Texas A&M / Tennessee - Medical Treatment Issues

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In one case, at Texas A&M, newly hired high-profile football and basketball coaches appear to have directed who will provide medical care to their players, according to documents obtained by Outside the Lines; it is "a direct violation of NCAA policy," said one sports medicine industry leader.

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In January 2018, a month after Texas A&M hired Jimbo Fisher for $75 million over 10 years to replace Kevin Sumlin as head football coach, then-Texas A&M athletic director Scott Woodward signed off on two letters terminating the employment of Phil Hedrick, the school's associate athletics director overseeing athletic training, and Owen Stanley, its head football athletic trainer.

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Lindley, of NATA, said Texas A&M's move was a "direct contradiction of NCAA policy. I'm not sure what industry they're in, but last I checked, they were an NCAA member institution."

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Hainline said he could not say if Texas A&M was being investigated by the NCAA. He said the NCAA's enforcement division had received reports citing violations of the independent medical care legislation, specifically related to athletic trainers "being concerned that he or she made a medical decision and then didn't have a job." He said he couldn't say how many reports but that there were fewer than 10 across the country.

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Former Tennessee linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr. said he was still rehabbing his knee post-surgery in November 2017, when, after the Vols dropped to 0-6 in SEC play, the school fired head coach Butch Jones. Jones was replaced by Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt. Kirkland said he was worried how the transition would affect his recovery.

When Kirkland returned in January after the holiday break, he said, "Things were picking up really fast" under Pruitt's new coaching staff, and he added that he was "very uncomfortable" with how quickly he was going back into full practice.

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In February 2018, Kirkland said he reinjured his knee during team workouts and had another surgery. Although he recovered enough to play the 2018 season, he said the cumulative effect of the injuries prompted him to retire from football this past spring. He now works as a mortgage loan officer assistant near Washington, D.C.

"If I had more time for my knee, I feel like I would've been healthier long term, you know," he said. "Probably would've healed up. Probably would've still been playing ball, honestly."

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