SEC MEDIA DAYS IN PICTURES

A look back at SEC Media Days at The Omni Hotel in Dallas, July 15-18, mostly through the lens of TFB photographer Virgina Hagler-Lucas (with a few photos by Mitch Lucas thrown in for good measure). Enjoy.

LSU coach Brian Kelly was the very first speaker at Southeastern Conference Media Days for a third straight year. Kelly discussed improving his defense this season, and replacing Heisman Trophy-winner Jayden Daniels at quarterback. Daniels, of course, moved on to the National Football League. Reading and assessing defenses pre-snap was one of Daniels’ strengths and Kelly said he believes his successor, Garrett Nussmeier, also has that strength. “That was one of Jayden Daniels’ best assets,” Kelly said. “You could watch it, talk about it, he could recite it. You could be in a meeting and you would walk out of that meeting and go, amazing. His recall, his ability to go through all the progressions, his ability to know everything in terms of blitz protection, and then in a game he could do it. That gift, that ability is what makes the great quarterbacks great, and Garrett has been able to do that as well. Now, he has to go do it in the games like Jayden did. But that’s the first thing we look for, the ability to take it from the meetings, film study, walk-throughs, practice, and apply it to the games real time. I believe Garrett will be able to do that as well.” (Photo by VIRGINIA HAGLER- LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

One of the large SEC helmets that bookended the stage in the main auditorium that served as the media room where coaches had their addresses for the week. (Photo by MITCH LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

” South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer has led the Gamecocks to wins over Tennessee and Clemson. Can this be the season they take the next step, ala Missouri last year, and get to at least near the top of the SEC? “You want to compete against the best,” said Beamer, the son of longtime Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer. “You want to coach against the best. That’s what you get to do in the SEC. I can’t spend a ton of time worrying about the other teams in this league. For me, and I know it’s cliche, it’s doing the very best job I can every day for our program and trying to continue to move it forward. Recruiting, player development, our staff, you name it. How do we get better each and every day. That’s all I’m focused on. I’ll say this, too: We ain’t far off. We’ve had some fantastic wins over the last three seasons over teams that when you talk about — when you guys do your predictions or the media and people nationwide do predictions of, okay, here is what we think the 12-team playoff is going to look like this year, there are teams that are considered to be in the mix for that playoff that are teams that we have beaten in our three years here as well. So that’s the one thing we got to do, build and compete and get better each and every day and continue to put yourself in the mix for that — for a spot in that playoff. And we’re in a conference, too, the depth of this league is unmatched. If you’re one of the better teams in this conference, you’re going to be in the playoff. We’ve shown that we have the potential to be that over the last few years.” (Photo by VIRGINIA HAGLER-LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

Gamecocks linebacker Debo Williams (above) speaks with the media at SEC Media Days. Williams led the SEC with 67 solo tackles a year ago, and had 113 total tackles, the most by any Gamecock player since the 2002 season, coach Shane Beamer noted in his opening statement. (Photo by MITCH LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin ponders a question. Kiffin, whose Rebels are among the favorites to win the SEC by the media, lost his father, longtime college and NFL defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, just a week before SEC Media Days. Several of the coaches talked about the elder Mr. Kiffin in their addresses to the crowd. (Photo by VIRGINIA HAGLER-LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

Ole Miss quarterback Jackson Dart is surrounded by media. Dart passed for 3,364 yards, 23 touchdowns and just five interceptions in the 2023 season, a reason many people are picking the Rebels as the team to beat in the SEC this season, or at the very least, to reach the SEC Championship Game. (Photo by MITCH LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

The Vanderbilt Commodores, it was pointed out to coach Clark Lea (above), are one of the few SEC teams that have a winning record against new member Texas (8-3-1). It was also pointed out that all of those wins came before 1930, a factoid that brought a laugh out of Lea. (Photo by VIRGINIA HAGLER-LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

Georgia coach Kirby Smart leads his alma mater, the Bulldogs, who had won back-to-back national championships before losing to Alabama last year in the SEC Championship Game and missing the four-team playoff. Georgia, in spite of offseason problems, was the media’s choice as preseason favorite to capture the SEC Championship. (Photo by VIRGINIA HAGLER-LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

