Oklahoma’s football program is apparently handing over coronavirus testing data to their opponents.
Head coach Lincoln Riley recently made some waves when he said the Sooners would no longer make coronavirus testing data public in order to get a “competitive advantage.” (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
Lincoln Riley says OU won’t be releasing football COVID testing data moving forward because of “competitive advantage.” OU has decided to start treating these things like injuries when it comes to public disclosure.
— Jason Kersey (@jasonkersey) September 8, 2020
However, it turns out that Oklahoma is staying in contact with their opponents. According to Kirk Bohls, Riley said Monday that the Sooners are “reporting it to the teams we play.”
He said Missouri State had the coronavirus data going into their Saturday game.
OU coach Lincoln Riley on his team’s lack of transparency on releasing number of positives: “We’re reporting it to the teams we play. Missouri State was well versed in our tests.”
— Kirk Bohls (@kbohls) September 14, 2020
Okay, this doesn’t really make sense. What competitive advantage is Oklahoma maintaining if the teams they’re playing get the data?
Does that kind of erase any competitive advantage you might gain by keeping it secret? Seems like it’s an all or nothing thing.
Either everyone gets it or nobody can get it.
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Furthermore, college coaches communicate with each other a lot. I know that from firsthand experience.
Oklahoma plays Kansas State next. You’re delusional if you think KSU coaches won’t be on the phone with whoever they know at Missouri State.
How do I know that? Because it’s exactly what I would do, and it’s exactly what I’ve watched coaches do.
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So, while Riley’s plan might have sounded interesting on the surface, it’s clear that Oklahoma isn’t getting any competitive advantage by handing over data to opponents.