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Report: Investigators in Cal training review had ties to staff

Nick Bromberg
Cal's investigation following Ted Agu's death is under scrutiny. (Associated Press)
Cal’s investigation following Ted Agu’s death is under scrutiny. (Associated Press)

The lead investigators in a 2014 review of Cal’s training and practice drills following the death of player Ted Agu were close with members of the school’s athletic staff.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the two men had “personal ties” to the head of Cal’s strength and conditioning programs and the team physician.

Agu died in February 2014 after collapsing during a training drill that included “groups of players grabbing a heavy rope together, running to a steep street nearby and charging up and down the incline 10 times.” Agu was near the completion of the drill when he collapsed.

A former Cal staff member and former lead attorney for the university also said the review “did not examine” the role of Cal football strength coach Damon Harrington in Agu’s death and the assault of a player in the Cal locker room by a teammate in 2013.

From the Chronicle:

“An investigation into potentially serious employment misconduct would typically involve interviews of the parties and witnesses, an analysis of the evidence, findings and recommendations, and be carried out by a trained impartial campus investigator,” Smith said. The review’s report “doesn’t contain any analysis or conclusions about what occurred.”

Critics also question the integrity of the investigation because the investigators — John Murray, a private strength and conditioning coach, and Jeffrey Tanji, medical director for sports at UC Davis — had personal ties with Cal staff. Murray disclosed in the report that he was a “friend and colleague” of Mike Blasquez, who oversees all of Cal’s strength and conditioning programs. And Tanji said he had trained Casey Batten, the football team physician. Both said in the report those relationships did not influence their findings.

The school countered in the Chronicle report that Harrington has not been found in violation of any school policy. Cal admitted negligence in Agu’s death in January as part of a wrongful death suit by Agu’s family and knew the player had sickle cell trait. The school settled with Agu’s family in April for nearly $5 million.

Harrington came to Cal from Louisiana Tech with Cal coach Sonny Dykes. His contract is up for renewal Friday and a faculty group at the school has asked for it to not be renewed until an independent investigation is conducted.

The assault incident involved Fabiano Hale, a freshman in 2013 who was allegedly knocked unconscious by an unnamed teammate (who was not criminally charged and no charges were ever filed regarding Agu’s death).

Two former football players told The Chronicle they believe Harrington incited the Nov. 1, 2013, locker-room attack on Hale, in which a teammate knocked him unconscious. After Agu’s death Feb. 7, 2014, another athlete brought similar concerns about the coach to four UC Berkeley officials: two athletic directors, a vice chancellor and a professor. Other players also have spoken with campus officials about the coach.

Hale missed a morning workout on November 1. According to former quarterback Joey Mahalic, who had an interview with police in March of 2014 regarding Harrington, the strength coach said there would be no formal punishment for Hale and told players “This is your problem. You need to fix this. By any means necessary.”

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The Chronicle report also reveals that Harrington said in a deposition regarding the wrongful death suit that “There’s no reason to change what the sickling athlete does. I don’t think there are any precautions.” Research has shown that players with sickle cell trait can be more susceptible to heat stroke and other muscle maladies from intensive exercise.

Many current and former players stood up for Harrington after the report was published.

The report also said that seven of the 13 players interviewed by investigators were chosen by the Cal staff. The conclusion of the two investigators said “nearly every athlete interviewed appreciated and understood” the competitive nature of Harrington’s strength program.

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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!