Former Bucknell Coach Faces Manslaughter Charge After Lineman With Sickle-Cell Trait Dies

As football training camps from high school to the NFL prepare to open under the oppressive weight of a nationwide heatwave, coaches and athletic trainers across the country are keeping an anxious watch on a Pennsylvania courtroom.Mark Kulbis, a former strength and conditioning coach at Bucknell University, has been formally charged with felony aggravated hazing, along with misdemeanor counts of involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment, and hazing. The charges stem from the July 2024 death of freshman offensive lineman Calvin “CJ” Dickey, Jr.Attorney General Dave Sunday issued a release stating Mr. Kulbis allegedly told Mr. Dickey, 18, and several other football players to do 100 “up downs,” and full-body plank drills as a punishment on the first day of workouts, despite knowing Mr. Dickey had sickle-cell trait, a medical condition that can increase the risk of serious injury or death following extreme exertion.“My office filed very serious criminal charges after investigating what took place at Bucknell University two summers ago,” Mr. Sunday said in the press release. “The facts show this was an intentional, deliberate hazing perpetuated by a coach who knew C.J.’s health condition made him vulnerable to extreme workouts.”Sickle-cell trait is diagnosed through a blood test. The test became mandatory for Division 1 athletes beginning in 2010 after other deaths involving athletes with sickle-cell trait. Coaches are trained to know players with a positive test should slowly build up their intensity and receive adequate rest and recovery.“The facts show this defendant received information about C.J.’s health condition, along with training about NCAA anti-hazing standards and disregarded that information,” Mr. Sunday said. “This is an extraordinary tragedy, worsened by the fact that C.J.’s death was preventable.”Mr. Kulbis was Bucknell’s strength and conditioning coach from February 2019 to January 2025 after working for three years as a strength and conditioning coach at Dartmouth College. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 28. Mr. Kulbis was arraigned and released on $10,000 unsecured bail, according to court records.“While the death of Calvin Dickey is tragic, Mark Kulbis did not contribute to it and is not responsible for it,” his attorney, Barbara Zemlock, said in a statement. “The strength and conditioning program that was implemented was appropriate and in accordance with the training that Mr. Kulbis received, and with applicable standards.”According to a lawsuit filed by the family, Mr. Kulbis ordered Mr. Dickey and several other freshmen to perform the intense drills because the players had not completed earlier drills correctly.A massive offensive and defensive lineman who stood 6-foot-5 and weighed 300 pounds, Mr. Dickey began to appear dizzy and struggled with balance during the drills.According to affidavits from teammates present in the room, Mr. Dickey complained to Mr. Kulbis that he was having trouble breathing. “Coach Kulbis just told Dickey to stay down, but Dickey struggled to finish,” one player said, according to the affidavit. “Coach Kulbis did not stop him.”Mr. Dickey subsequently collapsed and lost consciousness. He was hospitalized and died two days later.An autopsy, according to the attorney general’s office, found that his death was caused by the exercises along with his sickle-cell trait, body weight and exertional rhabdomyolysis, a rare but life-threatening condition in which muscles can break down from overexertion or other causes.Mr. Dickey’s family of Land O’Lakes, Florida, filed a lawsuit against Bucknell and Mr. Kulbis last year and was pleased criminal charges had been filed. “We’re at the point where we’re just glad that someone is being held responsible for our son’s death,” Calvin Dickey Sr. told the Associated Press. “We just want to see the process through, and we’re going to leave it to the attorney general to continue following the evidence.”According to prosecutors, this is not the first time Mr. Kulbis’s coaching methods have come under scrutiny. Investigators uncovered that Bucknell previously self-reported two NCAA compliance violations he committed. In July 2023, he was flagged for allowing two student-athletes to participate in strength training ten times over a two-week period without medical clearance.In addition, he was sent a letter of admonishment and issued a one-game suspension for the fall 2024 season after a second violation in February 2024 when he permitted two uncleared students to train before they had completed their mandatory sickle-cell screenings.Bucknell issued a statement saying it is cooperating with the attorney’s general office and will not comment on the allegations or legal proceedings.Criminal charges against coaches regarding fatalities during a game or practice remain rare, but not unprecedented. In Georgia, a high school girls basketball coach and an assistant currently face murder charges following the 2019 heatstroke death of a 16-year-old Imani Bell during an outdoor practice held under an active heat advisory.In 2009, a Kentucky high school football coach was acquitted of reckless homicide charges following the heatstroke death of 15-year-old Max Gilpin, who collapsed while running sprints in 94-degree heat after vomiting. He died three days later.Mr. Dickey’s family created a foundation that raises national awareness regarding sickle-cell trait risks. “Those are the kind of things right now that bring a smile to my face and touch my heart,” his mother, Nicole Dickey, told the Associated Press. “We want to protect the next generation and share what we’ve learned.”

Former Bucknell Coach Faces Manslaughter Charge After Lineman With Sickle-Cell Trait Dies

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