Tag: SEC Media Days

Josh Heupel’s opening statement at SEC media days

Tennessee football head coach Josh Heupel’s opening statement at SEC media days.

Southeastern Conference football media days kicked off on Monday at Omni Dallas Hotel in Dallas, Texas.

Fourth-year Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel met with media on Tuesday.

Everything Heupel said during his opening statement is listed below.

“Great to see everybody,” Heupel said. “Hope everybody enjoyed their extended, long vacation here over the course of the summer. Commissioner, thanks for the kind introduction. He mentioned that the last time I got a chance to see him we were in Omaha, and as I was getting ready to come here, got a chance to see Coach Vitello on the MLB draft a couple of nights ago. Obviously the All-Star Game was here — or is here tonight, and this is the first time I have had an opportunity to talk since I got a chance to go to Omaha and watch (indiscernible) and Blake and Coach Vitello bring home a championship to Rocky Top. What an unbelievable experience, opportunity to watch the game with Coach Barnes. Danny, our athletic director, get a chance to be on the field and celebrate that moment. Really proud of what they did bringing home a National Championship to Rocky Top, what Coach Vitello has built there and have an opportunity to have my son with me and really my entire family, so great night.

“You look at the success that our brand, our logo has had recently with baseball, but basketball during the course of the winter, and you look at all the team sports across the board being in post-season play, I think it really speaks to the trajectory of our university, our athletic department, where it’s going, but it also speaks to the leadership that we have there. So fortunate to work with Danny White, our athletic director, Chancellor Plowman and President Boyd. They’re visionaries. They give us all the tools to go compete and have created an unbelievable experience for our student-athletes there on the campus. The brand is stronger than it’s ever been and really excited about where we’re at on the football side of it, but where we’re going.

“As I sit here today, it’s hard to believe that this is the fourth year, the fourth time that I’ve been here at SEC Media Days, and I look back, so proud of what our staff and our players have built, the connection, the committedness, the care factor that they have for each other and the program. 20 wins over the last couple of years, top 3 in the league, the best that it’s been in 20 years on Rocky Top. As good as it’s been, the future is extremely bright, and we’re in a race to get where we need to extremely quickly.

“Proud of the culture that we’ve built. I mentioned that a second ago. We got unbelievable players that care about the people around them and attack every single day the right way. And they do it right on the field. They do it right in the meeting room, but they do it right in the classroom as well and in our community.

“You know, as you look at us academically, we’ve shattered every record over the last three years, have reset that record for fall term GPAs. I think we had 63 individuals that were recognized by the conference at the end of the regular season, and we’re fortunate enough to have some of those guys here with us today.

“We got three really special individuals that are with us today. They represent all that’s good in college football. They represent what it means to be a Vol. I take great pride in that we could have had a lot of different players come with us here to Dallas and have an opportunity to speak with you, but these three guys have unique stories and are great ambassadors for the Tennessee Volunteers.

“Keenan Pili started over 37 games in his career. Unfortunately had a season-ending injury week one of last year, decided to come back for another year of college football. He loves his experience on Rocky Top and is a dynamic play maker that’s poised to have an unbelievable season.

“Cooper Mays, preseason all-American center, has started for us for four straight years. It’s in his blood to be on Rocky Top. His father played there. His brother played there. It’s vitally important to him, and he’s a great member of our squad, and he’s got great understanding of who we are offensively, the ability to communicate and has great leadership skills as well.

“Omari Thomas, who is here for his second time, is a four-year starter for us at defensive tackle. He’s kind of the mayor inside of our locker room. He is our SEC representative on the NCAA Football Oversight Committee, but is vitally important to who and what we are as a program and all four years there he’s been a great leader every single year.

“This football team that we have when we embarked on our off season when we got back in January, it’s a unique roster in that we’re really experienced at certain spots, in particular on the line of scrimmage, and we have some youth that surrounds them. The challenge has been that our young guys can’t be young when we get to the fall.

