Oh, hello there. Remember me? I’m that guy that writes about college football and how great it is. I’ve been gone from the writing ranks for awhile and the off-season has been one torturous experience. I’m not even exaggerating. The Preds didn’t win the Stanley Cup, the NBA is still the NBA, and soccer invaded my television for weeks. Soccer! The humanity! But, guess what? It’s SEC Media Days!
That can only mean two things: 1. We are less than fifty days away from the kickoff of college football. 2. (And most importantly) POPPA BEAR IS BACK BABY!
Celebrate and be glad kids, your friendly neighborhood Poppa Bear is back in action. I’m here to guide you through your college football experience, starting with SEC Media Days. There’s a lot that was said and a lot to cover. Honestly, a lot of it was boring and predictable. But never you fret! I’ll dive in and find the most interesting parts of the next several days and feed it to you. Let’s get to it!
SEC Media Days 2018: Day 1
First to the podium: SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey
Commissioner Sankey starts by congratulating UCF on their national championship. (Nah, not really. But could you imagine? I’d follow that man to the gates of hell if that’s how he started).
The Commish actually starts with a lengthy speech about how great the SEC is and how much it has accomplished. I could go through them, but you probably already know them.
The SEC has won a lot of national championships in sports that aren’t football, but I don’t cover the Kentucky Riflery team, so go research that on your own time.
For football, the SEC has won nine of the past 12, with four different teams taking home the trophy.
He uses this as a jumping off point to say that the nine game conference schedule won’t be happening.
It was also made clear that Media Days will return to Hoover next year and will continue to rotate around the SEC. I’m assuming that means we’ll see Media Days hit Nashville, so thank you.
The most interesting bit is where Sankey speaks about the legalization of sports gambling across the country. As a degenerate gambler from way back, I’m all ears.
The SEC has been in contact with all major sports leagues, and the most important factor is maintaining the integrity of the game.
The conference has explored the idea of injury reporting from the coaches and directors. Don’t expect it to be in practice for the coming season, but it’s certainly a major step.
Commissioner Sankey finishes up by praising numerous athletes from the SEC for their work on and off the field.
Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M
His first word is “Howdy.” I can’t make that up. Jimbo speaks ridiculously fast and often. He opens with your common “new coach” speech: excited, working hard, culture, success, challenges, solid players. You get it. You’ve heard it.
He’s asked about being a Florida State, and whether he knew he’d be back in the SEC. Coach states that he had no intentions of leaving FSU and was very happy there. $75 million will make anyone second guess happiness though.
The Aggies have to play Alabama and Clemson in the first four weeks. Jimbo said “shit, are you serious?” Actually, he talked about being excited to prepare for those games and to see how his team responds.
Fisher claims that a good administration is what he looks for in choosing a new job. (It definitely wasn’t $75 million, right coach? Winky face).
More new head coach talk about creating a culture of success.
Evidently, the A&M Chancellor gave him a plaque for a “Future National Championship” with the date left off. I DID NOT MAKE THIS UP. THIS HAPPENED. Jimbo says he “kind of liked it.” He is either: A. Lying through his teeth, or B. Never going to win a national championship. Hell, it could be both. (Also, please someone mail Nick Saban a plaque for a future national title. I need this.)
Finally, someone asked him about his comments last year where he said the ACC is the premier conference in college football. He doesn’t backtrack on those remarks, but somehow credits the SEC with making the ACC great. He’s a hell of a salesman.
More generic new coach talk: the time to win is now, the SEC West is tough, Nick Saban is pretty good, all my players are tough and great, we’ll pick a qb at some point. You get it. Let’s move on.
Mark Stoops, Kentucky
Coach Stoops opens by discussing the improvements the Wildcats have made in football, but that “close isn’t good enough.” He’s excited about some of the solid players, with a shout out to Benny Snell. (Side note: I’m a huge Benny Snell fan).
They have a solid coaching staff with both coordinators returning.
More love for Snell and how he’ll be instrumental in the offense without a proven QB.
When asked if Snell’s role will increase, Stoops responds “It would be hard to increase.”
Snell is a work horse, and Coach Stoops has convinced him that he’s underrated and doesn’t get the proper respect. That’s not even a little true, but good for Stoops to keep the chip on his shoulder.
Stoops has not chosen a quarterback yet. He likes both, and wants to see continued competition. Duh.
It’s the annual “Are you going to beat Florida?” What if he just said no? Instead, he says they need to beat Florida and everyone else on their schedule.
Kentucky ranks first in returning defensive production. That’s a bet I would have lost.
Mark Stoops is the 2nd most tenured head coach in the SEC. That is a second bet I would have lost.
The East needs to close the gap with the West, and Stoops feels like they can compete with the West. He’s not wrong.
He speaks on having to play exceptionally well to dethrone Georgia in the East.
He assumes all of the new coaches will do well, especially Jimbo Fisher.
“I don’t need South Carolina to motivate me. I’m not worried about what they’re doing.” Mark Stoops gets it.
Stoops closes by discussing the new transfer rule. It hasn’t really helped the Wildcats and he doesn’t look forward to a college “free agency.”
Ed Orgeron, LSU
Coach O is excited about pretty much every aspect of LSU football. He lists almost every player and coach, how they plan to spread out the offense, and rotate the defense. On a side note, I have no idea what he’s saying sometimes, so I’m really going to lean on the transcript for this one.
Coach O feels like the rivalry with Florida is as intense as it has ever been and they look forward to traveling to Gainesville.
He’s getting more comfortable in his coaching gig, now that he’s gotten in coaches he has personally hired and players he has recruited. He sings the praises of his coaching staff again.
Nobody has asked about Matt Canada yet. I am disappointed.
Coach Ensminger is mentioned. Coach believes they’ll be on the same page and alludes to problems with Matt Canada. Apparently Canada was not the right fit.
Devin White is one hell of a player and leader for the Tigers. He leads the locker room and is pivotal for success in the SEC West. He ain’t wrong about that.
Orgeron has a lot of respect for Jimbo and thinks recruiting and playing against him will be a challenge.
Joe Burrow is a solid addition to LSU as a graduate transfer, if only so I can hear Coach O say Joe Burrow in that Cajun accent.
The last two losses to Alabama were close and came down to quarterback play. “Their quarterback made plays and we didn’t.”
“Almost is not good enough against Alabama.”
Someone FINALLY asks directly about Matt Canada! Coach O wanted the best OC he could get. It didn’t work out, so he cut Canada loose. “It’s tough when you make a mistake, but it’s even tougher not to admit you made a mistake and it’s just not a good fit. And I had to do the best what I thought was for the LSU program, and that’s why I did it.”
Someone asked if Coach O was the one to come up with the idea of using a helicopter in recruiting. This is my new favorite question. Coach has no idea if he was the first, but that was the fastest way to get to places like Atlanta. I need this to be true. I. Need. It.
Georgia is coming to Tiger Stadium this season, and Coach O is fired up for the atmosphere and the tailgating. He gets it.
We close with QB questions and, per usual, we don’t get an answer. We never do.
That’s it for Day 1 folks. We’ll see you tomorrow for Day 2!
Poppa Bear is the Lead SEC Analyst for the SoBros Network, and serves as our resident expert on the human anatomy, fixin’ stuff, and tomatoes. Follow on Twitter:@SoBroPoppaBear
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