Kiffin: Sport is changing, but that’s OK
FAU coach in favor of any tweaks that make game safer.
Florida Atlantic University coach Lane Kiffin is known for his controversial opinions, but he’s taking a cautious stance on player safety and recent changes made to football.
Asked at Thursday’s Conference USA Media Kickoff about comments made earlier in the week by North Carolina coach Larry Fedora, who disputed connections between football and CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) and said that football is “under attack,” Kiffin said he was all for any changes that will make the game safer.
“You see these long-term issues with these older NFL players,” Kiffin told ESPN’s Jake Trotter. “What’s the most important thing? Longterm health, or how the game looks?”
Speaking at the ACC Media Day on Wednesday, Fedora said he wasn’t sure that “anything is proven that football, itself, causes CTE.”
“My understanding is that repeated blows to the head cause it,” Fedora said, “so I’m assuming that every sport we have, football included, could be a problem with that as long as you’ve got any kind of contact.”
A study conducted during the 2017 NFL season revealed there were 281 diagnosed concussions, up from 243 in 2016. The league was criticized for allowing players who had seemingly suffered concussions to remain in the game. They included Houston Texans quarterback Tom Savage, who appeared to have seizure-like symptoms after a hard hit against the 49ers, and Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton.
Fedora created additional controversy by saying that “the game will be pushed so far from what we know that ... we won’t recognize it in 10 years.”
Kiffin has been accepting of traditional changes to the sport, including embracing analytics as the Owls went 11-3 last season, their first winning record since 2008. Kiffin, a father of three, said it is “accurate” to say the sport is changing.
“I think the changes in the game that will continue to come are going to help people’s concerns,” he said.
Kiffin sparked controversy of his own Thursday when he said that Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray, the ninth overall selection by the Oakland Athletics in last month’s MLB Draft, should have prematurely ended his football career. The comments were viewed as a dig at Murray.
Kiffin immediately clarified, saying hi s surpri se came from Murray choosing to play football despite the injury risks.
“Think of all the concussion issues that are out there with college football and the NFL,” Kiffin said. “He should go play baseball.”