College Coaches Are Paranoid, Maybe They Should Be

A question to ask many head football coaches these days: Why so nervous?

From not disclosing injury updates to now going to great lengths to prevent another coaching staff from stealing signs, coaches are paranoid about what happens outside the playing field with their programs.

Negative recruiting has always been a concern but maybe we don’t hear as much of that these days because everybody is guilty of it?

Trying to keep an injury under wraps is understandable if the coach wants the opposition to guess as to whether the athlete will play or not that week. But, really, how much does that impact the preparation of the other coach, who gets paid well to prepare his team for all situations?

Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen is the latest coach to publicly display his angst of releasing injury information to the media. A reporter asked Mullen about a player’s availability in a press conference last week, which prompted the coach to make a pointed retort. “I expect everybody to play,” Mullen said. “And I’ll never comment on an injury again. Because you guys obviously don’t need me to comment on injuries. Because you know more than I do.

“You report more than I would ever say for the benefit, of the young people’s benefits, not so you could get a scoop … we’ll never comment on an injury in this program again so please don’t ever ask.”



The Jackson Clarion-Ledger reported that cornerback Will Redmond had torn an ACL. When asked about Redmond’s injury, Mullen said, “We don’t talk about injuries in our program. You want to find out about our program, buy a ticket and show up on Saturday.”

The NFL has in place a policy that mandates any “significant” or “noteworthy” injury news must be released for fairness reasons. That rule was scrutinized recently because the Indianapolis Colts have allegedly withheld information about the extent of Andrew Luck’s injury.  The quarterback apparently has broken ribs and the NFL is investigating whether the Colts knowingly withheld that information from its weekly report.

Earlier this year, the NFL investigated whether the Browns violated the injury-reporting policy when scratching cornerback Joe Haden after he was listed as probable. In the end, The NFL merely said that the matter had been resolved without information if whether a penalty was imposed.

The NCAA does not require its institutions to provide weekly injury information. Some programs provide updates on whether an athlete is probable, doubtful, questionable or out for the game that week, but not all are forthcoming. With so many high-caliber players out because of injuries – Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright, UCLA linebacker Myles Jack, Oregon receiver Byron Marshall, etc. – the assumption is an inordinate amount of serious injuries are occurring this season.

Not so, says UCLA coach Jim Mora, who blames the increased reporting of injuries for that belief.

“I think we are more aware of injuries now,” UCLA coach Jim Mora said during the Pac-12 teleconference this week.  “There’s so much media attention now, so many outlets that are covering teams. There’s daily updates on every team and player on that team. We’re just more conscious of who’s hurt.

“I think it’s always been this way, at least in my career. I don’t feel like it’s any different, but I don’t know any numbers that back up my claims or anyone else’s claims.”

To know the exact amount of numbers, the NFL-style reporting must be implemented by the NCAA. If the extent of injuries is known annually, a database can be used to draw from to perform studies on what injuries happen the most. That could lead to prevention measures.

As it is, most schools fail to participate in the NCAA’s voluntary Injury Surveillance Program. The average participation rate was 19 percent from 1988-2004, with 37 of 238 Division I schools participating in 2004. No serviceable data can be used from that small amount.

When it comes to down to it, the primary motive of coaches to protect themselves and what they believe is their athlete’s privacy.

Paranoia strikes supreme, however, when the coach’s win-loss record comes into play. Why else have we heard of the increasing complaints of Arizona State’s coaching staff stealing signs from other coaches?

No evidence exists that ASU has made the practice illegal, with the use of video equipment. Todd Graham and his staff try to steal signs like major-league managers try to do against each other.

Now we see sheets and placards used to block signals. Coaches are commenting now about the possibility of following the NFL’s availability of wireless communication between the coach and the quarterback on the field to alleviate the concern of signal-stealers.

Making the most of what a coach has should be the ultimate goal. Paranoia only gets in the way. Al Davis’ “Just win, baby” motto carries on significant meaning with this.