Georgia quarterback Carson Beck (above), one of the favorites to win the 2024 Heisman Trophy. Beck threw for 3,941 yards, 24 touchdowns and six picks a year ago, and led the Bulldogs to a thrashing of Florida State in their bowl game. (Photo by MITCH LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey (above), whose teams combined for 11 national championships last year, led the nation in football attendance for the 25th straight year, led the nation in college baseball attendance for the 28th consecutive year, and also led the nation in college softball and gymnastics attendance. And oh, by the way, he brokered the deal that just brought Oklahoma and Texas into the conference as its 15th and 16th members. (Photo by VIRGINIA HAGLER-LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel led the Oklahoma Sooners to a national title as their quarterback in college. Now, since OU is a member of the SEC, he’ll go into Norman this year as an opposing coach to face them. How weird will THAT be? “You know, Coach (Mike) Leach recruits me,” Heupel recalled. “Brent (Venables, OU’s head coach), I got great respect for Brent, playing while he was coaching, but also being beside him in the staff room. I don’t know that I ever forecasted they were coming into this league, Oklahoma. It’s just — those are two really good brands coming in. Obviously Oklahoma, my experience there, I think it’s an exciting time to be in this league and really unique that I’ll have an opportunity to go back to Oklahoma. It’ll be a completely different viewpoint on that Saturday afternoon or evening, whenever the game is. But it’ll be unique for me. Got family that still lives back there. A lot of friends, teammates, coaches that I stay in contact that coached me while I was there, and obviously administration, too. So it’ll be a unique Saturday.” (Photo by VIRGINIA HAGLER-LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

The giant SEC logo stood right outside the main media hall near radio row in The Omni. (Photo by MITCH LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

Asked by a member of the media if he and Texas coach Steve Sarkisian will compare notes as they both enter the Southeastern Conference this year, Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables (above) got a pretty hearty laugh from the room when he simply answered, “Probably not.” (Photo by VIRGINIA HAGLER-LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz (above), who had been on a lot of media members’ “hot seat” prior to the 2023 season, quieted a lot of that talk when his team put together one of the best seasons in many years in Columbia, finishing it with a win over Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. Can the Tigers take the next step? “You know, now with no divisions, 12-team playoff, you can get caught up in a lot of what-ifs and play in a lot of hypotheticals,” Drinkwitz said. “The only thing that I know for sure is that we’re going to play Murray State week one, and we have to focus with everything we have on being 1 and 0 and consistently preparing the way we know it takes to be 1 and 0. And at the end of the year we’ll look back over our 12 games and we’ll see how many of those wins and what that earns us.” (Photo by VIRGINIA HAGLER-LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

Former Air Force player, pilot and General RIchard Clark, the new chair of the College Football Playoff, addressed the assembly at the SEC Media Days in Dallas. Clark replaces the retiring Bill Hancock. (Photo by VIRGINIA HAGLER-LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

One of the most anticipated appearances at SEC Media Days this year was by first-year Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer (above). DeBoer, of course, replaces now-retired coach Nick Saban, who won seven national championships in his career, six in Tuscaloosa. It does seem DeBoer has the weight of the college football world on his shoulders, with the pressure of following Saban directly, but he is embracing the challenge. “You know, I get it. I totally get it,” DeBoer said. “I understand there’s only one Coach Saban. There will only ever be one Coach Saban. This program is special, and I guess I just take it as a great honor to be the one that gets to do everything we can to carry on the great tradition. So much blood, sweat and tears, whether it’s the players and the alumni that have been in this program or coaches, and obviously referring to Coach Saban, so much is put into this place. We all have alma maters. We all have places that we have great pride in, and you always want that to be home. We always want to make those people proud of their alma mater and the work that’s been put in to set this program up for success. But for me personally, it was just more about just understanding that coaching football is coaching football to some aspect, and you’ve got to try to simplify it down, as difficult and as complicated as you can make it. I’ve done this for enough years and seen what good culture looks like and maybe even what a culture that needs to improve on looks like, and it’s been just an awesome blessing to be a part of this program, to continue to have that expectation on us. The alternative is to be at places where there aren’t expectations. At some point there’s been places where maybe a little bit of that has happened throughout my career, and this is a great place to be. I’m very blessed, very honored, and certainly acknowledge what you said, but we’re just going to focus on this team and being the best we can be and continue to build on the great tradition of Alabama football.” (Photo by VIRGINIA HAGLER-LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe begins the 2024 season as one of the leading contenders for the Heisman Trophy, along with Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel, Georgia’s Carson Beck, Texas’s Quinn Ewers and a handful of others. Milroe, a native of Houston-area Katy, Texas, looked like a rock star in the media room, although he did remove his cowboy hat for the media session. Milroe threw for 2,834 yards, 23 touchdowns and six interceptions in 2023. (Photo by MITCH LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

