Houston Cougars Star Ed Oliver Involved in Heated Argument with Head Coach

Houston's All-American defensive tackle Ed Oliver is widely expected to be a high first round pick in next year's NFL draft. However, the college football star found himself in the middle of some controversy over a jacket.

Prior to halftime in the Houston Cougars' game against Tulane University, Houston head coach Major Applewhite asked Oliver to remove a heavy jacket and took it off the defensive lineman's shoulders. Oliver became irate and had to be restrained while yelling at Houston's head coach.

Bizarre. Houston DT Ed Oliver told to take jacket off by Major Applewhite. Coogs coach mad his star player is holding himself out, again. pic.twitter.com/WfoRVy7WvH

— Brad Crawford (@BCrawford247) November 16, 2018

The incident is believed to stem from frustration over Oliver sitting out the past few games after injuring his knee in Houston's game against Navy earlier this season. However, earlier in the week Applewhite claimed Oliver wanted to play this week but was told to rest up and get healthier.

"Ed wants to play, but you have to be cautious,” Applewhite said Monday at his weekly news conference. “What I told Ed this week was, ‘You go and get healthy.’ What we don’t need to do is take reps and then something happens in which we can’t play. Let’s just get healthy, then once we’re healthy and we feel like we can play and the doctors agree, then you can come join the team.” (Deadspin.com)

It was an extremely bizarre situation both parties found themselves in as tensions ran high on national television. Many college football fans expect Oliver to either sit out the remainder of the season or remove himself from the school to focus on the NFL draft, much like fellow top pick Nick Bosa.

Regardless of how Applewhite and Oliver feel about how the situation played out, it at least seems like the head coach is moving on from it.

Major on Ed Oliver: ‘We’re all young. I don’t blame him. I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my life. We all need a second chance. He’ll do great and he’ll be fine.’

— Joseph Duarte (@Joseph_Duarte) November 16, 2018