Charges filed against former Bucknell coach in death of Calvin ‘CJ’ Dickey Jr.

Former Bucknell strength coach Mark Kulbis has been charged with felony hazing in the 2024 death of freshman football player Calvin Dickey Jr.

A former Bucknell University strength and conditioning coach is now facing criminal charges tied to the 2024 death of a freshman football player who collapsed during his very first workout with the team.

According to ESPN, Mark Kulbis was charged Monday with felony aggravated hazing, along with misdemeanor counts of involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and hazing, in connection with the death of 18-year-old Calvin “CJ” Dickey Jr.

Dickey collapsed at a team workout and died two days later, on July 12, 2024. The family’s attorney said back in 2024 that he died from sickle cell related rhabdomyolysis, often shortened to rhabdo, a condition experts say can usually be prevented or even reversed simply by halting exercise once an athlete shows signs of distress.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday laid out a pointed case against the coach, framing the death as avoidable. He alleged that Kulbis had been informed of Dickey’s health condition and had received training on NCAA anti-hazing standards, yet pushed forward anyway. “The facts show this was an intentional, deliberate hazing perpetrated by a coach who knew C.J.’s health condition made him vulnerable to extreme workouts,” Sunday said.

Prosecutors say Kulbis had players perform 100 up-downs and multiple full-body plank drills despite guidance from other coaches that such exercises weren’t safe, and that he waited until Dickey had already passed out before calling for help.

Kulbis, through his attorney Barbara Zemlock, firmly denied any wrongdoing. “While the death of Calvin Dickey is tragic, Mark Kulbis did not contribute to it and is not responsible for it,” she said in a statement to ESPN, describing the conditioning program as appropriate and vowing to “vigorously defend the charges.”

The criminal case runs parallel to a civil lawsuit Dickey’s parents filed against Bucknell in 2025, which accuses the school of negligence and wrongful death for allegedly clearing their son to play despite knowing about his sickle cell trait. ESPN noted that the NCAA requires sickle cell testing for all athletes precisely because of the elevated risk the trait carries during intense conditioning.

The player’s family welcomed the charges as a step toward accountability. Kulbis, who left Bucknell in early 2025, surrendered Monday and was released on $10,000 bail, with a preliminary hearing set for July 28.