Like toddlers, SEC coaches can now be 'put in time out' for feigning injuries.

Faking injuries has been a hot topic lately. There hasn't been a rule to quash the clock-stopping strategy because punishing players/teams for fake injuries is a slippery slope to pushing those with real injuries on accident. Yet, the coaches and players are becoming increasingly more conspicuous in their actions. Hopefully, that's all about to change, at least in the SEC.

League commissioner Greg Sankey sent a memo to the SEC athletic directors and head coaches, laying out penalties for teams that feign injuries. The memo starts with an underlined and bolded statement that reads, "As plainly as it can be stated: Stop any and all activity related to faking injuries to create time-outs." It's a message that comes with a little more teeth than the conference's first attempt to stop the fake injuries.

The SEC has finally laid out a process to hold programs accountable, up to and including $150,000 in fines and suspensions for the head coach and any staff member involved. He also gave specific information on how a feigned injury will be judged. Sankey wrote,

"Moving forward, I will consider a feigned injury to have been determined when the National Coordinator states it is more likely than not that a feigned injury occurred... a feigned injury will be found to have occurred unless the National Coordinator accepts clear medical information establishing the play had to disrupt the game for an injury time out and modifies the feigned injury finding in a timely manner."

With the new rules, the SEC is handing out increasing punishments per attempt. On the first violation, the head coach will receive a public reprimand and a financial penalty of $50,000. The second comes with another reprimand with a price tag of $100,000. On the third violation, the head coach will be suspended for the team's next contest.

This began when Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss blatantly faked an injury in their loss to Kentucky that went viral. Ole Miss promised to address the problems, but there hasn't been much difference on the field. That's because there weren't any boundaries.

I'm in the middle of raising toddlers, and I can tell you that without those boundaries, they'll walk all over you. And just like with my toddlers, the SEC has finally implemented boundaries with clear consequences for breaking them, like taking away things coaches (money) want and putting them in time out, which, coincidentally, works exceptionally well for three-year-olds. Although, it's a little discouraging having to treat SEC head coaches like that.