Gordon McDaniel

Athletic Trainer, High School Level, Oversees Coffeyville Sports Medicine in KS, Views are my own.

[David J. Chao - ProFootballDoc @ProFootballDoc]

Helmets were never invented to prevent concussions
Instituted to prevent skull fractures, which it does
Headgear developed "pre" concussion awareness era

[Aaron Borgmann @RehabAllStar]

Of course not, & we’ve known this for a while. All kinds of conflict of interest science not least of which has anything to do w/ Certor Sports (company that makes VICIS & Schutt) partnered with GC themselves

No independent study has ever shown benefit

https://t.co/wTm90O1oRM

[Aaron Borgmann @RehabAllStar]

@NFLonCBS discussing Guardian caps as if they actually do something

If only they had informed medical personnel to limit them from making such statements

[Jay A. Breen @PumpTheJuice]

@ChrisNowinski1 @washingtonpost Can @grok surmise the #CTE risks for (age specific) children playing tackle football and WHAT actually helps via this Washington Post article (paywall)
#TackleCanWait #BrainWarriorsWAY

[Thomas Bottiglieri, D.O. @DocBottsNY]

@ChrisNowinski1 @washingtonpost I could not agree more with this statement….“parents are being “sold a myth” that the equipment protects their children from permanent brain damage.”

[Gordon McDaniel @gnmcdaniel]

@DrJimBerryATC It worked. Too bad it’s not around anymore!!

[Evelyn Tandy @etandy07]

It’s hot this week! 🥵 Athletic Trainers use WBGT as the gold standard. Here’s why!

[Mike Hopper, MS, LAT, ATC @mnhopper1s]

Ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance is negligence.

We know better. We must do better. Our kids' futures depend on it.

#SaferSidelines #AT4ALL #PublicHealth 5/5.

[Jamy Bechler @jamybechler]

PLAYERS: How you do anything in life is how you do everything.

◽️ Late for class
◽️ Always has an excuse
◽️ Never keeps their word
◽️ Doesn't complete school work
◽️ Disrespects teachers/coaches/parents

These players are rarely good teammates.

~via @CoachJonBeck

[Gordon McDaniel @gnmcdaniel]

@morris_atc @BerrytheLede We been doing for 5 years in Kansas and here everything adjust. Football and Soccer are pushed back in start time if the zone is bad, extra water brakes, cold tubes and anything else. There is only one time that we have delayed start time for WBGT. See more lighting delays.

[Healthy Roster @HealthyRoster]

Baseline testing used to mean hours. Now it doesn't.
We asked ATs using Sway how the concussion test has changed their workflow, and the answer keeps coming back to time. Testing an entire team at once, on a mobile device, with results right there when you need them.

[Josh Straughan @JoshStraughan1]

The average HS athlete trying to play in college makes these THREE HUGE MISTAKES:

They under EAT

They under TRAIN

They under SLEEP

[Missy Mitchell-McBeth @missyMmcbeth]

No, it’s not the two, 25-30 minute weight room sessions a week where athletes encounter force in a controlled environment hurting your volleyball player’s back.

It’s the:

-10+ hours a week of practice with bad mechanics on bad surfaces
-Random running
-No days off mentality
-Lack of nutrition and sleep to facilitate recovery

But go on and get that 2 weeks no weight room full go on court note as the injury carousel takes another turn.

[Matt Moody @mattmoody]

I wasn't planning on saying anything publicly about last night's game. But when a parent from Concordia walks up after the forfeit and calls one of my 16-year-old players "cheap," I feel the need to respond.

First, to that parent: if you had a problem with the outcome, you should have been brave enough to bring it up with me instead of a teenager.

Now, let me paint the picture for why I brought up the situation during the game, because I'm particularly sensitive to this topic.

When I was 17, I pitched in every game of the 1999 5A KS State Tournament. The only reason I came out of the championship game was that I ran out of innings. That was the only rule back then. Throughout my high school career I regularly pitched twice in the same doubleheader and always at least twice a week. I don't put any blame on anybody. I wanted to do it. We just didn't understand back then, what happens to a young arm when velocity starts climbing into the upper 80s and 90s.

