SEC Media Days 2023: What you should watch for this year
SEC Media Days opens things up from Nashville on Monday, bringing together coaches and players from all 14 of the conference's schools to face questions from the media and give their initial comments to fans in an event regarded as the unofficial overture to the 2023 college football season.
As ever, the SEC is riding high nationally, once again considered to be the consensus best conference in college football after winning 13 of the last 17 national championships and the last four in a row, with Georgia alone winning the last two and coming into this season as the odds-on favorite to make it a three-peat.
What should you be watching for as the festivities kick off this year? Let's take a look at the more important storylines for SEC football fans to follow from Music City.
SEC Media Days 2023: What You Should Watch For This Year
The return of Hugh Freeze
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SEC fans need no introduction to Hugh Freeze, who had a somewhat eventful tenure as the head coach at Ole Miss, and now after some time away at Liberty has returned to the black and blue division of college football, looking to resurrect Auburn's reputation in the wake of the Bryan Harsin experiment.
He may face questions about the personal issues that led to his leaving the Rebels, but hopefully the conversation moves more to his immediate plans to rebuild the Tigers.
Arguably no other team in the SEC has undergone quite as much roster upheaval as Auburn thanks to the school's aggressive use of the transfer portal, especially at the line of scrimmage, and notably at quarterback, bringing in former Michigan State starter Payton Thorne to compete with Robby Ashford. Freeze should use the opportunity to go into depth on how he intends to overhaul this offense.
Related: Payton Thorne transfers to Auburn: What it means in 2023
More schedule talk
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey will undoubtedly face more questions about the future of the conference football schedule despite that issue technically being put to bed weeks ago.
Members voted to retain the eight-game league slate for next season when Texas and Oklahoma join up, but the feeling around the vote was that this is still a very open question looking ahead to 2025, with a lot of momentum leaning towards the SEC adopting the nine-game model.
The arguments against the schedule expansion seem to center around potential player health issues and increased chance of injury, the logistics of having to cancel already-scheduled non-conference games, and the feeling that by adding another game, the SEC could hurt its bowl or playoff chances by ensuring that half the league will have another loss by season's end.
Related: Here are the 3 reasons why the SEC didn't change its football schedule
Alabama: Underdog?
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Not to overreact, but the feeling around the SEC and nationally is that Kirby Smart and Georgia have overtaken Nick Saban and Alabama, at least for now causing a seismic shift in the power structure of college football and emerging as the sport's new dynasty. That talk runs into the 2023 speculation as Georgia, not Alabama, comes into the season as the team to beat in the SEC after the Bulldogs won their second-straight national title and the Crimson Tide lost two games and placed outside the top four of the CFP rankings.
We'll see how much Saban leans into the underdog position, if at all, but reports of Alabama's demise are extremely misplaced. Sure, the Tide lost two games, but they were by a combined four points, and while it's undergoing some important roster and coaching turnover, this is still one of the most naturally gifted rosters in college football as Saban's recruiting efforts haven't missed a step, signing the consensus No. 1 recruiting class coming into this year.
Tennessee's encore
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Big Orange was the darling of college football a year ago after posting the No. 1 total offense and beating Alabama in a statement game at home and taking down Clemson in the Orange Bowl. But now the Vols have to deal with an exodus of key talent on that unit, as quarterback Hendon Hooker and wide receivers Jalin Hyatt and Cedric Tillman went to the NFL.
But Josh Heupel's team also returns a lot, including a running back duo responsible for over two dozen touchdowns, wideout Bru McCoy, big-armed quarterback Joe Milton, who got some important reps late last season, and some key transfer additions like receiver Dont'e Thornton and tight end McClellan Castles. Still, Heupel needs to present a plan for how to repair a pass defense that ranked 127th nationally, if it also returns some of the SEC's most experienced defensive players.
The Jimbo-Petrino Show
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No coach in the SEC comes into the 2023 season on a hotter seat than Jimbo Fisher, coming off a five-win campaign a year ago that included just two conference wins.
A&M's historic recruiting class saw some notable departures, but the program also welcomed several possible game-changers, and has the potential to field one of the conference's better offenses.
Especially after bringing on Bobby Petrino as coordinator, seemingly with the freedom to call plays for a talented group that won't have tailback Devon Achane, but includes Conner Weigman at quarterback and Ainias Smith returning at wide receiver. Fisher will face questions about whether he and Petrino, two strong-willed personalities, can co-exist on the Aggies' sideline, and just how patient the school will be about Fisher's job this season.
Questions for Kirby
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In the wake of winning its second-straight College Football Playoff title, Georgia also courted a ton of negative attention as player after player got in trouble with the law, mostly around traffic violations, including the fatal accident that killed player Devin Willock and a recruiting staffer hours after the team's CFP celebrations. Head coach Kirby Smart may face some questions over his control of the program's culture, but most of the attention will be around changes on the roster, especially at quarterback.
The job of replacing Stetson Bennett looked like it got easier after watching Carson Beck take some productive reps in the spring game, but sophomore Brock Vandagriff is a legitimate contender to make a push for the starting position.
Whoever gets the job should have plenty of help from what looks like Smart's best receiving group so far, with tight end Brock Bowers and wideout Ladd McConkey back, plus the team's addition of transfers Dominic Lovett and RaRa Thomas. Smart also needs to fill more holes on the defensive side of the ball and work out a rotation at running back.
QB competition in Oxford
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Ole Miss comes into the 2023 season with what might be the most interesting quarterback competition in college football. Who does Lane Kiffin go with: Jaxson Dart, his starter from last season, or Spencer Sanders, the veteran Oklahoma State transfer who chose the Rebels for his final year of eligibility? LSU transfer Walker Howard also came over, to add a little variety to the QB room.
Dart, himself a transfer from USC the previous offseason, was the Rebels' full-time starter last fall and helped lead the team to a perfect 7-0 record going into the LSU game on Oct. 22. Ole Miss lost that game, 45-20, and then five of its last six in a late season tailspin, failing to surpass 30 points on offense in any of those losses and Dart dipped under 60 percent passing in three of them.
Dart was a 62.4 percent passer for the Rebels last season, compiling 2,974 yards in the air, averaging 8.2 yards per pass, scoring 20 touchdowns, and throwing 11 interceptions.
A former four-star prospect following a decorated career at Denton Ryan High in Texas, Sanders went 31-12 as starter, including a 12-2 effort in the 2021 season when Oklahoma State finished literal inches away from winning the Big 12 Championship Game. In all, the quarterback finished with 9.553 yards and ran for 1,956 while accounting for 85 all-purpose touchdowns, throwing 40 interceptions.
Is LSU for real?
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After all the talk of whether Brian Kelly could hack it in the SEC, his Tigers team took down Alabama in a thriller and won the West Division title before dissecting Purdue in the bowl game.
Now, a ton of the players that took this team to Atlanta are returning, including quarterback Jayden Daniels, defensive studs Maason Smith and Harold Perkins, and the entire offensive line.
As a result, LSU is starting to get serious preseason attention, with some speculating that a return to the College Football Playoff is in the cards. Kelly and Daniels will be on hand to face questions about what's next for the defending division champs.
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