Greg Sankey: SEC will 'hold conversations' about implementing injury reports

At this current moment, college football coaches are not required to give out any kind of injury information before games. Some coaches keep things hushed in an attempt not to give opponents an advantage. However, the SEC may be making a move similar to what the NFL does, requiring injury reports every week.

“We are going to have a discussion about student-athlete availability reporting,” Sankey said. “Members of our staff have been working on this project, really since last summer. I referenced some considerations that we would have. That doesn’t mean there’s going to be a decision. In fact, you should not expect a decision. But you should expect a discussion.”

Injury questions are asked nearly every single time a coach meets with the media. Usually, a quick rundown is given while attempting to move on quickly. If there is a required injury report heading into games, everybody out there will know exactly what’s going on.

LSU‘s Brian Kelly began doing something similar to an injury report ahead of the 2023 season. On Monday and Thursday, Kelly would list a player as probable, questionable, doubtful, or out. No specific injury was identified, saying upper or lower body injury — similar to what is practiced in the NHL.

News would then be released on each player listed on the report ahead of Saturday’s game, listing them as available or unavailable.

Sankey went on to say a decision on implementing injury reports would not be decided upon this week. He is in Sandestin for the SEC spring meetings, with the conference’s athletic directors and head coaches from multiple sports heading to the Florida panhandle as well.

Greg Sankey does not want to cut programs after House v. NCAA case

The dust is still settling on last week’s landmark settlement in the House v. NCAA case, which will help usher in the revenue-sharing era in college athletics. Pending a judge’s certification, schools can opt-in to disperse roughly $20 million to athletes, leading some to wonder what that means for non-revenue or Olympic sports.

Regarding the idea of cutting some of those programs, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey shared where he stands.

Joining the broadcast booth during Sunday’s SEC baseball tournament championship, Sankey said he hopes it doesn’t come down to cutting sports after the agreement. He pointed out the other NCAA championships featuring SEC teams – including multiple softball Super Regionals – and reiterated his desire to support Olympic sports.

“That’s not what we want,” Sankey told Tom Hart in Hoover, Ala. as Tennessee took on LSU. “But there are difficult decisions out there.

“I just talked about softball today. All through the day, we’ve got SEC teams playing. We want that to continue. We’re about to see track and field national championships in Oregon that will then feed into the national championships that determine our Olympic team. We want to support the Olympic movement.”

On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this report