LSU Tigers head football coach Brian Kelly has enacted a new injury reporting policy ahead of the 2023 season.
Kelly will release injury reports twice during game weeks in hopes of being transparent with the general public.
“I thought it was important given the nature of what’s going on today out there relative to reporting and gaming,” Kelly told the media after opening fall camp. “We wanted to make sure that we were transparent with injuries [and] not putting any pressure on anybody here to guess who’s in, who’s out for a given game."
Kelly said one of his concerns is the public looking for insider information from his staff and players. Kelly believes being forthright about injuries can be a positive for everyone.
Kelly plans to release an injury report at the start of the week that looks similar to NFL injury reports. Players will be listed as available or unavailable on game days, with Kelly calling the competitive advantage gained over player availability "overrated."
“I can’t tell you how many times we didn’t know a particular quarterback was playing," Kelly said. "You’ve got to adjust on the fly. So, I think it’s much ado about nothing, and I think we angst over the littlest things that don’t really affect the game and make too much of it."
There have been multiple betting scandals surrounding college and professional sports over the past six months. In just the past two days, athletes at Iowa and Iowa State have been charged with tampering with records related to criminal investigations into sports wagering. Several players have been accused of betting on sports, in some cases on their own team, using accounts under fakes names or the names of their parents.
While the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission said in a statement that there's no evidence that any Iowa or Iowa State games were fixed, the recent events have put a spotlight on all college programs moving forward.
Kelly made it clear that his goal is to find ways to help his players avoid the dangers of legalized online sports betting. He told his team and staff they shouldn't have a sports betting app on their phone, even if they're not betting on banned sports.
"I wanted to be proactive and not reactive," Kelly said. "I think it's better to be proactive in those situations and take away the temptation to even have that in this building and not be that next school that goes down that path."
