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Jordan McNair's parents call for Maryland coach Durkin's firing

The Washington Post / Getty

The parents of late Maryland offensive lineman Jordan McNair said Thursday on ABC's "Good Morning America" that head coach DJ Durkin should be fired or resign following their son's death that stemmed from a team workout.

"He shouldn't be able to work with anybody else's kid," McNair father, Martin, said in the interview with Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan. "You send your kid away to college for them to be developed into young people - and that's physically, emotionally, spiritually. And teach our young kids, our young people that we worked so hard to get there, through, 'Hey, I'm giving my child to you. Keep him safe.' They did anything but that. So of course he should be fired."

Durkin is currently on administrative leave while Maryland investigates the circumstances surrounding McNair's death. The sophomore collapsed during an outdoor workout May 29 after reportedly exhibiting signs of heatstroke, and died two weeks later. McNair also reportedly suffered a seizure during the workout, about an hour before a call to 911 was placed.

According to a report by ESPN on Aug. 10, Maryland is said to have instilled a "toxic" culture under Durkin that's predicated on the intimidation of players. The report contained several horror stories about how student-athletes in Durkin's program have been treated by the coaching staff.

In McNair's case, instead of checking on his condition during the fateful workout, Terrapins trainers reportedly instructed teammates to "drag his ass across the field" as the 19-year-old struggled to stand upright.

"Jordan was the type of person who would give his all, give his best, because someone asked him to do something," McNair's mother, Tonya Wilson, said. "He would always give his all. He wouldn't have stopped. He wouldn't have stopped. If that's the culture, he didn't want to be called any names, things that they say they've been called."

Maryland's head strength coach, Rick Court, submitted his resignation on Aug. 13. While many have called for Durkin's job as well, the third-year coach has received support from some other players' parents.

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