DALLAS — SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey pointed to an interesting statistical anomaly that occurred Wednesday as Day 3 of SEC Football Media Days got underway.
Three of the four head coaches who participated in last year’s College Football Playoff were present. That included current Texas coach Steve Sarkisian, former Washington coach Kalen DeBoer, now of Alabama, and former Alabama coach Nick Saban, now of ESPN.
“Coach Harbaugh apparently didn’t want to come to SEC Media Days,” quipped Sankey, referring to the fourth coach from the 2023 playoffs, former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, now of the Los Angeles Chargers.
The presence of such coaching greatness lent to a vibrant atmosphere in and around the SEC’s home this week on third floor of the Omni Hotel Downtown Dallas. In addition to Alabama and Texas, player-coach contingents from Florida and Mississippi State took their turns talking about the coming season’s prospects.
2024 SEC Media Days will wrap up Thursday with appearances by Arkansas, Texas A&M, Auburn and Kentucky.
Following are five things we learned Wednesday:
‘Sark’ says a heads-up would’ve been nice
There was no more anticipated session Wednesday than the late-afternoon appearance of the Texas Longhorns and coach Steve Sarkisian.
Sarkisian, resplendently dressed in his burnt-orange blazer and cream-colored slacks, delivered what must have been the longest opening statement of the week so far. He certainly got around to thanking everybody, from Pete Carroll to Lane Kiffin to Monte Kiffin to Nick Saban and more.
The Longhorns enter their first season in the SEC as a favorite to contend for the league championship and the College Football Playoff. But last year’s 12-2 run to the playoff came after a tumultuous 13-12 start for Sarkisian over his first two seasons.
Having to take on the rugged SEC in Year 4 represents an even greater challenge.
“I wish they maybe would have informed me before I took the job that this was what we were going to do,” said Sarkisian, referring to Texas President Jay Hartzell and Athletic Director Chris Del Conte. “I didn’t get informed about that until afterwards. But I said, ‘Hey, we already had to build a team that was going to beat the best team in the SEC if we wanted to win a national championship. Not much had to change for us on that front.”
Making his first appearance at an official SEC event, Sarkisian noted some apparent differences from Texas’ Big 12 experience. The Longhorns’ contingent, for instance, was picked up at the airport in Sprinter vans and was whisked to the hotel via a police escort.
“It just means more, right?” he said with a laugh. “The fact that we had a Sprinter van with a police escort to come to this was tremendous. As far as our transition into the Southeastern Conference, I think the key word is ‘respect.’ We have a ton of respect for this conference.”
Cormani McClain still with Gators
Florida coach Billy Napier refuted reports this week that former 5-star prospect Cormani McClain has been dismissed from the team.
McClain, a 6-foot-2, 165-pound cornerback from Lakeland, Florida, transferred from Colorado after a tumultuous, trouble-filled first year under coach Deion Sanders. Reports out of Gainesville indicated McClain had encountered similar difficulties with the Gators.
“I think a lot of this gets blown out of proportion,” Napier said Wednesday. “Obviously we’re aware of his history. He’s a young player, and we run a tight ship. There’s discipline, there’s routine, there’s accountability. It’s hard. ... But the guy’s had a great week so far this week. I think he’s learning expectations, learning our culture.”
Napier needs all the talent he can muster this season. Coming off a season filled with close losses and other difficulties, the Gators will play one of the tougher schedules in the nation. Napier said he has faith in his third team, which includes 35 new players.
“Change doesn’t happen overnight,” said Napier, who is 11-14 in two seasons. “We certainly are not the same team we had last year. College football has become one year at a time.”
Big job at Mississippi State
Mississippi State’s Jeff Lebby made his first SEC Media Days presentation as a head coach with nary a note to guide him. The 40-year-old Texan seemed to feel at home here in Dallas and was an engaging presence as a speaker.
That said, Lebby has a very big job ahead of him. Depending on one’s accounting, the Maroon Bulldogs have a total of either two or three returning starters on offense and defense from last season’s 6-7 team. Ten of their projected starters – including their quarterback – are first-year transfers.
The program has been experiencing aftershocks since former coach Mike Leach died suddenly in 2022. Leach’s successor, Zach Arnett, lasted only 11 games.
But Lebby brings in some high-level experience, coming to Starkville from Oklahoma, where he was offensive coordinator, and serving as Lane Kiffin’s OC at Ole Miss before that.
“That’s not who we want to be,” Lebby said of the heavy contributions from the transfer portal. “We’re going to create edge, and we’re going to be able to sustain as a program because we’ve got great proximity to players. We’re going to be a developmental program. We’ve got great junior colleges inside our state, which is, advantage us. So those are things, as we move forward, that will look a little bit different. But for Year 1, we’ve got guys that will go out there Week One that have played a lot of ball, just not a lot of ball at Davis Wade (Stadium).”
Just call him ‘Rich’
The new executive director of the College Football Playoff flew B1 bombers over Baghdad and retired as a lieutenant general after 38 years of service in the Air Force, including a stint as commandant of the Air Force. Yet as he introduced himself Wednesday morning, Lt. General Richard M. Clark told reporters to call him just “Rich.” That goes for college football fans, too.
“After 38 years of military service, I’m proud to be in the civilian population,” Clark said.
Clark went on to deliver an impressive presentation on the newly expanded, 12-team playoff that will punctuate the 2024 college football season. After utilizing a four-team format that has been in place since 2014, Clark is overseeing the first year in which five conference champions will automatically qualify (the top four get first-round byes and seven other Division I teams will receive at-large bids, including some from the “Group of Five.”
“There is no better time to be in college football,” Clark said. “We’re preparing every day for what is to come. It’s exciting. It’s going to be an amazing season (in which) conference championships matter.”
Clark said his teams already have been hard at work in Atlanta, which will host this season’s national championship game, and in Miami, which hosts for the 2025 season.
Longer season equals more injuries
Another special guest Wednesday was Dr. Katie O’Neal, an infectious-disease doctor and the chief medical officer for the SEC. She was there to discuss a number of subjects, including the toll a season extended by the playoff could take on a team.
“Every practice and every game you play, you have the potential for more injuries,” O’Neal said. “So our teams are thinking about the rehabilitation process and do we work what hopefully will be longer seasons for many of our teams. When we think about safety and return to play, that’s going to become even more important now.”
Players on teams vying for the playoff might think differently about rushing back from an early-October injury in order to be able to play in late December.
O’Neal also said the SEC is prioritizing mental health, working to develop a conference-wide medical records system and focusing improving emergency-response protocols at SEC sporting events.
She also noted that the expectation this fall is for a “very busy viral season.”
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