Wolfpack's Dave Doeren Reacts to ACC's Reporting Policy

“Coaches are hard to change, but when we told them that we were doing it, no one said anything on the call,” Phillips said at the ACC Media Days. “I don’t know what that meant, other than they were accepting it. It’s the right thing. It’s the right thing. I understand, and every coach has to do what they have to do in order to get their team ready, and there’s always gamesmanship, always. That’s been around for a hundred years, and it’s going to continue, but it’s the right thing.”

The ACC policy also states that "for each report submitted before game day, student-athletes will be designated as Available, Probable, Questionable, or Out. Game Day Reports will be submitted two hours before each game. For this report, student-athletes will be designated as Available, Game Time Decision, or Out."

Doeren said at a breakout session on Thursday at the Media Days event he is not in favor of the new plan.

"I’m not in favor of it, but it doesn’t matter,” Doeren said as reported by On3 Thursday. “We’ve had them before. The reason I’m not in favor of it [is] I think the coaches don’t tell the truth on them anyway. We don’t want to put our players’ injuries out there.”

“I’m trying to protect my guys. I’m not trying to help bettors,” Doeren continued. “That’s what that stuff’s all about. To me, I don’t get it. But they made that decision, so that’s what we’ll do, and so be it.” 

Phillips disagrees with Doeren and is in favor of the new rule.

“It’s the right thing,” said Phillips, who noted there’s not currently a fine structure for “late or untruthful” reports at this time but could be developed in the event it’s needed. “It’s, again, the modernization of our conference, the modernization of college sports, and the expectations we should have to protect our student-athletes.”