One of the many lively screen graphics in place all week at The Omni in Dallas. (Photo by VIRGINIA HAGLER-LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

A look down busy Radio Row at SEC Media Days. (Photo by VIRGINIA HAGLER-LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby steps to the podium. Lebby is the third head coach in as many seasons in Starkville following the sad passing of Mike Leach and then last year’s in-season dismissal of Zach Arnett. (Photo by VIRGINIA HAGLER-LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

Malachi Moore, a starting defensive back at Alabama, answers questions in the smaller media room at SEC Media Days. Moore has the distinction of being the player former coach Nick Saban said last year he would most trust to be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. “Me?,” Moore said, with a laugh, when told of Saban’s statement last year. “He said me?” (Photo by VIRGINIA HAGLER-LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

Now, here’s a man who might not be technically on the proverbial “hot seat” – after all, the season hasn’t even started. But some Florida fans on social media seemed to be hitting the seat-heater button after last year. Maybe coach Billy Napier (above) needs more time to fix the Gators, who haven’t been nearly as good since Kirby Smart’s arrival in Athens to coach Georgia. And Florida’s schedule looks to be one of the most difficult, one of the most daunting, not only in the SEC, but in the nation, something about which Napier was questioned at SEC Media Days in Dallas. (Photo by VIRGINIA HAGLER-LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

The SEC Network’s set at SEC Media Days included a familiar face: former Alabama coach Nick Saban (second from right), now retired, who picked Texas and Georgia as the two most likely teams to reach the SEC Championship in Atlanta, now that the league has abandoned the division format, beginning with this season. (Photo by VIRGINIA HAGLER-LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

Texas defensive back Jahdae Barron (above) and the Longhorns face Michigan in a non-conference game the second week of the season in Ann Arbor – their biggest non-conference test, of course, of 2024. And then, for the first time, they’ll play a Southeastern Conference schedule that includes home games against Georgia and Florida, and road trips to old rivals Arkansas and Texas A&M. The Longhorns do still face Oklahoma, coming with them to the SEC, in Dallas at the Cotton Bowl mid season. (Photo by VIRGINIA HAGLER-LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

University of Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian was a popular man at SEC Media Days. “Being 5-7 in Austin, Texas sucks,” Sark told the assembly during his address. Well, he didn’t have to worry about that last year, having guided the Longhorns to the College Football Playoff, but losing in the semifinals to Washington at the Sugar Bowl. How will the ‘Horns fare in their first SEC season in 2024? (Photo by VIRGINIA HAGLER-LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers prepares for a session on an ESPN Radio broadcast during SEC Media Days. Ewers is a three-year starter and it’s no wonder why: he threw for 3,479 yards, 22 TDs and six interceptions a year ago in helping lead the Longhorns to the College Football Playoff and a near-win over Washington in New Orleans. (Photo by VIRGINIA HAGLER-LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

A view coming up the escalator at the scene outside the main media hall at The Omni in Dallas. (Photo by VIRGINIA HAGLER-LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

ESPN / ABC college football analyst Sam Acho, a former Texas standout, ponders his opinion before answering a question out in the foyer. (Photo by VIRGINIA HAGLER-LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

The always candid – and entertaining – Sam Pittman, coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks, who has a very interesting new assistant coach on his staff: former Razorbacks head coach Bobby Petrino. Petrino, the offensive coordinator at Texas A&M a year ago, returns to Fayetteville in that role, hoping to help Pittman take the ‘Hogs to a higher spot in the SEC. (Photo by VIRGINIA HAGLER-LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

A wide-shot look at the media room during SEC Media Days, during the Missouri players interview session. In the background: reporters interview Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden III. (Photo by MITCH LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

The incomparable Paul Finebaum (left), the longtime newspaper columnist-turned-radio-turned-TV host, shown here during a segment on ESPN Radio alongside ESPN college football writer and analyst Heather Dinich. (Photo by VIRGINIA HAGLER-LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

