Notre Dame football leading the way in pre-game injury reports

Ahead of its kickoff on Saturday night, the Notre Dame football is changing the way it handles injuries. And it looks like the Irish will be offering the most in depth and updated injuries of any conference or school out there. Whether or not that’s a good thing or a bad one, is something we won’t know until the season really gets going.

The school announced the new policy on Thursday afternoon, just ahead of the college football season getting going in earnest with dozens of games slated for the night’s action. Interestingly, the Irish followed suit of the SEC and also issued their injury reports rules that will govern the conference this season.

Standing out from the crowd is the fact that not only does Notre Dame football plan to release an availability report about 60 minutes before kickoff updating the availability of players on the depth chart, but they will also issue a release on Monday of every week, according to Brett McMurphy.

Notre Dame football issues rigorous injury report rules

The Monday availably report will tell the college football world if there are any players out for the season. It will also provide information on any player that is questionable for the game.

That they are doing an injury report at all is something that is becoming more popular. Last year, the Big Ten kicked off the trend with conference injury reports two hours before the game and they are expected to continue that in 2024.

The SEC’s rules dictate that each team must submit availability reports three days before each football game, with daily updates leading to a final report 90 minutes before game time. Reports are filed the night before for basketball and baseball, with an update on game day.

All of these rules are thought to mostly accommodate gamblers who are looking for injuries before they put money on the game. However, Notre Dame football and other programs have long said it’s not to help people make money, as much as it is to make sure that people are going after, influencing kids to give them inside information.