The SEC felt Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss did nothing wrong with regards to their handling of Austin Simmons’ availability status ahead of the Rebels’ win over Arkansas on Sept. 13. However, the league did use the scenario to send out continuing education to schools about its availability report rules.
According to an email sent to SEC athletics directors, head coaches and other staffers, and obtained by AL.com via an open records request, the conference explained how the Simmons situation was permissible.
“In the situation involving the SEC quarterback last week, he was listed as Probable on the Initial Report and Available on each subsequent Availability Report,” the email from SEC associate commissioner Garth Glissman reads. “He dressed for the game and fully participated in pregame warmups.
“Although for the first time this season he did not start the game, he played four snaps and threw a touchdown pass in the first half of a highly competitive SEC game. Under these specific circumstances, it was not a violation of the Policy to list the quarterback as Available on each Availability Report beginning on Thursday.”
Simmons was injured during Ole Miss’ Sept. 6 win over Kentucky. As the email said, he was declared available starting on the Thursday prior to the Arkansas game, but played sparingly.
Rebel coach Lane Kiffin defended himself when asked about how he handled the situation.
“I think you phrased it what led us to leaving him off (the report) and playing him when he was available,” Kiffin said on the SEC’s weekly media teleconference following the Arkansas game. “That’s why we left him off, because he was available. It is an availability report, it’s not a specific injury report.
“If a player’s available, he’s available and he was and played in the game. I’m going with what I was told by the league and how to operate on it. It’s an availability report and if a player is going to be available to play then they shouldn’t be on there. I’m following direct orders from the league.”
The SEC email did clarify a situation in which a school would be in violation of the availability reporting policy. The SEC specified that if a school listed a player who was an established starter as available, then did not play them in the subsequent game, then a postgame review found that the player did not practice all week and coaches knew they had no chance to play, it would be a breach of the rules.
The email included additional reminders about the availability reporting policy, spelling out how the SEC’s requirement is different than the injury reporting required by NFL teams. It also praised schools for limited use of the “game-time decision” designation on game days, noting that SEC teams have used the status far less than Big Ten schools use their equivalent “questionable” game day designation.
Simmons has mostly remained on the bench since his ankle injury, while Ole Miss turned to Trinidad Chambliss during the Arkansas win, and its subsequent victories over Tulane and LSU. The Rebels have an open date on Saturday, before returning to action Oct. 11 against Washington State.
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