PISCATAWAY, NJ – NOVEMBER 05: head coach Kevin Wilson of the Indiana Hoosiers looks on from the sideline against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights during the second half at High Point Solutions Stadium on November 5, 2016 in Piscataway, New Jersey. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

For the first time since the 1990 and 1991 college football seasons, Indiana University is bowl eligible in back-to-back seasons. Despite being bowl eligible in back-to-back years for the first time in two decades, Indiana fired its Head Coach, Kevin Wilson, due to a 2015 investigation.

The Indianapolis Star was the first to break the big story exclusively. That story started back on April 7th, 2015.

On that day over a year and a half ago, the dad of a Hoosiers player appealed to the Indiana Athletic Department that his son hadn’t been treated properly after suffering an injury. The father claimed his son had suffered a bad back injury that was overlooked and that his son was told to lift weights while injured and was mocked.

That ultimately led to an external investigation into how IU dealt with football injuries. After extensive interviews with with Athletic Director Fred Glass, the injured player, Nick Carovillano, and his father, Dean, The Indianapolis Star were able to conclude the investigation determined Wilson and his staff ran an unhealthy program for injured athletes.

That was just the first investigation to slowly push Wilson out. The second took place over the last month and was the final blow.

Glass wouldn’t tell The Indianapolis Star what prompted the school’s second investigation, but did say it played a role in his decision.

“Was my decision (Thursday) impacted by things that went on before, including this? … The answer is yes,” he said.

Back in April of 2015 after the initial investigation started, it looked like Wilson might have been on his way out.

“As you know, IU will not tolerate any behavior among you and your staff that penalizes, ostracizes or criticizes any injured football player. I trust that you and your staff are abiding by this long standing policy,” Glass told Wilson.

“As head football coach,” Glass wrote, “you are directly responsible for the welfare of your student-athletes. Accordingly, any comments attributed to you and your staff, whether said in jest or not, which have the effect of pressuring or demeaning injured players are completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated.” Glass warned that further such statements or actions would “subject you and your staff to disciplinary action.”

Once again, the first investigation into treatment of injured players played a role in Wilson’s firing. But it wasn’t the nail in the coffin. It was a second investigation into player health that was.

Nick Carovillano was an Indiana recruit out of Cincinnati. When he started at IU, Nick was less than 250 pounds, but Wilson’s staff wanted him to be a defensive tackle. Nick’s dad, Dean, didn’t think that was a good decision.

In September of 2015 during his first semester on campus, Nick injured his back during practice. He talked to the trainer about his back, but when Nick said the pain wasn’t going down to his legs, the trainer said he wouldn’t treat him. Instead, he was told to stretch because he had shin splints.

“I approached a different trainer in week two of my injury, saying I’m starting to get pain down my leg, my back still hurts,” Nick Carovillano said. “Basically, they’re just kind of giving me the runaround, saying I’m not hurt. ‘You’re being soft. There’s nothing wrong with you.’”

Well, from there things got worse and that’s eventually what lead to Wilson’s firing.

When Nick didn’t travel with the team for a road game, he went home to Cincinnati and a doctor told him to stop playing football immediately. At that point, IU brought Nick to a doctor in Indianapolis for more testing. There, he was diagnosed with a bone fragment and three damaged discs in his back by a doctor.

“I went to the training room almost every single day for three weeks trying to express that I’m hurt, I’m having issues,” Nick Carovillano said. “It just felt like they didn’t care. They just saw me as a body that needed to be out there practicing.”

Nick’s season was shut down immediately and went through rehab.

“Once they figured out that I was actually hurt, I’d say the entire attitude of the trainers and the coaches completely changed for me,” he said. “They were a lot nicer, more caring, wanting to help me with my injury. Everybody except Wilson.”

About David Lauterbach

David is a writer for The Comeback. He enjoyed two Men's Basketball Final Four trips for Syracuse before graduating in 2016. If The Office or Game of Thrones is on TV, David will be watching.