“The leadership that we have from our veterans, the young guys coming in, buying into the culture, competing every single day, this has been a great group, a great team. Up until this part of the off season, the first three-quarters of our off season, they’ve been unbelievable in their work habits, their competitiveness, how they’ve attacked every single rep every single day, and I cannot wait to get to training camp. I’m ready to go compete with these guys on the grass. And I know Vol Nation is excited about the season that we’re ready to embark upon as well.

“It’s hard to believe that training camp is right around the corner in less than two weeks. We’re ready to go compete. We got great renovations that are going on inside of Neyland Stadium, one of the great venues in all of sports, let alone college football. Our fanbase is extremely passionate, season ticket waiting list of over 15,000 people, and we’ll be ready to go kick off here in a little over a month.”

Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart has high praise for Jackson Arnold and the Sooners

Jaxson Dart of Ole Miss thinks his counterpart in Norman will have an excellent career.

[autotag]SEC media days[/autotag] are underway in Dallas, Texas this week. All 16 teams in the conference will be heard from over the four-day event, with [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] and the Oklahoma Sooners taking their turn Tuesday afternoon.

Day one of the week featured, among other teams, the Ole Miss Rebels, who are projected to have a successful season led by head coach Lane Kiffin and quarterback Jaxson Dart. Ole Miss is an [autotag]SEC[/autotag] veteran, while OU is new to the league in 2024.

Basically every team has been asked about Oklahoma and Texas joining the SEC so far, with Brian Kelly and Shane Beamer among those who were complimentary of the Sooners.

Dart was asked about the Sooners and their new starting quarterback [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag], and he heaped praise on the true sophomore.

“Jackson’s awesome,” Dart said. “He has a really bright future, super talented kid, I look forward to playing against him this year and I look forward to him having a really successful year for himself as well.”

Josh Callaway of 247Sports’ Sooners Illustrated also shared more of Dart’s comments about the OU football program as a whole, including his excitement to play against the Sooners in 2024.

“It’s a game that I feel like our fan base is really looking forward to. It’s going to be a super electric environment,” Dart said. “I’m really looking forward to that game and playing against an elite program.”

Dart has a bit of a history with the Sooners, as Venables looked for his inaugural starting quarterback after [autotag]Caleb Williams[/autotag] entered the transfer portal and made his way to Southern California in the winter of 2022. [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] was ultimately the choice to be the first starter of the new era, but OU was reportedly interested in Dart and other players like Chubba Purdy, the younger brother of Brock Purdy. Dart said that the Sooners made the final two for his transfer destination, but he ultimately chose Kiffin and the Rebels.

“To be honest it came down to Ole Miss and Oklahoma for me when I was in the portal,” Dart said. “I think that they’re gonna be really successful this year. Coach Venables does a great job of putting himself in a great situation and it’s gonna be fun to see him again and play against them.”

Ultimately, a tenuous situation worked out for both parties. Dart has blossomed into a star in Oxford under Kiffin. Venables got two seasons of veteran leadership from Gabriel before handing the keys to Arnold for the 2024 season and beyond.

The Sooners and the Rebels will face off on October 26th in Mississippi for a game that will kick off at either 11 a.m. or noon.

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Nick Saban heaps praise on the Oklahoma Sooners

When Nick Saban talks about roster building, folks in college football listen. He praised the way Brent Venables is building the OU roster.

Day 1 of four at [autotag]SEC media days[/autotag] in Dallas featured plenty of influential figures in the conference making their opinions known. One of the biggest voices in [autotag]SEC[/autotag] country had high praise for the Oklahoma Sooners and their head coach.

Former LSU and Alabama head coach Nick Saban complimented [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] and said he believes the roster in Norman is improving.

“I think he’s a really, really good coach. He’s a hard worker, he’s an attention to detail guy,” Saban said of Venables. “He’s one of the best defensive coaches in college football. I think their roster is getting better, especially on the defensive side, which was the issue.”

T.J. Eckert of KUTL Channel 8 in Tulsa shared more of the seven-time national champion head coach’s comments, as Saban elaborated on his point.

