Grip on Sports: Happenings in Maryland makes one wonder who is really in charge of some of our nation’s college campuses

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It is Halloween. A scary night. But we are going to tell you a scary story that has nothing to do with Halloween. It has to do with college football – and its hold on our campuses. Read on.

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• Yes, I know many would rather we were celebrating Washington State’s inclusion in the college football rankings. Not just inclusion, but in the top 10, all the way to eight. In other words, if the CFP were expanded to eight teams tomorrow (the minimum number it should be, really), WSU would be considered a participant. That’s cool.

But we’re not going there this morning. Instead we are looking across the country at an occurrence that makes something Mike Leach wrote in a text message to Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott a month ago even more relevant.

Remember what Leach wrote after Porter Gustin seemingly tried to take Gardner Minshew’s head off and the Pac-12 officiating crew ignored it, despite multiple “safeguards” built to ensure such targeting didn’t go unpunished?

“The Pac-12 cannot say with any credibility, that they are actually trying to protect student athletes,” Leach wrote to Scott then.

Wonder what Leach would write if he had a connection to the University of Maryland right now?

The university hasn’t been dealing with a missed penalty call the past few months. It has been dealing with something much worse. It has been dealing with the death of one of its players following an offseason workout.

Jordan McNair died in June. He was the victim of heatstroke, but suffered mainly, as a subsequent report showed, from a football program with a lack of control.

(If you want to read the circumstances behind the death, ESPN reported on it in-depth last summer; if you want to read the recent investigative report, you can here.)

And yet the two men in charge of that program, head coach DJ Durkin and athletic director Damon Evans, were reinstated yesterday.

That’s bad enough.

But there is something even more insidious as far as I’m concerned. Following the internal investigation, the president of the University of Maryland, the flagship academic institution of the state, wanted to fire the football coach. Wanted Durkin out. Wanted to change the culture around the football program.

The school’s board of regents said no. It sided with the coach.

In fact, according to reporting surrounding the situation, the president, Wallace Loh, was told to either reinstate Durkin or Loh would be fired.

Imagine that.

So who runs our institutions of higher learning anyway? Is it the president, the man or woman charged with overseeing the entire campus, charged with making sure every student is treated well and is supplied a safe, nurturing environment in which to learn? Or is it the football coach, one who encouraged a culture if not toxic, as ESPN called it, at least lacking in reasonable controls?

In Maryland’s case, obviously, it is the football coach, the highest-paid person on the campus. But the Terps aren’t alone. Of the 130 schools that participate in FBS football, how many would have done the same thing Maryland did yesterday?

Probably more than anyone would care to admit.

Loh was intimately involved in the investigation of McNair’s death. He apologized to the family. He took responsibility. He put his head on the block, figuratively. And the regents cut it off.

Maybe the best thing he could have done was refuse to reinstate Durkin, pull an Elliot Richardson so to speak. Force the regents to fire him if they wanted to keep the football coach. Then maybe there would be a meaningful discussion about who should really be in charge of our college campuses.

But, according to the reporting on the matter, Loh decided that would be too traumatic for the university, would tear it apart. So he let the regents reinstate Durkin and announce he is stepping down after the school year.

Hopefully a Leach-like phrase was included in his retirement letter. Something along the lines of “The University of Maryland cannot say with any credibility, that it is actually trying to protect student athletes.”

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WSU: As good as Minshew has been this season, the emergence of dependable receivers has definitely helped. One of those is Dezmon Patmon, who Theo Lawson writes about this morning. … Theo also has a story on the CFP standings as well as his Pac-12 power rankings. Everyone in the North, except Oregon State, is 5-3 or better overall and in Theo’s top half of the rankings. … Theo has video of interviews from after practice yesterday, including Mike Leach, James Williams and Peyton Pelluer.

Elsewhere in the Pac-12, the first playoff rankings are preliminary, sure, but they don’t bode well for the conference. … If the Washington defense wants to force more turnovers, it just needs a few more lucky bounces. … When Chip Kelly was hired at UCLA, we all knew he would visit Eugene to play Oregon this week. It’s here. And he is all business. The Bruins are beat-up. … Oregon State will try to put together back-to-back wins by upsetting USC this weekend. The Trojans are dealing with change. … Utah has to get ready to face an Arizona State group that’s given it trouble before. … Arizona will try to hand Colorado another crushing defeat. … In basketball news, the Arizona Board of Regents will meet this week to discuss revelations about the Wildcat program that emerged in the recent New York trials. 

Gonzaga: Sometimes a small break can supply big stress. For the Zags, a stress fracture in Killian Tillie’s ankle will force the power forward from the lineup for up to eight weeks. It’s not good news for a program that was already a bit thin up front. Jim Meehan has more on the Bulldogs, who open the season with an exhibition against Central Washington tomorrow night.

EWU: Gage Gubrud met with the media yesterday to talk about how he injured his big toe and how hard it is not to be coming back this season. Ryan Collingwood was in Cheney and has this story. … Around the Big Sky,

Chiefs: The offense was solid last night in the Arena and, as a result, Spokane picked up a 4-1 win over Seattle. Kevin Dudley was in attendance and has this game story. … Dan Thompson chips in with this feature on goaltender Bailey Brkin.

Preps: Its postseason time and after yesterday’s action we have roundups from soccer and volleyball.

Seahawks: The Hawks learned Mychal Kendricks’ fate yesterday. He received an eight-game suspension. … The trade deadline resulted in some roster churn, with Brandon Marshall being cut loose. The veteran receiver couldn’t catch on. … The offensive line has caught on to what its new coach is teaching.

Mariners: Edgar Martinez will not be the M’s hitting coach next season. He will work with players throughout the franchise.

Sounders: How the heck did Seattle turn its season around? Here’s how.

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• When I read the Maryland report last week, it made me angry. Angry to think there was a possibility my sons could have been treated this way. And angry to think the people in charge wouldn’t be held accountable. They really weren’t. It makes me shake my head. … An early heads up. I have to be out of the house by 7 a.m. this Saturday, so we won’t have a morning column that day. Hope that’s not too scary for you on this Halloween morning. Until later …