Arizona State put hockey coach Greg Powers on paid leave Wednesday. On Monday, seven players had asked in a letter for the coaching staff to go on leave. Their teammate Matthew Mayich, 21, collapsed from heat stroke at an outdoor workout on August 20 and remains on life support. The school sidelined only Powers. The rest of his staff stays in place. Assistant coach Mike Corbett will run the team this weekend, and ASU says it will name an interim head coach soon. Powers has led the program since 2008. The Sun Devils open their season Friday at Lindenwood. It will be their first Division I game without him behind the bench.

1. Leaving His Assistants in Charge Fixes Nothing

Mayich's family and the players wanted the whole staff off the bench. They still fear retaliation.

The family says it wanted the whole staff out from day one. Rob Carey is the Mayich family's lawyer. "Putting Powers on leave while his best friend of the last decade stays in charge of the locker room doesn't solve the problem," he said in a statement. He wants the promised interim coach to have the power "to remove anyone who poses a risk of retaliation against these players." Carey told NBC News the leave is a step in the right direction, but "retaliation is still possible."

The players still answer to the same coaches. FOX 10 reported that some players object to Corbett and the other assistants staying with the team. They fear payback for speaking out. In their letter, the players pointed out that the coaches "decide our playing time, scholarship levels, and roster status." Tim Casey, the players' lawyer, said they still want other coaches put on leave. "It's a good start that Coach Powers is no longer there, but my understanding is that the entire staff was present on Aug. 20," he told KJZZ.

2. But the Real Fix Is an Outside Investigation

Lawmakers in both parties want someone outside ASU to find out what happened.

Sidelining Powers doesn't explain what happened. Senator Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat, said Mayich's teammates "came forward with their concerns despite the risk to their careers." He added, "there must be a full, independent investigation so that no athlete faces this again." Senator Ruben Gallego, also a Democrat, said an outside review "must determine what happened and whether basic safety protocols were ignored."

The blame could reach past Powers. State Representative Matt Gress wants the Board of Regents to investigate. He's a Republican who chairs the House Education Committee. "If there were adults responsible for upholding the practices laid out already by ASU not doing their job, then they should be held accountable," he said. The regents are scheduled to discuss the case in a closed session Thursday, 12News reported. No outside investigation has started yet.

3. Still, the Leave Isn't a Verdict Against Him

ASU, Powers and the conference say this lets the review run without judging him first.

The school says the team needs stability. Graham Rossini, ASU's athletic director, called the leave "the best move to provide stability for the hockey program" after "thorough and careful deliberation." Powers backed the decision. He said it will let the review "proceed thoroughly, independently and without distraction." He added that he wants "every player to feel completely free to participate candidly."

The leave isn't a ruling against him. The National Collegiate Hockey Conference, ASU's league, supported the leave but said, "We will not prejudge the findings of that review." Sportico's legal analysts say paid leave "effectively separates him from the university without a finding of fault—yet." They say it also protects his right to contest the accusations. If ASU denied him a constitutional right and he claimed he was prejudged or made a scapegoat for other university officials, he could potentially use that against the school.

4. Though the Instructor's Lawyer Says the Workout Was Standard

The instructor's lawyer says high school athletes do the same drills, so something else may have gone wrong.

The workout was ordinary, the instructor's lawyer says. Buddy Rake represents Tim Ziesel, the outside instructor who ran the session. "There's probably 5,000 high school athletes in Arizona doing the same workout and nothing happens to them," Rake told NBC News. "So either the protocol is wrong, or there's something else that happened." Rake has also said Ziesel "didn't determine water breaks" and that six coaches and trainers were there that day. He said Ziesel wants a full investigation too.

Where This Lands

ASU took the step the players asked for, but only for one coach. Mayich's family and the players say Powers's assistants still control the players' careers. The players still fear payback. Lawmakers in both parties want an outside investigation. ASU, Powers and the conference say the leave protects the review and isn't a finding against him. Ziesel's lawyer says either the safety protocol was wrong or something else happened. The regents are scheduled to discuss the case Thursday, 12News reported. The team plays Friday without its head coach.

Sources