Injury reports? TCU's Gary Patterson doesn't know gamblers matter to Big Ten ADs
TCU coach Gary Patterson doesn’t care about gamblers. He doesn’t feel they should factor into how college football coaches conduct business. Namely, if schools are eventually required to produce injury reports.
That’s what the Big Ten is pushing the NCAA to do with the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling to allow sports gambling throughout the country.
"Why are they worried about the gambling? I’m not worried about the gamblers," said Patterson, who is entering his 19th season as TCU's head coach..
"That's how I’ve made it through the amount of years I’ve made it through. I pay attention to their line because I think they’re very good at what they do because they make their livelihood on what they do, but I’m not putting my job in jeopardy because of their job."
Patterson made the comments on Monday at his annual Patterson Foundation fundraiser at The 4 Eleven. He is the latest college coach to rip the idea.
The Big Ten athletic directors submitted their proposal with the hope of having an NFL-type injury report where schools would have to issue a mandatory, weekly injury report.
When told about the notion, Patterson seemed baffled by it. Coaches at the collegiate level are notorious for giving as little information as possible when it comes to injured players, as they feel it could become an advantage for the opposing team.
Told a scenario of a player possibly sustaining a season-ending injury and revealing that information, Patterson smiled and said: "Yeah, that’s fine. But … if you don’t know, you don’t know. Technology and medicine are a lot better than they used to be."
As far as his team is concerned, Patterson is excited about the possibilities for this year’s Horned Frogs. He acknowledged that Shawn Robinson is the leader to be the team’s starting quarterback, and believes his team has the right mindset.
TCU faces a difficult stretch to start the year, particularly with back-to-back games against Ohio State on Sept. 15 and at Texas on Sept. 22.
"There’s a standard. Our kids know what they have to do," Patterson said. "The air conditioner was on the other day at the indoor and a couple came in and asked me to turn it off. They understand for us to get better — the new rules when they cut back on practices, you’re not going to get as many, so you really have to bunch everything in — this group here understands what you have to do.
"We have some big games early in the schedule. I’m actually really excited about the possibilities as long as we can stay healthy going into camp, which we are right now.
"But I’m never going to be too positive about anything this time of year."