When I was 19 years old, as a freshman, in my very first college appearance at Fort Hays State, on my 16th pitch, my elbow dislocated, tearing both my Ulnar Collateral Ligament and Radial Collateral Ligament. Tommy John Surgery followed. I pitched three more years at Fort Hays, but I never threw as hard again, and never without constant, sometimes agonizing, pain. To this day, when I throw batting practice my hand swells and goes numb the rest of the night. I drive home from practice and can't use my right arm to steer. I sleep with my arm elevated or my hand swells up like a ballon by morning.

That is what these rules are trying to prevent.
Last night's game ended because Concordia used a pitcher who had thrown 78 pitches on Friday. Under KSHSAA rules, that requires four days of rest. Yesterday was three. It is not a gray area. It is not a judgment call. The rule exists, we are all forced to follow the same limits, it was violated, and the penalty is a forfeit. (And in my opinion, pitching a very talented pitcher like that after just 50 pitches on 3 days rest is irresponsible).

No, we did not want to win that way. We were winning at the time and we were going to win anyway. We had our two best arms left and they were out of arms. That's how this works at the 4A level. You run out of experienced arms and the flood gates open.

Which brings me to something I find genuinely troubling in my first year as a head coach, after two years as Wamego's pitching coach: the clear majority of programs push pitch counts to their absolute limit. Pull a guy at 75 pitches, bring him back on the minimum rest to throw 105 more. Repeat. At velocities that are sky-rocketing. We have 16-year-olds throwing 90 mph, and the current pitch count limits are not even close to restrictive enough. We are trading young athletes' futures for wins. It's being done openly and very proudly.

I'm sure my opinions will be laughed at or disagreed with by most, but I could not care less.

When you have to go to inexperienced pitchers, walks stack up, scoreboards get ugly. The team loses confidence and things spiral. It's a gut punch that feels like it's never going to stop... and when you look at the board there's still just one out.

But that's what we signed up for. To coach young kids. To develop players. To give young kids opportunities. Build depth the right way. Not to exploit the talent that showed up. It's not always pretty but it's better than winning at the cost of kid's futures.

And yes, there's an ABSOLUTE systemic cost too. Last year we had two pitchers who deserved All-State consideration, but because we don't run them on short rest, their accumulated stats don't compete (IP and Ks). The sport media doesn't pay attention because there are jaw-dropping, accumulated stats all over the place that make for better headlines. When all-league and all-state accolades are built on accumulation, programs who are cautious about arms get penalized. That system needs to change (but it won't). There's a lot of nuance, but if a pitcher throws more than 50 pitches they should get at least 5 days off and coaches should be allowed to work with pitchers in the offseason so that there are more developed arms ready for the season. There are all kinds of flaws in this system.

We will keep doing this the right way. It costs us wins and it's not fun sometimes, but I have a permanent reminder of what happens when you don't.

[Jason Kelce @JasonKelce]

The guy squirting water into Zach Ertz’s mouth is Joe O’Pella. He’s an athletic trainer that’s been with the team for over 15 years at this point.

NFL teams don’t really have water boys, athletic trainers are usually the ones responsible for having water on the practice field and during games, but this post is absolutely hilarious.

A guy who rehabbed my ACL tear in my second year, has a masters degree from Pitt, and has years of experience keeping Eagles players healthy and on the field being called a “Waterboy” is crazy, and I’m already giving him shit for it, but good lord this post is so wildly misleading.

Either way, thought I’d clear the air, that the people with Water Bottles during games actually serve much bigger roles on NFL Teams.

[Dr. Nirav Pandya, M.D. @DrNiravPandya]

The morning you get your cast, boot, or brace off after and injury does not mean you immediately return to full sports that evening. The injured structure may be healed but the strength and mobility lost from the injury need to be restored.

[Lisa Chenoweth, MS, LAT, ATC, CES @chencrew04]

If you have sports, ATs are a necessity!

[Lisa Chenoweth, MS, LAT, ATC, CES @chencrew04]

If you have a sports team/program, it’s not a luxury to hire an athletic trainer, it’s a necessity! Who is keeping your athletes safe? Who is helping them return safely back to play? All athletes deserve to have Care They Can Count On!

[Andy Quijada @aquij01]

Happy National Athletic Training Month!
Athletic Trainers play a vital role in keeping their athletes safe, healthy, and performing at their best. Let’s recognize all of the athletic trainers, and everything that they do! @NATA1950 @SCGradATP #NATM2026