“They’ve had really good offensive teams when Lincoln (Riley) was there and were never quite good enough on defense to get it over the hump, but I think they’re getting better as a total, balanced roster in terms of the kind of athletes they have, the kind of speed they have, the kind of athleticism they have on their team,” Saban said.

Saban’s comments echo the drumbeat of local media in the state of Oklahoma about the football program that has grown louder. National media is beginning to pick up on the idea that fans and analysts of the Sooners were right about the roster building that was occurring in Norman.

Saban saw the Sooners firsthand when they were very poor defensively, beating them in the [autotag]College Football Playoff[/autotag] in 2018. In the semifinal game at the Orange Bowl, Alabama defeated Oklahoma, 45-34. Saban’s Crimson Tide built a 21-0 lead before [autotag]Kyler Murray[/autotag] and the Sooners blinked that night in Miami. Tua Tagovailoa and Alabama led, 28-0, before the Sooners scored.

From there, the Tide were content to take their foot off the gas and keep OU at arm’s length. The Sooner offense led a second-half comeback, but ‘Bama never allowed them to get closer than 11 points, the eventual winning margin.

The following year, in 2019, [autotag]Jalen Hurts[/autotag] and Oklahoma were defeated by Justin Jefferson and LSU, 63-28, in the Peach Bowl [autotag]CFP[/autotag] semifinal game. The Tigers jumped to a 35-7 lead, but refused to let up on the gas pedal. They led, 49-14, at halftime, rolling to the 35-point win. The loss dropped OU to 0-4 in the playoffs and only one of those games was decided by one possession.

These events, and others of the more recent variety, make it clear OU needed to change the composition and makeup of their roster if they wanted to win national championships, not just make the playoff. This fact would be true even if the playoff was staying at four teams, as opposed to the 12-team field. The way that the roster was built had to be altered if more titles were to come to Norman.

Venables has only been on the job for two-and-a-half years, but the OU administration knows it has their guy. Saban’s comments are just the latest this week that illustrate that people around the country are beginning to believe in what Venables has been patiently building in Norman.

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Shane Beamer says Sooners will have to adjust to defensive line depth in SEC

Speaking at SEC media days former assistant turned South Carolina Head Coach, Shane Beamer, believes Oklahoma will have to adjust to defensive line depth and stadium capacities.

There are a number of adjustments the Oklahoma Sooners have began making over the last few years in preparation for their move to the SEC. One of those has been on fortifying their talent in the trenches. And for good reason, the amount of talent along the offensive and defensive lines in the SEC is unmatched.

Brent Venables made it a priority when he arrived in Norman and the defensive line depth, in particular, is arguably the best its been in a decade. The offensive line has some talented depth, but with complete turnover upfront, may have more issues making the adjustment to the level of play in the SEC.

Speaking at [autotag]SEC media days[/autotag], South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer argues the defensive line talent and the environments will be the biggest adjustments Oklahoma will have to make.

Beamer Said, “From being in other conferences — and I’ve coached in multiple leagues in my career — it’s the size and the depth and the athleticism you see on the line of scrimmage every single week in this conference.

“I can remember being at Oklahoma, coaching tight ends, and you would be getting ready to play most Saturdays and there may be one or two guys on the opposing defensive line that you really got to be cognizant of. Like this guy can completely wreck your game if you don’t have a plan for him.

“But then you come into this league, it’s not one or two, it’s like six or seven every single Saturday on the line of scrimmage. That’s one thing.”

Six or seven game wreckers along the line of scrimmage might be a bit of an exaggeration, but we know the level of talent is going to be a step up. There’s a reason the SEC leads the way in NFL draft picks every cycle. But even if it’s not “six or seven” and it’s three or four game wreckers per team up front, it’s going to be a challenge for Bill Bedenbaugh’s offensive line.

“The other part off the field, and it’s awesome, is just the venues that you go into this in league,” Beamer said. “Being able — like every single Saturday it’s an event in that town. There is 80, 90, or 100,000 people every single Saturday in this league.

“There is nothing like it. Just the competition, pageantry, it’s special. It’s something I missed when I was not in this conference and coaching in other conferences, and excited that I’m still part of the SEC.

