Home › Island Sports › Latest Stories
Report: UCF players tell of intense workout, coach cursing before Plancher's death
Ereck Plancher
STORY TOOLS
RELATED STORIES
- Plancher service draws 3,000; several overcome by heat, emotion
- A tribute to Lely’s No. 5: Ereck Plancher, great player, better person
- Investigation finds Plancher's UCF workout complied with NCAA rules
- About Ereck Plancher: 'I have never seen anyone like him ...'
Related Links
More Latest Stories
- Running now part of a marriage pact
- Nail biters feature of Marco baseball games
- Marco T-Ball a blast for youngsters, parents
Share and Enjoy [?]
Photo Gallery
Ereck Plancher Memorial Service
Friends, teammates, coaches and family members gather to remember Ereck Plancher during a memorial service at Lely High School.
UCF football players told the Orlando Sentinel that former Lely High standout Ereck Plancher physically struggled during an intense practice and was cursed out by head coach George O’Leary before he collapsed and died last month.
Four UCF players said the practice was more intense than the basic conditioning workout originally described by UCF officials, according to a story on orlandosentinel.com.
"Everybody was struggling at times," one player told the Orlando Sentinel "...But he [Ereck] was running, and I could tell something wasn't right. His eyes got real dark, and he was squinting like he was blinded by the sun. He was making this moaning noise, trying to breathe real hard."
All four players, speaking on condition of anonymity to the Orlando Sentinel, said Plancher, 19, fell during one of the last drills of his final practice.
After the workout, the team huddled in the middle of the field, where O'Leary singled out Plancher and cursed at him for lack of effort during the final sprint, the four players told the newspaper.
The Orlando Sentinel reported all four players recall that O'Leary said to Plancher, "That's a bunch of [expletive] out of you, son," in the huddle. When interviewed by the newspaper, O'Leary denied cursing at Plancher but recalled telling people around him, "He's better than that."
O’Leary was one of dozens speakers at Plancher’s funeral last month.
Comments
This site does not necessarily agree with comments posted below — responsibility lies with the relevant reader alone. Read our privacy policy & user agreement.
Post your comment
(Requires free registration.)