Florida football coach Billy Napier says UF will be 'prepared' if SEC adopts mandatory injury reports

The SEC is on the verge of adopting mandatory injury reports for the 2024 college football season, but Florida football coach Billy Napier doesn't expect it to result in a significant change for how teams prepare.

CBS Sports reported the conference is finalizing details on an injury report format. It was discussed om May among coaches during the SEC spring meetings in Destin.

"There's scenarios that come up there from an information standpoint that they're trying to standardize all of that relative to the prominence of gambling," Napier said. "So, it won't change what we do very much. I think that we may have to do it a couple more times a week, but we're waiting on word from the league office on exactly what that format's going to be. But we'll be prepared."

In the past two seasons under Napier, the Florida Gators have provided an injury report with its depth chart, which is released on Wednesday night before game weeks.

The Big Ten adopted a game day availability report during the 2023 season. The league's weekly report had two categories for injured players: questionable or out.

Last season, Florida was at the other end of some gamesmanship in its season opener at Utah, when Utes starting quarterback Cameron Rising was declared questionable throughout fall camp after recovering from a torn ACL. Rising didn't play in Utah's season opener, but backup quarterback Bryson Barnes still led Utah to a 24-11 win over the Gators in Salt Lake City.

"I'm not sure this format will, you know, it's still going to be very much the same," Napier said. "Everybody's going to have to submit a piece of paper. But pregame, you're going to be evaluating all the players, and that may help you make decisions from a strategy standpoint. Typically, in our league, you show up to the pregame and that's where you make the necessary adjustments."

Napier on universal injury reports in the SEC:

"I think the league is trying to avoid any gambling, you know, I think there's scenarios that come up there from an information standpoint that they're trying to standardize all of that relative to the prominence of gambling. So, it won't change what we do very much. I think that we may have to do it a couple more times a week, but we're waiting on word from the league office on exactly what that format's going to be. But we'll be prepared. I think it's just another thing that we try to standardize how we do it and keep moving forward."

Will a universal injury report simplify preparation?

"Look, there's still going to be a ton of gamesmanship here. Sometimes you may hear things that you're not sure whether to believe them or not. I think that you always have these scenarios every week that you play. You know, in, out. We spend pregame, we're evaluating who's available. I think when it's an elite player, you know, a very impactful player where there's a significant drop off from player A and player B. Those are the ones that maybe cause the most issues where, you're talking about last year with the quarterback. There's certainly some significance there. Maybe an elite pass rusher, elite player in the secondary. You typically don't know until you get to the park. I'm not sure this format will, you know, it's still going to be very much the same. Everybody's going to have to submit a piece of paper. But pregame, you're going to be evaluating all the players, and that may help you make decisions from a strategy standpoint. Typically in our league, you show up to the pregame and that's where you make the necessary adjustments."

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida football coach Billy Napier says UF will be 'prepared' if SEC adopts mandatory injury reports