SEC Roundtable: Biggest Stories out of Each SEC Program as Camps Heat Up
Welcome to Sports Illustrated's weekly SEC Roundtable.
This week, as training camps around the Southeastern Conference begin to heat up, there's quite a bit of varying news from across the conference. Here you can find the biggest storylines from each of our SEC publishers.
Alabama — Christopher Walsh, BamaCentral
On Monday afternoon, Nick Saban and the Alabama football team led a march to Foster Auditorium, site of where George Wallace stood in 1963 to make his stance on desegregation, and held a rally against racial injustice.
"Today I'm like a proud parent," Saban said. "I'm proud of our team, I'm proud of our messengers over here [points to other speakers] and I'm very proud of the message."
Said linebacker Jarez Parks: “My life has been in a constant fear of being and knowing that no matter how educated, how intelligent, how skilled I am that my skin can be a perception-changer. We don't want revenge, we just want fairness and equality which is something that we can all achieve by togetherness."
A number of Alabama players were held of out of practice last week and/or the first scrimmage of fall on Saturday. The only absence acknowledged was freshman quarterback Bryce Young, although he was expected to rejoin the team this week.
Freshman Brian Branch has been an early standout at safety along with Malachi Moore, and is the leading contender to be the nickel defensive back.
Auburn – Staff Report
According to numerous reports, the football team will be down 16 players when he resumes practices Tuesday. Gus Malzahn told reporters on Sunday that nine players have tested positive for the coronavirus, and another seven are considered high risk.
Two position groups have been hit hard, although which have yet to be disclosed, and school protocols require that anyone testing positive can’t return to practice for at least 17 days. Auburn canceled two practices and a scrimmage last week, although Malzahn said the latter was due to players needing the weekend off following the shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin. "Every day and every week is a challenge," the coach said.
Kentucky – Staff Report
Players on the Kentucky football team decided to skip practice Thursday in support of recent social justice protests. Instead of practice, the players chose to meet and "discuss more ways to promote their influence and be a part of effective change," per a UK spokesperson. The school said in a post shared on social media that, "We stand together as a UK football family."
"United to promote influence to the public, to learn, understand, and embrace our racial, cultural and spiritual differences and similarities," the school said in a statement. "We are a diverse team and we want our voices and actions to influence the community to make a positive change."
Mississippi State football players were also among the first who decided not to practice Thursday, joining Boston College and South Florida in player-led protests.
LSU —Glen West, LSU Country
There were two season altering news events to come out of Baton Rouge this last week, one affecting the team short term, the other long term. The short term news was a report this week that all but four LSU offensive linemen are quarantining due to COVID-19 exposure.
It's unknown how long the players have quarantined but players who have been exposed must spend two weeks quarantining before they can return to practice. How the team handles practice over the next few weeks will be interesting.
The other big piece of news was a devastating blow to the LSU offense as receiver Ja'Marr Chase elected to opt out of the 2020 season and prepare for the 2021 NFL Draft. There's no denying that Chase will likely be a top-10 pick next spring but the team will have to hope that Terrace Marshall is ready to assume the mantle as a true No. 1. Tight end Arik Gilbert and receiver Racey McMath will also be asked to step up in a major way once the season kicks off Sept. 26.
Ole Miss — Nate Gabler, The Grove Report
The biggest news out of Ole Miss this past week, as it was at many schools across the nation and SEC, was the team skipping Friday's practice to instead march to the Square in protest of police brutality and racial injustices across the country. To me, the biggest reaction to that decision by the players was Lane Kiffin's support of the players.
“I met with our leadership council last night and asked how they wanted to make their voices heard," Kiffin said. "It was good discussion, and this morning, the team decided to march in unity and use their platform to send a message. I’m proud of our players coming together for justice and change. We are going to continue to work together to improve the world around us for everyone.”
It's not often a coach supports the skipping of a practice.... but did they really even do that? Ole Miss pushed their scrimmage this weekend from Saturday to Sunday and thus their off day from Sunday to Monday. Therefore, despite behind closed doors, many believe they just practiced Saturday instead of Friday when they protested.
South Carolina – Chaunte'l Powell, Gamecock Digest
South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp opted to cancel practice on Monday to allow time for his team to hold a demonstration on campus. The Gamecocks started by marching and heard a number of players speak including Jabari Ellis and Jay Urich.
“Obviously you’ve seen the video, the Jacob Blake situation in Wisconsin is a horrific situation," Muschamp said after Saturday's scrimmage. "A team demonstration supporting racial equality and being totally against police brutality, our leadership group came to me on that. We want to make a statement on our campus. We’re going to do that. I think some other student athletes will join us, hopefully.”
When asked if he believes the Gamecocks are rushing to the defense of Blake too hastily, Muschamp shut down the notion.
“All I can tell you is what I saw on video; it wasn’t right in my opinion,” he said. “It wasn’t right in our players’ opinion and I’m gonna stand up for that.”
The Gamecocks held their first scrimmage of fall camp this past Saturday and are one step closer to answering some personnel questions.
Vanderbilt — Greg Arias, Commodore Country
What's really going on at Vanderbilt is anyone's guess at the moment. Rumors have been swirling on multiple fronts, with unconfirmed reports that boosters might be behind the spread. What we do know is that the Commodores have returned to the practice field in preparation for their season opener and according to head coach Derek Mason, things are going as planned at this point.
Mason as been mum on what might be going on behind the scenes with his team as to the social justice movement. While other teams around the SEC have held marches, there have been no reports of such activities, or the plans for from the Commodores. Mason did speak out on the latest incident last week during his first Zoom conference call with media since the team returned to the practice field following their forced postponement because of several positive test results from players.
More From The Grove Report:
True Freshman Marc Britt Moving to, and (for now) Starting at Safety
August Recruiting Wrap-up: Where Is Ole Miss at With the Class of 2021?
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