Players have been suspected of falling to the ground with a fake injury for years. But it’s not quite every day you see a head coach appearing to instruct a player to do so as clearly as the cameras seemed to catch Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin in the act on Saturday against LSU.
After Ole Miss kick returner Avery Atkins took off for a 100-yard kickoff return touchdown that was unofficially 105 or 107 yards, SEC Network cameras caught Kiffin seemingly in the act of instructing one of his players to fall to the ground as they were coming off the field.
Kiffin was seen vehemently instructing backup tight end Jonathan Hess to go down on the field rather than continue making his way to the sideline after the kickoff return.
We would be naive to think this doesn’t happen every week around college football, but it is still odd to see, and it is absolutely something the SEC and the NCAA should attempt to address.
LSU had just orchestrated a nine-play drive that spanned 86 yards on the drive prior to the Ole Miss kickoff return. So Kiffin allegedly took this opportunity to give his defense one more chance to breathe after giving up a touchdown on a lengthy drive just moments before.
It may not have worked out as Kiffin had hoped, because LSU put together a 10-play drive, although Kiffin got the last laugh. LSU was forced to punt at the end of the extended drive.