Nick Saban is calling for major rule changes in college football.
Ole Miss is at the center of a fake injury controversy after multiple players faked injuries during the team's 27-3 win over South Carolina on Oct. 5 in an apparent attempt to delay the game. .
Saban, the former Alabama coach, addressed the issue on ESPN's “College GameDay” on Saturday.
“This is the integrity of the game,” Saban said. “And without a signal from the coach, no player delays the game and fails. There's a history to all this. In the old days, if you got injured, you had to run off the field. That meant breaking your leg. Well, the fastball came and everyone said, “If you're going to get hurt, stay down and don't get up.'' You can't replace them fast enough. ”
“So now people are taking advantage of this rule, but I'm thinking until there's some kind of penalty for doing it and it's up to the officials to determine if a player is injured.” I know it's a very sensitive issue, but there should be a flop rule, and if a player actually gets up and runs in and flops right before play starts, that team probably got a charge. A timeout should have been taken, because in this situation it's obvious that the player is flopping, and they are not injured.
Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer questioned the 11 suspensions during the game during last weekend's postgame press conference.
“I hope they're OK…It's interesting to me how many injuries happen to them after the opposing offense gets a first down or makes a big play…” he said. “The timing of some of the injuries is a very bad situation for college football, and that's not what this game is about.”
Saban's “Game Day” colleague Kirk Herbstreit also took aim at Oklahoma after the team appeared to fake an injury in the first quarter of an eventual 25-15 loss to Tennessee on Sept. 21. and caused problems with injury trends.
“It's unethical,” Herbstreit said. “It's not against the rules, but it's unethical.”
According to “GameDay” host Reese Davis, American Football Coaches Association president Craig Ball said addressing spurious injuries is a top priority heading into next season.
However, he said teams do not have to wait until the new rules come into effect and can take matters into their own hands by dropping tactics.
“I think there are some solutions, but it starts with the integrity of the coaches and the game,” Saban added. “And I think we should all respect the integrity of the game, because there's so much passion in our game and so much interest from so many people and so many fans. It’s a problem to hear people booing constantly for that.”
Ole Miss also addressed the topic in a statement prior to Saturday's game against LSU.
“Faking injuries has become a hot topic in the college football world, and we recognize that our program is part of that discussion.” According to the Clarion Ledger, the school said:. “We have been in contact with the National Coordinator of Football and provided relevant medical information for consideration in order to answer any questions regarding the recent injury.
“We have also kept the SEC office updated and our head coach will be communicating with our coaches and players to ensure we are acting appropriately and complying on this matter. .”
