4. Investigation will clear UCF, O’Leary: Central Florida is doing the right thing in calling for an independent investigation into the collapse of player Brandon Davis during a recent morning workout. Davis got woozy and so the decision was made to take him to a local hospital. The reason this was news was that back in March another UCF Player, Eric Plancher, died during a workout. The school did not handle that tragedy well in terms of being quick to investigate and putting all of the information about Plancher’s death on the table.
That episode caused a cloud of suspicion to rise over this incident. The parents of the player have charged in media reports that Davis had kidney failure and was not given water during the work out. Both of those things are going to turn out not to be true. But those charges began a feeding frenzy and speculation that George O’Leary was on his way out as head coach. UCF has hired an attorney with NCAA experience to conduct a thorough investigation into the training practices in O’Leary’s program. It will show that UCF’s workouts are no different than any other program in Division I-A football. Are those programs too strenuous? That’s another argument.
Some are calling for O’Leary’s resignation because of all the negativity surrounding the program this season. They feel it is the only way to lift the cloud of suspicion over the program. Unless this investigation turns up a smoking gun, that is not going to happen.
