Report: Coaches discussing rule to curb faking injuries during game

A massive rule change regarding player injuries could come to college football, according to Yahoo Sports‘ Ross Dellenger.

During the AFCA Convention in Charlotte, Dellenger reported if a player is injured during a game, he’ll have to be sidelined for the remainder of the drive. It’s in effort to eliminate faking or “feigning” injuries to slow play.

It was a hot button issue, particularly in the SEC, this season.

“Here’s an interesting discussion point in Charlotte at the AFCA convention to slow feigning injuries: Any injured player would be sidelined the rest of the drive,” Dellenger wrote on Twitter. “Coaches could use a timeout to reinstate player. It’s expected to be on the agenda at head coaches’ meetings today.”

At the start of November, the SEC announced it would begin implementing punishments for faking injuries. This was a move that Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said he was happy about.

“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.”

Earlier in the season, broadcaster Sean McDonough pointed out that one of the Ole Miss players went to the ground in an SEC matchup against Kentucky, seemingly faking an injury. However, rules analyst Matt Austin said there was no rule specifically against such a move at the time.

“Happens to us more than anybody. Happened last week. Over and over again,” Kiffin said. “So, it may not surprise you, I was very happy for that. We issued a statement weeks ago about this.”

Ole Miss and Kiffin were far from the only team and coach to be called out for potentially faking injuries. It’s a growing issue throughout college football to counter tempo offenses. Now, it will be interesting to see if punishments, or perhaps a new rule, to slow the trend.

Dan Morrison contributed to this report