The Dolphins fired athletic trainer Kevin O’Neill in the aftermath of the release of Ted Wells’ report into the behavior in and around the Dolphins locker room that was sparked by tackle Jonathan Martin’s departure from the team during the 2013 season.
O’Neill allegedly expressed hostility toward investigators and laughed when players directed racial harassment toward one of the team’s assistant trainers and was fired in February after 18 years in the job. The team was reportedly down to three finalists to replace him late last month, but none of those three wound up with the job.
The Dolphins announced Thursday that former Steelers assistant trainer Ryan Grove will take over the job.
“We are happy that Ryan has joined the team and will lead our athletic training staff,” Dolphins General Manager Dennis Hickey said in the team’s announcement. “He has a great deal of experience, passion and work ethic that will serve him well in this role.”
Grove was an assistant trainer for the Steelers for the last 15 years and was part of the group that was named the training staff of the year in 2008 by the Professional Football Athletic Training Society.
[Photo credit: MiamiDolphins.com]