Arkansas defender Landon Jackson answers questions and was quite candid about who he thought was the best athlete in the SEC, at least on offense, when asked at SEC Media Days: Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe, recounting a story of the Alabama-Arkansas game two seasons ago when Milroe came in after then-quarterback Bryce Young was injured, and iced the game with a lengthy run. (Photo by VIRGINIA HAGLER-LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

Alabama staffers play the new EA Sports College Football 25 game, which was released the week of SEC Media Days. (Photo by VIRGINIA HAGLER-LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

Texas A&M’s Mike Elko (above) returns to the program as its head coach, replacing Jimbo Fisher, who was dismissed late in season last year. Elko, who once served as the Aggies’ defensive coordinator, is one of three new first-year head coaches in the SEC this season, joining Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer and Mississippi State’s Jeff Lebby on that list. DeBoer, though, has been a head coach for years, and guided Washington to the College Football Playoff last year; Elko led his team last year, Duke, to an upset of Clemson; and for Lebby, it’ll be his first head coaching gig. (Photo by VIRGINIA HAGLER-LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

Auburn defensive lineman Keldric Faulk, looking like a million dollars prior to his appearance at SEC Media Days. (Photo by VIRGINIA HAGLER-LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

Hugh Freeze, who enters his second year as Auburn’s head coach. The Tigers have five straight home games to open the season – but then don’t play at home at all in October. “The five home games in a row are not ideal for our fans. That’s why I think we have some of the greatest fans. They’ll still show up. They’re going to be there. Jordan-Hare is a difficult place to play. We have to have the environment. I do believe that five-game stretch is critical to our success of the season. Whether it’s the Oklahoma game or the Cal game or the Arkansas game, all of those are vital, and that stretch is going to be really important to us. We need our fans. I know it’s difficult on them to come back and forth for five straight weeks. Then unfortunately, we don’t have a home game the whole month of October which is usually the best weather for us. I know our fans will show up. That is a critical stretch, for sure.” Freeze has a track record of turning programs around, and quickly. We’ll see what he does at Auburn with experienced quarterback Payton Thorne (below) this season. (Photo by VIRGINIA HAGLER-LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

SEC Coordinator of Officials John McDaid (above) always has an interesting summary of rules changes, where things can be improved, and the overall direction that college football is headed, rules-wise, including the status of replay, challenges, and simply officiating itself play a part. McDaid noted that last year, in college football, the average time of a game was three hours, 17 minutes. The SEC practically mirrored that (three hours, 18 minutes). The average game had 13.8 penalties; the SEC had 14.2. There were 2.2 replay stops, on average, a game in college football last season; in the SEC, there were 1.7. Pretty close. (Photo by VIRGINIA HAGLER- LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

Kentucky coach Mark Stoops, now the dean of SEC coaches with the retirement of Nick Saban from Alabama. Stoops was approached by Texas A&M when its job was vacant, but elected to stay with the Wildcats. “Yeah, I was pursued pretty aggressively by them, and we’ll leave it at that out of respect for everybody involved,” Stoops said. “There’s a lot of people over the years, a lot of interactions between people, but it was very brief. I was pursued. I had a job to do. I take great pride in — there’s only — another stat that Tony gave me on the way here, but there’s only been 19 coaches in the history of the SEC that have been 12 years at their institution. I’m proud to be a member of that group. I’ve been grinding at Kentucky for a long time, and very proud of that and want to continue to do that. Again, we want more, but that’s not nothing. The SEC has been around a long time with a lot of very good football coaches.” (Photo by MITCH LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

Not everything was work. The SEC planned media excursions every night of SEC Media Days, and the first night was to the Texas Theatre in Dallas, where they watched the latest edition of “SEC Storied:” “Saturday Night Lights,” the story of how college football went from being strictly a sport played during the day to becoming one of nighttime traditions. ESPN’s Laura Rutledge was on hand and interviewed director James Weiner, former LSU player Eddie Fowler (“Earthquake Eddie”) and ESPN color analysts Jordan Rodgers and Greg McElroy, both former SEC players at Vanderbilt and Alabama. By the way, the Texas Theatre was also where assassin Lee Harvey Oswald was apprehended. (Photo by MITCH LUCAS – THE FOOTBALL BEAT)

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