During a press conference at the SEC Spring Meetings in Destin, Florida, Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian heard a lot of questions about the House v NCAA lawsuit between the NCAA and the Power 5 conferences.
The settlement was originally created to pay back damages for former Division I athletes, but continued meetings have brought many possible new rule changes to college football. The NCAA has proposed a revenue-share model that would make student-athletes full-time employees for the first time in history, as well as changes to roster sizes and changes to the injury report.
The proposed NFL-style injury reporting system was the buzz of the town when it came to Sarkisian. College athletics has a contentious history when it comes to injury reporting because numerous coaches have been charged with collusion and finding ways to get around the previous system.
In response to a question concerning coaches and the issue of injury reporting, Sarkisian remained straightforward.
“It’s what they do in the NFL, fine with us,” Sarkisian remarked. “I really think that the NFL has already sorted a lot of this stuff out. We don’t need to make as many attempts to imitate the wheel.
Sarkisian kept it frank with how enforcement should be done in the college game, and his NFL background likely influenced his thoughts. Sarkisian spent two years in Atlanta as the offensive coordinator of the Falcons and has lived through the cycle that the NFL utilizes, as well as its rule enforcement.
Although there are still some reservations about altering the current system, the proposed NFL-style rules mandate that teams submit three injury reports each week, eliminating the uncertainty that arises when clubs have less reporting to complete in addition to their players. In the ever-changing world of collegiate sports entertainment, efforts to increase public-team communication have gained importance in the last few years.
With reporting and punishment for those who misuse their authority, Sarkisian isn’t hesitant to take off the band-aid as the collegiate football landscape becomes more and more similar to that of professional sports clubs.
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