“And don’t get me wrong, Oklahoma and Texas have played a lot of big-time football games and are two big-time programs. But to answer your question, just the difference and what to expect, those are two things that stand out to me that I think are a little bit different than other conferences.”

The only schools OU traveled to that can boast stadium capacities rivaling that in the SEC are Iowa State and West Virginia. Those stadiums have just over 60,000 in capacity.

It’s going to be a challenge going into Jordan-Hare Stadium, which boasts a capacity of 87,000. That’s the new reality for the Oklahoma Sooners as they enter the SEC.

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LSU’s Brian Kelly impressed with Brent Venables ability to bounce back

Asked his thoughts on Oklahoma, LSU’s Brian Kelly is impressed with the job Brent Venables has done to right the ship.

SEC media days provides our first opportunity to hear what SEC coaches think about the Oklahoma Sooners entering the [autotag]SEC[/autotag]. After Greg Sankey addressed the media, LSU Tigers head coach Brian Kelly took to the podium.

When asked about the Oklahoma Sooners and head coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag], count Kelly impressed.

“I think what I was really impressed with Coach Venables’ job, just the bounceback and the ability to overcome some adversity,” Kelly said during SEC media days. “Certainly as a first-time head coach, you know, having some adversity and really learning on the job and coming back and having an outstanding season this past season.”

It was undoubtedly a rough start to the Venables era, with a 6-7 season and a 49-0 loss to their rivals. But Venables and the Sooners showed resilience, turning in a 10-3 season in 2023 and beating the Texas Longhorns 34-30.

Kelly hasn’t had a lot of adversity in his career, winning double-digit games in 20 seasons as a head coach. But his first season as a head coach at Central Michigan didn’t go according to plan. The Chippewas finished 4-7 that year and followed it up with a 6-5 campaign in year two. He’s had just one losing season since, a 4-8 mark in 2016 with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. So, Kelly knows what it takes to overcome adversity.

And Venables and the Sooners do too. Despite their unfortunate 2022 and the way the Alamo Bowl went at the end of 2023, there’s a lot of confidence in a program that’s had as much success as anyone in the history of college football. And Kelly’s very aware of the proud tradition at Oklahoma.

“I just think they’re another outstanding football team with a great history and tradition,” Kelly said. “I got the privilege of playing them few times when I was at Notre Dame, and it’s a great atmosphere. I played them when I was at Cincinnati. So I think it’s just a great tradition, great program, and I think coach has done a great job of really, I think on the job really adjusting to being the head guy, and I think he’s done a terrific job.”

Venables has adjusted. He learned from some of the things that didn’t go Oklahoma’s way in year one to show a much more capable head coach in 2023.

And if that growth continues in 2024, the Sooners have a shot to be successful in their first year in the SEC.

Oklahoma and LSU will come together in Baton Rouge, Lousiana to close out the Sooners first regular season in the SEC. And if everything goes according to plan, that big-time matchup could have SEC title game and College Football Playoff implications.

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Nick Saban denied entrance at SEC Media Days without credential

Nick Saban shares hilarious story about getting denied by security at SEC Media Days!

For nearly two decades, Nick Saban didn’t have any issues getting into SEC Media Days. The former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach recently retired from coaching and is still getting familiar with what it’s like to not be an active high-profile head coach. Today, as 2024 SEC Media Days begins, Saban was denied entrance for not having his credential.

On ESPN, Saban recounts what happened, saying that for 17 years he didn’t need a credential, so he didn’t think he needed on now. He had to go back to his room to pick it up so that he could get into the event.

RELATED: Day one storylines at the 2024 SEC media days

Saban will be there as an analyst, which means Alabama will instead be represented by new head coach Kalen DeBoer and a few players.

Roll Tide Wire wil continue to follow Alabama football news as the 2024 college football season approaches.

Where does 247Sports have Sooners in updated SEC power rankings?

Oklahoma could be one of the best teams in the country in 2024, but the SEC is a different animal than the Big 12.

