Former Dolphins trainer Kevin O’Neill, who was fired in the wake of the Bullygate scandal, has been hired by FIU, according to Fox Sports’ Alex Marvez.
O’Neill, who had been with the Dolphins since 1996 and was considered one of the NFL’s top trainers, was summoned during a league-wide trainers’ meetings at the scouting combine in Indianapolis in 2014 and told he was fired.
Later that week he was awarded the Fain-Cain Memorial Award for Outstanding Athletic Trainer of the Year by the NFL Physician’s Society.
The Bullygate investigation began when former Dolphins tackle Jonathan Martin left the team in October 2013 and accused teammates of harassment.
O’Neill, the Ted Wells report said, laughed when Richie Incognito and fellow offensive lineman Mike Pouncey and John Jerry harassed assistant trainer Naohisa Inoue, who was born in Japan.
Incognito gave the players Japanese-style head bands, which the report said they wore on Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day to taunt him.
Wells also accused O’Neill of not cooperating in the investigation, although O’Neill supporters said that he was limited by medical privacy laws.
Last year, O’Neill sued the Dolphins, owner Stephen Ross and former coach Joe Philbin.
O’Neill’s attorney, West Palm Beach-based Jack Scarola, alleged that O’Neill had become a “pariah” within the athletic community and was a “scapegoat” in the scandal.
The case is still ongoing.
O’Neill told USA Today in November that he applied for 35 jobs and was only called for three interviews. He was turned down by both the NFL and some major colleges.
“This is a weight that hangs over me,” O’Neill told USA Today. “I definitely feel like a scapegoat.”
Former Dolphins offensive lineman Jim Turner, who was also fired after the Wells report released, was hired this offseason as Texas A&M’s offensive line coach after an lengthy stint without a job.
Turner has been publicly critical of Wells and the investigation.