Mr. CFB: A Few Burning Questions/Hot Topics As SEC Media Days Begin On Monday
The Big 12 had its football media days last week. The event lasted two days.
The ACC has its Media Days on July 20-21 in Charlotte. Two days.
The Big Ten has its Media Days on July 22-23 in Indianapolis. Two days.
The Pac-12 Media Days will last only one day, July 27. A grand total of one day.
The SEC’s Media Days are Monday through Thursday at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. Four days.
That tells us something.
There is nothing quite like the return of SEC Media Days. Over the course of those four days the assembled media, which will number over 1,000, will interview 14 head coaches and 42 players. The SEC Network will cover it wall to wall. The only radio row bigger than the one at SEC Media Days is at the Super Bowl.
Yeah, it's a big deal. And you never know what is going to happen:
One year Nick Saban’s dog got out of the hotel room and showed up for his press conference.
One year Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer addressed the media by speaker phone. Another year he was served with a subpoena.
Vanderbilt interim coach Robbie Caldwell told us that among his many jobs was one as a turkey inseminator. No, I didn’t make that up.
Last year in the middle of the week news broke that Texas and Oklahoma were going to join the SEC.
And now we have SEC Media Days taking place during one of the most impactful periods of change in the history of the sport. With NIL, the transfer portal, and a new wave of conference realignment I hope we actually spend some time talking about football. Because the football is pretty good.
So here are a few questions and storylines to get us started:
**--Will we get any more clarity on when Oklahoma and Texas will actually join the SEC? You can bet that Commissioner Greg Sankey will be asked about it, especially in light of USC and UCLA joining the Big Ten in 2024. Right now the official word is that Oklahoma and Texas will join the SEC NO LATER than the 2025 season. Does the Big Ten’s move accelerate that process?
New Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said last week that he was open to negotiations that would allow Texas and OU to leave sooner rather than later. He said, however, such a deal had to be “in the best interest of the conference.” Translation: Show me the money.
**--Later this week the media will vote on who will win the respective divisions of the conference. Don’t be surprised if Alabama and Georgia get every single first place vote. Enquiring minds want to know: Is there any team that can keep Alabama and Georgia from meeting in the SEC championship game on Dec. 3 in Atlanta?
Nope.
In fact, I think both will be undefeated in the regular season. It will, however, be interesting to see how the second-place votes are distributed.
**—Can Bryce Young repeat as the Heisman Trophy winner?
Can he? Sure. The guy threw for almost 5,000 yards, 47 touchdowns and only seven interceptions in 547 passing attempts. He completed 66.9 percent of his passes.
Will he? Well, there is a reason why only one guy has done it (Archie Griffin, 1974-75). It’s tough.
But this guy is really talented and will be in his second season under OC Bill O’Brien. Alabama also picked up another impact receiver in Jermaine Burton, a transfer from Georgia.
How about this: Give Young time to throw and he can pretty much do anything, including repeating as the Heisman winner.
**—After waiting 41 years for a national championship, can Georgia handle success? Alabama’s Nick Saban knows a little bit about this. He has won seven national championships in his historic career but only once (2011-2012) has Saban won back-to-back titles. Saban will be the first to admit that getting guys to give the same level of effort after winning a championship is one of the most difficult tasks in all of coaching.
Here's the good news if you’re a Georgia fan. Quarterback Stetson Bennett IV is back after being named the MVP of the CFP semifinal (vs. Michigan) and the CFP championship game against Alabama.
I don’t know why, but Bennett still has his doubters. I’m not one of them.
Georgia can’t be as good on defense after losing five first-round draft choices. But the Bulldogs will still be pretty good.
But will good be good enough with a hungry Alabama waiting in the wings?
**--Can Florida’s Billy Napier turn Anthony Richardson into a top-flight SEC quarterback? If he does, the Gators could challenge for second place in the SEC East.
Richardson (6-4, 236 lbs.) has incredible physical gifts and from time to time last season would make dynamic plays that would make you go “wow!” But he also made plays that left former Coach Dan Mullen, considered to be a quarterback guru, shaking his head.
So can Napier, who worked wonders with the spread attack at Louisiana, help Richardson to become more consistent?
Oh by the way: The Gators open with Utah, the defending Pac-12 champions, in The Swamp.
**--What will Hendon Hooker do for an encore? This kid needs to get a little more love after throwing 31 touchdowns and only four interceptions last season.
People forget that the transfer from Virginia Tech did not actually win the job when he arrived in Knoxville. That honor went to Joe Milton, the transfer from Michigan. But Milton was hurt in the second game and Hooker went on to set a Tennessee record for completion percentage (68.0) and post 3,561 total yards, the fourth-best total in school history.
**—Will Kentucky make history? After going 10-3 last season Kentucky is trying to do something no Wildcat team has ever done—post back-to-back 10-win seasons. Kentucky has only four 10-win seasons in its history. Coach Mark Stoops has two of them. The Wildcats return Will Levis at quarterback and one of the SEC’s best running backs in Chris Rodriguez (1,379 yards last season).
This will be Stoops’s 10th year at Kentucky. No coach—not even Bear Bryant—has stayed 10 years at Kentucky.
**—What in the wide, wide world of sports is Bryan Harsin going to say?
The second-year Auburn coach is on the schedule for Thursday, the last media session of the week. He’ll have to say something. But honestly, what can he say?
There was an effort by external forces to get rid of Harsin last season when the Tigers started 6-2 and then lost five straight to end the season at 6-7. That collapse included a soul-crushing 24-22 loss to Alabama in a game Auburn should have won.
And, quite honestly, if Auburn had won that game we probably wouldn’t be having this discussion right now.
With two new coordinators and a schedule that includes trips to Georgia, Ole Miss, and Alabama plus home games with Penn State, LSU, Arkansas, and Texas A&M, it’s hard to see how the Tigers will improve much on last season.
And the drama continues.
Have a great week.