The Pac-12 Conference commented late Tuesday night on the developments at Oregon involving the hospitalization of three football players. In it, the conference said it has been in correspondence with Oregon’s athletic department.

“The health and safety of our student-athletes is very important to us,” Pac-12 spokesman Dave Hirsch wrote in an email to The Emerald. “We have been in communication with Oregon and appreciate that they are taking the situation seriously. We are supportive of the discipline and reporting structure changes that Oregon has made.”

Oregon football announced Tuesday it had suspended new strength and conditioning coach Irele Oderinde for a month without pay, just over 24 hours after The Oregonian’s Andrew Greif reported Monday that players Doug Brenner, Sam Poutasi and Cam McCormick had been admitted to a local hospital after grueling off-season workouts.

Brenner has been discharged while Poutasi and McCormick are still patients, according to The Register-Guard.

Tuesday night, head coach Willie Taggart apologized to the university, students, alumni and fans through a statement. In the future, Oderinde will report to Andrew Murray, Oregon’s director of performance and sports science. He had previously reported to Taggart.

“As the head football coach, I hold myself responsible for all of our football-related activities and the safety of our students must come first,” Taggart said.

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