University of Illinois fires football coach

The University of Illinois has fired its head football coach for mistreating his players by ignoring that they were injured.

The Chronicle of Higher Education reported on Friday that Tim Beckman undertook “efforts to deter injury reporting and influence medical decisions that pressured players to avoid or postpone medical treatment and continue playing despite injuries.”

The report says that an investigation at the college found Beckman encouraged injured players to stay in the game. The investigation came after former players, earlier this year, said that coach Beckman had “physically abused them.”

“The preliminary information external reviewers shared with me does not reflect our values or our commitment to the welfare of our student-athletes, and I’ve chosen to act accordingly,” Mike Thomas, athletic director, said in a statment.

In recent months, seven former women’s basketball players named the head coach and the assistant coach in a $10 million law suit that claimed racial discrimination. An investigation in that case found no wrong doing.

This story was originally published August 28, 2015 at 5:02 PM with the headline "University of Illinois fires football coach."