The Willie Taggart era is off to a shaky start in Eugene. Monday, the Oregonian broke a bizarre story about football players getting hospitalized after intense workouts led by new Oregon strength coach Irele Oderinde.
According to the piece, offensive linemen Doug Brenner, Sam Poutasi and tight end Cam McCormick are in fair condition after getting admitted last week following an intense workout regiment.
Poutasi's mother said her son complained of extremely sore arms after workouts and had been diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis, a syndrome where soft muscle tissue is broken down with leakage into the blood stream of muscle contents. Kidney damage can be a by-product of the condition.
Oregon Athletics
The University issued a statement and kind of shrugged the whole thing off.
"The safety and welfare of all our student athletes is paramount in all that we do," Oregon University said. "While we cannot comment on the health of our individual students, we have implemented modifications as we transition back into full training to prevent further occurences."
This may be a telling first month for coach Taggart.
