Howard Schnellenberger, who resigned as Oklahoma football coach last week, lost favor with university president David Boren because of the harsh way he treated his players, according to a published report.
The Sunday Oklahoman, citing an unidentified source, said Boren felt the most serious complaint against Schnellenberger was the coach's treatment of his players.Boren, who has declined comment on the situation, decided the coach "was a guy who didn't care about his players too much," the source said in the copyright story. "When you get careless about their health, that's a difficult thing. The chemistry was really bad."
Boren apparently became concerned when two players were treated for heat exhaustion during the start of fall practice in August.
One of the players, Aaron Findley, quit the team to recover from his health problems. His mother, Saundra Anderson, told the newspaper her son had complained about feeling ill, but a trainer did not send him to a doctor.
But after dealing with officials other than coaches, she was confident they "cared about Aaron."
Another player, freshman defensive tackle Brian Ailey, apparently came close to death because of the heat.
"He could hardly walk up the stairs," the player's mother, Marsha Higginbotham, said of the first few weeks after the episode. She said Boren called and talked with her about the situation for 45 minutes.
As complaints mounted, the source said, Boren consulted with athletic director Donnie Duncan and other university officials on ways to best handle the situation.