Moving Right Along on Football Contract at Berkeley

Hey! If moving right along works in junior high, why not at Berkeley?

UC Berkeley renews controversial coach’s contract

By Nanette Asimov, Saturday, July 9, 2016, San Francisco Chronicle

UC Berkeley officials confirmed Friday that they have renewed the $150,000 annual contract of Damon Harrington, the football strength coach mired in a controversy related to the death of one player and the hospitalization of another.

The renewal comes as a faculty group has pressured UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks not to renew Harrington’s contract until the campus determines if the coach’s alleged role in the two serious incidents violated the terms of his contract.

Harrington was accused by several players in November 2013 of inciting a locker room attack by a teammate on running back Fabiano Hale, then 18, for missing a workout. In February 2014, Harrington created a strenuous workout during which defensive lineman Ted Agu, 21, collapsed, and later that day he died. Harrington, who was aware that Agu had sickle-cell trait, told the family’s lawyers that he had created the workout without consulting the team physician.

After players brought their concerns about Harrington to campus officials and spoke with UC police, Berkeley officials enlisted a UC Davis sports doctor and a private strength coach to conduct a general inquiry, which cleared coaches and trainers of employing abusive and reckless practice drills. But the investigators disclosed that they had ties to Cal staffers and said they did not influence the outcome.

Under pressure from the faculty group, Dirks has opened a new inquiry.

Source: http://www.sfgate.com/education/article/UC-Berkeley-renews-controversial-coach-s-8349190.php

So keep moving: