then OC Tim Salem and Wide Receivers Coach David Kelly testified on July 31 that they didn't know about Ereck Plancher's previous condition.

From Salem's deposition:

Q. Do you remember how you found out that he [Plancher] had sickle cell trait?

A. I think it was through the news. Well, I want to say it was the newspaper. I remember reading the release that UCF had that all the coaches knew, you know, Ereck Plancher had sickle cell. I'm like, [expletive], I didn't know.

Q. Did you ever talk to any of the other coaches about whether they had known?

A. Yeah, because as soon as I read that newspaper, I called one of our other coaches immediately and said did you know that so-and-so had sickle cell, because I sure as [expletive] didn't.

Q. Who did you call?

A. [UCF wide-receivers coach] David Kelly.

Q. What did he say?

A. He didn't know either.

Plancher lawyer Jeffrey Murphey said in open court that UCF trainer Robert Jackson, in a deposition, claimed he did not know Plancher had sickle cell trait. Jackson was the only trainer present at the time of the collapse. However, head trainer Mary Vander Heiden was aware of Plancher's condition- a claim UCF's lawyers admitted.

So, the head trainer knew, but the coaches and other trainers did not...?

A training staff would not alert coaches about a possibly fatal condition...???

And this also flies in the face of what UCF AD Keith Tribble said on July 18, 2008:

"Our staff advised Ereck of his sickle cell trait and monitored his physical condition at every practice and workout."

Define the word "staff" Mister Tribble...

We call "shenanigans" in bold-face type... again...

Here's the Plancher autopsy report...

Here are the trainer incident reports...

Mike Bianchi, from the Sentinel, understandably goes off...

UCF Reviews Their Own Training For Football

((HT: CBSSports))

UCF's football program's conditioning activities are rigorous "but within the range normal to other Division I football programs," according to a review ordered after a player died and another collapsed last year.

The review released Friday was done by an attorney hired by the university and recommended better communication between team physicians and the athletics department administration, an extra athletic trainer for football and an increased exposure to a nutritionist for players among other things.

UCF President John Hitt ordered the review after the death of receiver Ereck Plancher last spring and the collapse of running back Brandon Davis in December.

Attorney Mike Glazier, a former NCAA investigator, conducted the inquiry. The review did not investigate Plancher's death nor Davis' collapse, only the current state of the football program.

"I will take the recommendations that Mike did make and speak with the administration and see how we can improve ourselves," UCF coach George O'Leary said, reading from a prepared statement.

Plancher died after taking part in the team's "mat drills" during an offseason conditioning workout last March on the UCF campus. The workout was supervised by O'Leary and his staff.

Hitt said he was pleased with the results of the review and again stood by the practices of the football program.

A report from the Orange County Medical Examiner's Office showed Plancher had a sickle cell trait that caused problems with his red blood cells during physical exertion. The examination showed Plancher's heart began beating abnormally, and blood flow to the wide receiver's muscles and organs slowed or stopped.

Plancher's parents filed a lawsuit earlier this month seeking damages in excess of $15,000, not including interest, costs and attorney's fees. The UCF Board of Trustees and the UCF Athletics Association are named as defendants in the lawsuit.

"We'll answer their lawsuit," Hitt said.

The report compared UCF's football program to other schools, reviewed workout and training activities and had complete access to the university's records, Glazier said. Coaches and football players were interviewed for the report, including Davis, but Glazier declined to disclose what the running back said.

Glazier said he recommended going from three to four athletic trainers dedicated solely to football, which he noted is the national average for a program UCF's size. He also recommended more frequent meetings with local paramedics.

"Our overall findings of the university's football practices and conditioning programs, sports medicine policies, procedures and practices are more than adequate and are within industry standards," Glazier said.

O'Leary has a 26-36 record in five seasons at UCF, including a 4-8 record this past season. He signed a 10-year contract extension in May 2006 that pays him $1 million annually. He also has a buyout clause that would cost UCF $5 million to change coaches unless there was just cause.

UCF athletic director Keith Tribble again stood by the coach.

"This is just a report that confirms what we already knew," Tribble said.

Those of us at OSG HQ are wholly unimpressed with the self-survey.
We would much rather see some self-actualization and self-analysis within the UCF adminstration and coaching staff that results in a positive and not just popping your shoulder out-of-joint from patting oneself on the back...