Eli Drinkwitz name-drops Lane Kiffin after SEC availability report questions arise

Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz got a question about the validity of the SEC Availability Report at his press conference on Tuesday. He tried to find the appropriate words with his answer, but did, in that response, reference Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin as part of his response.

Drinkwitz noted some of the questioning about the inherent point of the report this afternoon, and how his program goes about viewing it week-to-week in league play. That included a mention of Kiffin, who may have seemingly skirted the rules around it a bit based on the status last week of QB Austin Simmons in the Rebels’ conference game against Arkansas.

“Is it an availability report? Or is it an injury report, based on last week?” Drinkwitz thought.

“I’m not going to step in Lane’s business here, so I’m not going there,” added Drinkwitz with a smile.

Coming out of their conference opener the week prior at Kentucky, Simmons was dealing with an ankle injury that had him questionable against Arkansas. He was listed as probable on the report on Wednesday and wasn’t listed at all on Thursday and Friday, but was then, despite being off the report and having returned to practice to end the week, separately reported to be a game-time decision that Saturday. QB Trinidad Chambliss did start in his place, but Simmons played in the game for a time as he completed one four-yard pass for a touchdown and rushed once for eight yards. Still, it all came across as some gamesmanship, some of which would’ve been against the spirit of the conference’s availability report, by Kiffin and the Rebels.

The question was likely focused or centered around the conference opener this weekend for Mizzou against South Carolina, with QB LaNorris Sellers likely to be on it with some status after exiting the Gamecocks’ loss last week to Vanderbilt. But, as a practice, Drinkwitz says the coaches don’t actually use the availability report as much as you may think, or certainly not as much as fans or those in Vegas do.

“Yeah, it’s not really for us. It wasn’t created for the coaches,” said Drinkwitz. “It was created for transparency because of other industries that are tied to college football. So, I would say you’d have to ask those guys.”

The availability report may be something someone on staff takes a glance at over the course of its updates going into the games on Saturday. However, beyond that, and especially with still some skepticism about its effectiveness, in part because of instances like this one, it is what it is as far as the coaches go, says Drinkwitz.