Despite this, the regents encouraged the school to reinstate Steve Nordwall, assistant athletic director of athletic training, and Wes Robinson, the head trainer for the football program. Nordwall and Robinson have been on paid administrative leave since Aug. 10.

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One person familiar with the situation stressed that the university has not acted on the regents’ recommendation. A university spokeswoman declined to comment on the regents’ actions, and a spokesman for the university system did not immediately respond to a request to comment Thursday.

Asked about the status of the trainers during a news conference Tuesday in Baltimore, school President Wallace D. Loh said: “The athletic director is responsible for all of the staff, coaches and other staff, in the athletic department. He will make that decision.”

The regents have drawn heavy criticism this week for their handling of the investigation and their recommendations to the University of Maryland. The board urged Loh to allow football coach DJ Durkin to return to the sidelines. Two people familiar with the proceedings have said that Loh faced the threat of termination if he didn’t follow through on the board’s wishes.

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Loh initially did, and Durkin rejoined the team Tuesday afternoon and attended two practices with players. But pressure mounted Wednesday from state politicians and the university community, and Loh decided to fire Durkin immediately.

While Durkin’s status with the program has been debated in College Park and beyond since he was placed on leave Aug. 11, there’s been less public discussion surrounding the athletic trainers.

The university contracted with Walters Inc., an athletic training consulting firm, in June to investigate the events surrounding McNair’s death. After receiving preliminary results of that probe, Loh said at a news conference Aug. 14 that the trainers failed to diagnose McNair with heatstroke and thus failed to properly treat him.

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The 74-page Walters' report was released publicly and shared with the board Sept. 21. It found that more than an hour passed between the time McNair began experiencing symptoms of heatstroke and when school officials called 911 to report a medical emergency.

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The report cited eyewitness accounts, and one player told investigators that when McNair was clearly struggling, Robinson yelled, “Get him the ‘f---’ up.” Another player said Robinson yelled, “Drag his ass off the field.”

McNair wasn’t aboard an ambulance until 94 minutes after he began experiencing heatstroke symptoms. According to hospital records, he arrived with a temperature that had reached 106 degrees.

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Medical experts have said that patients have a 100-percent survival rate when heatstroke is treated promptly. According to hospital records, McNair’s temperature wasn’t lowered to 102, which is considered a much safer temperature, until nearly 2½ hours after he began experiencing symptoms.

Roman Stubbs contributed to this report.