Injury disclosure rules get strict for CFP, with Dan Lanning forced to comply

Brett McMurphy of On3 Sports posted today that new College Football Playoff injury reporting rules require coaches to come clean about player availability three days before kickoff during the entire 12-team tournament.

In a post today on X he wrote, "College Football Playoff teams must provide player availability reports by 8 p.m. ET 3 days prior to each playoff game w/daily updates leading to a final report 90 minutes before kickoff. Prior to game day, players will be listed as available, probable, questionable, doubtful or out for the game. On game day, they will be listed as available, game time decision or out."

Ever the gamesman and strategist, Dan Lanning will stretch this rule to its limit. He'll no doubt misdirect opponents with exaggerated injury claims in some cases and vague statuses whenever possible. The "game time decision" category will be used liberally. Players in recovery and reasonably likely to play might get "questionable" tags, the better to breed laxity of preparation.

With gambling more widespread than ever before with prop bets, online casinos and sports prediction markets like Kalshi, the pressure to provide equal information to the public and insiders grows exponentially, in order to curb manipulation and preserve the integrity of games.

Everywhere they go, people want to know, who's going to play?

As a coach with a burning desire to win and a zest for details, Lanning habitually provides as little information about injuries as possible. Many great coaches are in that camp. Chip Kelly used to answer nearly every question about player health with "He's day-to-day."

While the best indicator of Dante Moore, Gary Bryant Jr. and Evan Stewart's availability will remain pregame warmups and the first snap of the ball, at least a partial update has to be made public on Wednesday.

Stewart, Moore and Bryant Jr. all practiced yesterday. So did freshman safety Trey McNutt, who missed the entire season with a leg injury sustained in Fall Camp.