15-20 Vomits Per Practice is No Laughing Matter

Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Scott Frost recently made headlines when he claimed on a podcast that new offensive line coach has been pushing his players so hard he induces roughly 15-20 vomits per practice.

The hope is Frost was exaggerating, but any type of habitual vomiting as a part of football is a health risk and borderline abusive, according to the Pro Football Docs.

“It’s not because they’re not in shape—he’s just working them hard,” Frost explained. “I think they love it. He’s kind of freed them up to go be aggressive and I love the way they’re coming off the ball.”

Donovan Raiola is in his first offensive line coaching job above the Division 3 level, and he is starting it off in a rough way. Players throwing up multiple times can be a sign of heat illness, or rhabdomyolysis.

In 2018, two Nebraska players were hospitalized for rhabdomyolysis, a breakdown of skeletal muscle fibers caused by overexertion. This is no normal occurrence for a college football team and any extended practice in extreme heat puts the players at risk of heat-related illness.

The Cornhuskers have been starting their practices around 8:40-9:10 a.m. local time. At the beginning of August, the average peak temperature for the week was 91 degrees with around 60% humidity.

According to the heat index from the National Weather Service, that puts the conditions in the “extreme caution” category for heat-related illness. 

If Frost's claims are true about the “habitual vomiting,” there is a point where the school and medical trainer need to step in to prevent any serious health issues caused by dangerous conditioning.

Following the 2001 heat-related death of Minnesota offensive lineman Korey Stringer, it is every football coach's duty to ensure nothing similar happens again.