Scum bag coach who sadly is probably not all that different from far too many college and pro coaches.
He's won 4 Big 10 games in 3 years. He should have been fired for, you know, sucking. Lots of players play hurt. If they can prove that it was the coach's handling of their injuries that "forced" them to play, that's a tall order.
Sounds like a "toughness" issue that all coaches are trying to establish. It's all the more important when your talent base is so thin in a program. I suspect the great programs (i.e. OSU and Alabama) have unwritten rules that kids know they need to play through minor injuries or potentially lose their depth chart spot. Of course, that's easy when you recruit like they do.