By: Emma Ferguson
September 10, 2026
When does proving yourself as an athlete turn into a dangerous practice? It’s something that’s seen an undeniable rise in recent years: athletes pushing themselves–or being pushed– to the point of irreversible damage. From multiple deaths to countless injuries, what line has been crossed to result in these events?
It was August 20th, 2026, when 21-year-old hockey player Matthew Mayich collapsed. The tragic incident took place at approximately 8:30 am, when the Arizona State University (ASU) hockey team was doing outdoor workouts. According to detectives, the group was undergoing a military-style workout led by third-party instructor Tim Zeisel, a former military service member, who was actively discouraging students in need of water from taking a break during the 50-minute workout. The workout Zeisel had led included activities such as sprints, planks, push-ups, and bear crawls. This workout, harder than many of the players had previously encountered, took place when the temperature was a high 90 degrees Fahrenheit, with roughly 51% humidity and absolutely zero wind. To put this in perspective, the feels-like temperature from that day was 93 degrees Fahrenheit, a heat index the National Weather Service lists as dangerous.
Because of these conditions, the terribly hard workout, and the lack of water, Matthew Mayich collapsed. According to Robert Carey, the attorney representing the Mayich family, Matthew Mayich had suffered a severe exertional heat stroke when he collapsed. According to Carey, Mayich has a “zero chance of recovery,” even stating that “A coma indicates deep unconsciousness and recovery is possible. His [Mayich’s] body ceased functioning in a fundamental way, and this condition is irreversible.”
An incident similar to this took place back in the late months of 2023. Greg Brooks Jr. was flying high at Louisiana State University (LSU), being named captain of the football team and following close to his dream of making it to the NFL. It was August of 2023 when Brooks Jr. said he started experiencing symptoms of nausea, dizziness, and headaches. These feelings that Brooks Jr. experienced may seem typical for a non-football player; however, these symptoms are classic warning signs of a concussion or a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Ignoring these signs can lead to life-altering medical complications including Second-Impact Syndrome (SIS), Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), Subdural or Epidural Hematoma (brain bleeds), Post-Traumatic Migraines, and much more.
The defensive back stated that after reporting these feelings to staff and coaches at LSU, they quickly brushed them off, not only failing to provide the medical care he needed, but also pushing him to keep playing and further endangering his health. It took 39 days of worsening symptoms before the LSU football and medical team arranged a neurologist appointment for Books Jr.; it was here that they discovered that the problems the team had originally labeled as vertigo were truly medulloblastoma, a rare form of brain cancer.
Both of these situations, though different, cause very similar questions to arise: what form of external drive is pushing these players to continue with unsafe practices, how can coaches be trained to lower the growing rate of these problems, and how can players learn to better speak up for themselves when they have so much on the line?
While studying this topic, I was lucky enough to sit down with Mr. Brent Davis to talk about the topic of athletic and coaching culture. Mr. Davis is the Director of Athletics at College of the Sequoias (COS), running one of the most successful California Community College athletic programs, overseeing 18 varsity sports and nearly 600 student-athletes and 70 coaches. Davis is also a former COS men’s basketball student-athlete returning to his alma mater after nearly two decades of higher education and coaching. Davis’s coaching background includes teaching at Bakersfield College, San Diego Mesa College, and Redwood High School, remaining deeply involved and committed to mentoring student-athletes. In addition, Davis was voted National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Athletic Director of the Year in the junior/community college division for the 2026 year.
The first question I had the pleasure of asking Davis about was, “How do you/how does COS train its coaches to ensure they understand the seriousness not only of the internal conditions for each athlete but also of the external conditions that can affect them?” Davis answered this question, saying, “We’re very lucky here; we have very well-trained coaches…” Davis went on to explain the guidelines and constitutional bylaws each coach must follow when it comes to things such as heat or humidity. One of the guidelines Davis brought up is the use of wet-bulb testers. A wet-bulb thermometer is a thermometer with a sensing bulb wrapped in a water-moistened cloth used to measure temperature and humidity combined to better reflect human heat stress rather than just temperature alone. Davis stated that when temperature and humidity levels reach an unsafe state, coaches are trained to adapt their practices. For example, Davis said that if temperatures get too high, football coaches might have players “just wear helmets, rather than full padded practices,” or if the heat gets too extreme, coaches can move practices inside to the gyms. Another question that Davis was asked was, “Why would athletes continue to push themselves even under unsafe conditions?” To this, Davis stated, “Athletes like to train hard… our coaches here are smart about their training and principles.” One of the examples Davis brought up was the style of 50, 75, and 100% coaching. When asked to describe what this meant, Davis said that when getting off a break or starting a training season, coaches don’t start every player at 100%; they “work from a lower level until the team is at a general point and they raise the bar.” Davis said that coaches will do this until a team reaches its full potential and is ready for heavier conditioning.
Under the topic of athlete-coach relationships, Davis was asked two questions, the first being “How can athletic departments ensure that athletes are comfortable speaking up for themselves to their coaches?” To this, Davis said, “Everyone is different; some players just don’t like speaking up.” Despite this, Davis said that every coach at COS has not only an open-door policy, but a strong focus on relationship-based coaching. Davis told me that every coach is focused on creating an environment where every student-athlete feels comfortable and welcome. Davis said that even though it can be difficult to grow a strong relationship with everyone, especially with larger teams, coaches understand that it’s “not about the sports they play, but about helping the athletes, in school and in life.” I also asked Davis, “What traits do you believe are important when it comes to the relationship between coaches and their athletes?” The athletic director stated that it’s extremely important for each coach to have at least a “base level relationship with each athlete.” Davis said that coaches “help with more than school; they help students in life,” and if coaches feel that they can’t get through to an athlete, they will have no hesitation going through “fellow athletes, team leadership, or captains” to ensure that each athlete is healthy both physically and mentally.
All in all, the world of sports and athletics is an extremely hardcore place. The idea of training yourself and the idea of harming yourself are separated only by a thin line, a line that many can cross easily. As we can see from Mr. Brent Davis and the COS athletics department, when these topics are handled with care, great outcomes can occur. However, as we can see with the story of Matthew Mayich or Greg Brooks Jr., overlooking these concerns can quickly turn south. So how can these ideas of relationship-based coaching and care for both internal and external situations change the world of sports? How can awareness of these topics change athletic culture?
