More transparency regarding the injury status of players is now mandatory in the Southeastern Conference.
The SEC announced on Thursday that member institutions, including Ole Miss and Mississippi State, will be required to provide public reports on the availability of student-athletes to participate in each conference game beginning this football season.
“This availability reporting policy is intended to reduce pressure from outside entities seeking participation information and represents a commitment of our 16 institutions to provide enhanced transparency to support efforts to protect our student-athletes and the integrity of competition,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said.
According to the new policy, SEC schools will be required to submit availability reports three days ahead of each conference football game with daily updates leading to a final report 90 minutes before kickoff.
Under the reporting structure, student-athletes will be designated as “available,” “probable,” “questionable,” “doubtful,” or “out” for their next game. To provide additional clarity on game day, student-athletes will be designated as “available,” “game-time decision,” or “out” for the upcoming matchup — a rule mirroring injury reports required by the NFL and other professional sports organizations.
The SEC’s new regulation will undoubtedly pose a challenge to Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin who has consistently remained mum over injuries his players have battled. Kiffin has largely refrained from opening up about injuries to give the Rebels an advantage over foes, particularly conference opponents. However, the Ole Miss frontman will now be tasked with adapting to the times, something he’s done successfully in other realms such as the transfer portal.
As for Mississippi State, head coach Jeff Lebby has been much more open than his former boss about injuries. Earlier this week, Lebby informed the media that the Bulldogs would be without wide receiver Kelly Akharaiyi and safety Corey Ellington in Saturday’s home opener due to injuries.
Football school availability reports will be posted here. Failure by Kiffin or any coach to provide accurate and timely availability reports will subject schools to potential fines ranging from $25,000 for a first offense to $100,000 for third and further offenses.
The same rule will also apply to men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, and softball. For those sports, reports are required to be filed the night before each SEC contest with an update on game day. Penalties will range from $15,000 to $25,000 for programs noncompliant with the new conference regulation.