The Oklahoma Sooners have been official members of the [autotag]SEC[/autotag] for two weeks now, but the process of getting “SEC-ready” began when [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] was hired as the head coach in December 2021. Venables arrived in Norman less than six months after news of the SEC move leaked.

The program had two-and-a-half years to get ready for the toughest conference in college football. Now we’re a few short weeks from the beginning of the 2024 season, OU’s first in the SEC.

Brad Crawford of 247Sports updated his SEC power rankings ahead of [autotag]SEC media days[/autotag] this week. He also included where each team ranked in his eyes pre-spring.

Crawford made sure to note how strong the league is, pointing to updated league-wide power rankings and the chance that more than half of the SEC will be ranked inside various preseason polls next month, a record for a conference strengthened by the additions of the Sooners and the Texas Longhorns.

Crawford dropped the Sooners to ninth in his preseason SEC rankings, one spot below his pre-spring ranking. He flipped Oklahoma and the Texas A&M Aggies on his list. Here’s what he had to say about the Sooners with six weeks to go until kickoff:

“This is not a ranking indicative of how we’re projecting teams will finish in 2024, but is more of a look at rosters approaching fall camp and which programs would win head-to-head matchups with each other if games were played next week. These power rankings could look very different by the end of September,” Crawford said. “The first of the SEC’s newcomers this fall, Oklahoma hasn’t received the same heightened level of preseason love as their cohorts from Texas. Part of that is based on the Sooners’ loaded schedule with a first-year starting quarterback in [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag] who will see his share of bullets early. A few portal acquisitions will be immediate starters and the back seven for the Sooners is one of the league’s best with linebacker [autotag]Danny Stutsman[/autotag] returning, cornerback [autotag]Gentry Williams[/autotag] and hard-hitting safety [autotag]Billy Bowman[/autotag].”

Crawford certainly isn’t the first to praise OU’s back seven or have doubts about the offensive line protecting the new starter in Arnold. Ultimately, the schedule could be one of the keys to the season. If Brent Venables’ and [autotag]Zac Alley[/autotag]’s defense can lead the way early on while [autotag]Bill Bedenbaugh[/autotag]’s offensive line gets settled, it could pay major dividends later in the year.

September and October games against Tennessee, Texas and Ole Miss loom large, interspersed with interesting contests against Auburn and South Carolina.

Arnold’s inexperience is real, but so is his ability and upside. He has the makeup and tools to be Oklahoma’s next great QB under center.

A good start by Stutsman, Bowman and the rest of the defense would take the pressure off Arnold and his new offensive coordinators [autotag]Seth Littrell[/autotag] and [autotag]Joe Jon Finley[/autotag].

The end of the schedule is brutal with games against Missouri in Columbia, Alabama in Norman and LSU in Baton Rouge. If the Sooners are in a solid place record-, team- and program-wise by then, they’ll afford themselves a little wiggle room with the expanded 12-team [autotag]College Football Playoff[/autotag].

Starting fast will be the key for Oklahoma, and playing complementary football will certainly pay off if the Sooners can finish strongly. If pieces fall into place and the inexperienced parts of the roster grow up quickly, the Sooners could finish a lot better than ninth in the SEC in 2024.

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Kalen DeBoer’s performance at SEC Media Days will be closely watched

How will Kalen DeBoer differ from Nick Saban at 2024 SEC Media Days?

The Alabama Crimson Tide will have head coach Kalen DeBoer and a few players represent the program at this year’s SEC Media Days. With Nick Saban retiring after the 2023 season, DeBoer left his position at the helm of the Washington Huskies program and moved down to Tuscaloosa for his first job in the SEC.

Quarterback Jalen Milroe, offensive lineman Tyler Booker and defensive back Malachi Moore will be meeting with media members to discuss the upcoming season. Most of the attention regarding the Crimson Tide will be on DeBoer.

He’s no stranger to holding press conferences, as he’s been a head coach and a coordinator for some time, but this will be his introduction to the SEC and he will be directly compared to his predecessor, who had an interesting reputation while speaking with the media.

