Former Tennessee and current Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin responded to the Southeastern Conference's new ruling regarding fake injuries used to strategically pause the game or slow down an opponent.
On Friday, the SEC announced that it will begin punishing teams that fake injuries to gain an advantage over their opponents. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey sent a memo to all 16 member institutions telling them to stop the fake injuries.
"As plainly as it can be stated: Stop any and all activity related to faking injuries to create timeouts," Sankey said, according to a copy obtained by ESPN.
Some programs and coaches have received more criticism than others regarding fake injuries. Tennessee and Ole Miss are both up-tempo teams, so Kiffin sided with the Vols, saying fake injuries hurt Ole Miss and Tennessee the most because they slow down their offense.
"I'm glad," said Kiffin. "I know some people say, OK, that sounds weird coming from me. We're a tempo offense. I've been saying this for years, OK, that faking an injury hurts us more than anybody — us and Tennessee — probably more than anybody in America."
It's ironic that Kiffin is siding with Tennessee on faking injuries since he is known as one of the biggest abusers of the fake injury loophole. Kiffin used fake injuries several times against the Vols when Ole Miss came to town in 2022, but he hasn't stopped.
Kiffin used a fake injury as recent as Ole Miss' game against Kentucky. Rebels running back Matt Jones went down with a phantom injury after quarterback Jaxson Dart told him to go down while getting the signal from the sideline.
I hope Matt Jones was able to survive this injury. #BBN pic.twitter.com/Bb4kmbeTCO
— Chris Beasmore (@CBeasmoreSports) September 28, 2024
It's no secret that Ole Miss is one of the most blatant users of this rule. South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer was visibly frustrated and annoyed in his post-game press conference and commented on it after the Gamecocks' 27-3 loss earlier this season.
Shane Beamer chimes in on Ole Miss faking injuries
— Unnecessary Roughness (@UnnecRoughness) October 7, 2024
“It's fascinating to me how many injuries occur for them after the opposing offense makes a first down”
pic.twitter.com/A5KCJGYhxg
Faking an injury has become more common throughout the league in recent years. Since Kiffin became the head coach, it has helped Ole Miss win games and created an opportunity for other programs to use it strategically as well, but it seems like the SEC is ready to change that.
As announced by the SEC, teams continue to fake injuries to gain an advantage, and fines will be handed out as a result. Head coaches will be fined $50,000 for their first offense, $100,000 for their second offense, and a one-game suspension for their third offense.