The trend in coaches’ lack of concern for the well being of their teams during summer practices has led to several avoidable deaths in the past few years.

On March 18th of this year, Central Florida wide receiver Ereck Plancher collapsed during a preseason drill and died an hour later. Could it have been from the heat? Possibly; Florida sun combined with a helmet and pads doesn’t make practice comfy. In 2001 college football saw three heat-stroke related deaths during practice, but these were larger, more obese athletes. Planchar was in top shape and only weighed 184 pounds.

It’s no secret that in college football, the motto is “No pain, no gain.” Vomiting during practice means success, and resting means you’re weak. That’s why when Planchar’s eyes went dark and he began to moan during practice, Coach George O’Leary ignored what were actual signs of distress.

There are NCAA regulations in place to do with preseason practices to avoid these instances, but it seems that coaches are willing to do anything, including putting their athletes’ lives in danger, to produce monsters on the football field. When Missouri football player, Aaron O’Neal, died of heat exhaustion in 2005, his coach, Gary Pinkel, said that he had to plans to change the way he conducted summer practices.

It’s unfortunate that athlete scandals and gossip receive more attention than these deaths, but capitalizing on football has become so important that giving this issue as little press as possible is probably a strategic move. Penn State itself has seen little harm past expected heat exhaustion, but I would hate to see it go too far. Hopefully Joe Pa expresses more compassion on the field than O’Leary or Pinkel did for their players.