Shane Beamer reacts to SEC adopting injury reports for the 2024 season
By Sean Labar
Published:
Shane Beamer and the rest of the league will have to adapt on the fly to a new SEC policy announced on Thursday that will require all 16 football teams to submit availability reports 3 days prior to each conference game (beginning on Wednesday in advance of a Saturday football game) with daily updates leading to a final report 90 minutes prior to game time.
With increasing access to legal sports betting apps in the United States, there has been a push to require mandatory injury reports in college sports.
On Beamer’s weekly radio show on Thursday night, the Gamecocks’ head coach commented on the new injury report policy from he SEC.
“The reason’s gambling, let’s just be real,” Beamer said. “It is what it is, which I have no problem with. I think wanting to have all that out on the forefront now, I have no problem with it. When I was an assistant coach at Virginia Tech, one of those years in the ACC, we had to do it, so I’ve been around it. I think the concern amongst coaches in our league when we discussed it at our league meetings in Destin was just making sure that everybody was honest and transparent.”
Athletes are to be designated as “available,” “probable,” “questionable,” “doubtful,” or “out” for their next game on the report. On game day, athletes will be labeled either “available,” “game-time decision,” or “out.”
“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,” Commissioner Greg Sankey said in an SEC release.
SEC teams can be fined $25,000 for a first offense and up to $100,000 for a third offense and beyond if they fail to provide accurate and timely reports. The fines range from $15,000-25,000 in other sports.
Sean Labar is an SEC football contributor for Saturday Down South.