David Cobb of CBS Sports recently outlined the biggest storylines from SEC Media Days. One of them is seeing how DeBoer will do in the new setting.

“DeBoer has never worked in the SEC in any capacity, and following Saban places him under a level of scrutiny unlike anything he’s experienced. His first SEC Media Days appearance is a meaningful milestone that offers DeBoer a chance to steer the national conversation around his tenure and Alabama’s 2024 team.”

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow Alabama football as SEC Media Days begin on Monday.

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These 3 Gators will represent Florida at SEC Media Days 2024

Shemar James, Montrell Johnson Jr. and Graham Mertz join Billy Napier next week in Dallas, Texas.

Florida football will be represented by a trio of players at this summer’s SEC media days held in Dallas, Texas, at the Omni Hotel next week.

Junior linebacker [autotag]Shemar James[/autotag], senior running back [autotag]Montrell Johnson Jr[/autotag]. and quarterback [autotag]Graham Mertz[/autotag] are the three players who will travel to the Lone Star State along with head coach [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag]. The quartet will take the stage on Wednesday at 1:45 p.m. ET — the same day as the Alabama Crimson Tide, Mississippi State Bulldogs and Texas Longhorns.

The Gators and Longhorns are scheduled during the same afternoon rotation block. The SEC Network will provide national coverage of the four-day event.

2024 SEC FOOTBALL MEDIA DAYS SCHEDULE

MONDAY, July 15
LSU – Brian Kelly
Ole Miss – Lane Kiffin
South Carolina – Shane Beamer
Vanderbilt – Clark Lea

TUESDAY, July 16
Georgia – Kirby Smart
Missouri – Eliah Drinkwitz
Oklahoma – Brent Venables
Tennessee – Josh Heupel

WEDNESDAY, July 17
Alabama – Kalen DeBoer
Florida – Billy Napier
Mississippi State – Jeff Lebby
Texas – Steve Sarkisian

THURSDAY, July 18
Arkansas – Sam Pittman
Auburn – Hugh Freeze
Kentucky – Mark Stoops
Texas A&M – Mike Elko

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What Auburn players are attending SEC Media Days?

Auburn fans will hear from their head coach and favorite players next week as SEC Media Days ventures to Dallas, Texas.

The hot topic event of event of each college football offseason is each conference’s media days, and the SEC Media Days are once again on the horizon.

As each coach prepares to preview their team’s expectations for the 2024 season to the media, the conference announced which players will be in Dallas, Texas next week to speak along with their respective coaches.

For the Auburn Tigers, head coach [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] will be joined by quarterback [autotag]Payton Thorne[/autotag], linebacker [autotag]Eugene Asante[/autotag], and defensive lineman [autotag]Keldric Faulk[/autotag].

Thorne enters his final season of eligibility as a second-year starter with the hopes of leading the Tigers’ offense to more success on the field.

He was league’s least efficient passer in 2023, throwing 16 touchdowns and 10 interceptions with a 61.1% pass completion rate. Now that he has more experience in the arguably the nation’s most competitive conference, he looks to use the work he has put in during the offseason to good measure and go out on a high note while leading Auburn to its first .500 or better record since 2020.

Asante is also entering his sixth year of college ball after having a career campaign last year in his second season on the Plains.

He racked up 86 total tackles with 8.5 tackles-for-loss and five sacks for the team, marking his highest number in all three statistics now that he earned a starting position.

Faulk is a young talent set to have a positive future for the Tigers after a freshman season that had many optimistic about his future.

The star from Highland Home, Alabama racked up 21 total tackles with 3.5 tackles-for-loss and one sack as a partial starter in year one. Now, in his second time around, Faulk looks to be a bigger force as a likely full-time starter and live in the opposing backfield.

As a whole, Auburn is looking to have a drastic turnaround from a 6-7 record last season and earn back some respect in the SEC. After ending on three consecutive losses, big themes for the fall are to finish games and be constantly competitive, especially after surrendering losses late last year to both Georgia and Alabama.

Freeze and the players will speak on the last day of media days on July 18 along with the representatives from Arkansas, Kentucky and Texas A&M.

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