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| Thursday, October 12 O'Leary facing heat after player injured in drill Associated Press | |||
| ATLANTA -- Georgia Tech had just finished a routine practice when coach George O'Leary decided to teach a hard lesson to a second-string offensive lineman who was struggling to make his blocks.
O'Leary handed 314-pound Dustin Vaitekunas a football and told
him to stand alone against four defensive lineman coming at full
speed. The coach said the foursome wasn't supposed to hit
Vaitekunas, only give him an idea of how a quarterback feels when
blockers miss their assignments.
But Vaitekunas was pummeled by at least two of his teammates, leaving him sprawled on the ground for several minutes, gasping for breath.
Vaitekunas left Georgia Tech the following day and vows never to return, and his mother is threatening to pursue criminal charges against O'Leary. The coach said it was simply a breakdown in communication and he would never do anything to harm a student athlete.
"I think the whole thing is getting blown out of proportion," O'Leary said Tuesday. "My track record is pretty good with my players. I coach hard but I coach fair."
Still, the case comes after Bob Knight lost his basketball
coaching job at Indiana -- his troubles beginning when he struck a
player in the neck -- and NHL veteran Marty McSorley was convicted
of assault for whacking an opponent with a hockey stick.
"I see this as assault and battery. I want O'Leary arrested,"
Wanda Charpring, the player's mother, told The Atlanta
Journal-Constitution in a story published Tuesday. "He tried to
kill my son."
An official at the Georgia Tech police department, who refused
to give his name, said no charges had been filed as of late Tuesday
afternoon. Charpring also sent letters to athletics director Dave
Braine and David Thompson, the Atlantic Coast Conference's
assistant commissioner for NCAA compliance.
Braine conducted his own investigation of the Sept. 25 practice and found no reason to discipline O'Leary. Thompson did not immediately return a message left at ACC headquarters in Greensboro, N.C.
"George is not a brutal coach," said Braine, adding that he watches at least two practices a week. "He did not intend for that kid to get hurt."
At first glance, the incident seems tame in comparison to the
harsh treatment doled out by old coaches such as Bear Bryant, Woody
Hayes and Vince Lombardi. But times have changed. Coaches are
expected to treat players with a degree of civility and respect.
Blatant physical punishment is off limits.
"You can't put George O'Leary in the same league with Bobby
Knight," Braine said. "He's never had anything like this happen
before. He's never had a complaint. He's trying to do the right
thing."
Vaitekunas said he thought the drill was an attempt to make him
quit the team because he wasn't playing up to O'Leary's
expectations.
"You expect to get hit. That's football," Vaitekunas told the
newspaper. "What (O'Leary) did was over the line, when you're just
standing there and four guys are ordered to crush you."
Defensive end Greg Gathers was one of the players who took part
in the drill. He said O'Leary yelled at the last second for the
defensive linemen not to hit Vaitekunas, but only two of them -- Felipe Claybrooks and Nick Rogers -- had time to pull up. Gathers
and Merrix Watson went through with their hits.
"He just stood there," Gathers said. "I don't know if he was
fatigued or what. But he didn't protect himself."
Offensive tackle Chris Brown said Vaitekunas was simply a
disgruntled player who couldn't cut it with the Yellow Jackets.
"He was a very soft person. He didn't have a lot of heart," Brown said. "It was nothing excessive. He hasn't been practicing very well or playing very well. It was just a little discipline thing."
Gathers was more sympathetic.
"He's a human being. Some people are probably going to look at
coach O'Leary and say he's a sick man," Gathers said. "But that's
not the case. Coach O'Leary said to pull up, and some guys pulled up."
O'Leary pointed out that Vaitekunas wasn't the only offensive
lineman who took part in the drill. Another backup tackle, Jason
Kemble, faced the same four rushers, but only after they were told
explicitly to avoid any contact.
The coach said he was "annoyed" with the players who struck Vaitekunas.
"I wanted to show what a speed rush looks like from the quarterback's standpoint," O'Leary said. "I didn't expect those guys to tackle him. That was my mistake. I should have communicated better. But we never tackle the quarterback in practice. I was surprised it happened."
| VIDEO
 Norman Arey of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on the incident involving George O'Leary.wav: 1656 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 David Sell of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, former high school player under George O'Leary, on the controversy at Georgia Tech.wav: 888 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 | ||
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