Last week, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey sent a memo to coaches and athletic directors across the Southeastern Conference warning them to knock off the fake injuries.
In case you were unaware, college football has seen a rapid increase of “feign injuries” that are essentially being used in place of timeouts in order to stop opposing offenses once they find a rhythm.
Sankey warned that the continuation of such behavior would result in progressively worse punishments from the league office, with suspension of a team’s head coach for their next game being the penalty for the third offense.
The warning seemed to work immediately, too, as there weren’t any notable instances of fake injuries in the conference last weekend.
Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby was asked about the new rule being enforced in his conference, and his response has caught the attention of plenty of people.
“I’m all in favor,” he said. “Love it. It’s come up a ton as we’ve been in the middle of some games. So I love that that’s where it’s going.”
Being an offensive play-caller — and someone who implements an up-tempo offensive — Lebby is an obvious supporter of the new rule. However, his former mentor and Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin has been the posterchild for this tactic, as Ole Miss was really the team that made fake injuries a national topic.
Last month, South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer addressed the phenomenon after a 27-3 loss to the Rebels. And while he said that he hoped the Ole Miss players were okay, Beamer also addressed the elephant in the room.
“I got my own problems. We just got our butts kicked 27-3. But it’s fascinating to me to see how many injuries occur for them after the opposing offense makes a first down or makes a big play…
“The timing on some of the injuries — it’s a really bad look for college football.”
So, how does Kiffin feel about it? Well, actually, he says he’s glad the rule is in place now.
“I’m glad,” Kiffin said. “I know some people say, okay, that sounds weird coming from me. We’re a tempo offense. I’ve been saying this for years, okay, that faking an injury hurts us more than anybody — us and Tennessee — probably more than anybody in America.”
