The roar of information that characterizes the SEC football season is but a dull and distant rumble during spring practice.

But if you put your ear to the ground and listen hard, there are lessons to be learned from the information that trickles out during the 15 allowed practice sessions for every team.

Here are five lessons we believe we’ve learned about the SEC in the last few weeks.

1. Expect LSU to be much better at quarterback.

Brandon Harris looked like a deer in headlights in 2014.

Anthony Jennings looked immature as a quarterback, unprepared to run an SEC offense.

Granted, both players lacked experience and would’ve needed more development no matter who was in charge of their growth. But it seemed like offensive coordinator Cam Cameron was ill-prepared to handle a quarterback group that lacked an NFL-ready player.

One year after Zach Mettenberger led one of the best pass offenses in Tigers history, the group damaged LSU’s ’14 season in a bad way.

Which brings us to this spring. It appears the team will do everything it can to install Harris as the starter in ’15. But both players appear much more confident and comfortable running the offense during practice.

That’s not to say that either player is going to suddenly play at an All-SEC level. But Cameron, coach Les Miles and company have found a way to dial back QB 401 to QB 101. Things seem simpler for those players this spring. It’s tough to expect either Harris or Jennings to play much better without taking the field feeling comfortable and prepared, and if nothing else, both players should make major progress in that area by the fall.

2. Florida’s Jim McElwain isn’t Will Muscahmp.

Associated Press reporter Mark Long launched a public salvo against the new Gators coach this week regarding his treatment of the local media, accusing him of being “a used car salesman” with his answers about the team’s quarterback competition.

I didn’t hear Long’s radio interview personally, so I don’t know his tone. For all I know, Long could’ve been using provocative language to make the point that he believes Florida intends to start Will Grier this fall despite the rhetoric of an even competition.

But one thing is clear: Florida fans and reporters are going to have to get used to a man who isn’t as forthcoming and open with information regarding the team as its former head coach.

Muschamp was one of the most open books in major college football, while McElwain evolved from the Nick Saban (and ultimately Bill Belichick) coaching tree. He’s going to conceal as much information as possible, because that’s the model that he’s seen as successful.

As long as he puts the best quarterback on the field, whether it’s Grier or Treon Harris, in the fall, it shouldn’t matter how much — or how little — he reveals in the media.

3. Offensive linemen are to Bret Bielema what high-end sports cars are to Jay Leno.

Arkansas produced two 1,000-yard rushers in 2014 behind the most massive offensive line in all of football, college or pro.

All eight of the players most intimately involved in that equation are returning in 2015, including tight end Hunter Henry. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it, right?

Wrong. At least according to Bielema. All five returning starters on the offensive line are playing different positions this spring. And many of them have lost major weight. We’re talking 40 to 70 pounds.

It may not seem that shocking at first blush, but the more you roll it around, the weirder it sounds. Would you have predicted such a development after last season’s resurgent season for the Hogs? A turnaround built on physical, hard-nosed girth on the offensive and defensive lines?

That’s not to say that the moves are poorly designed. We’ll see whether it works this fall. But most of the offensive linemen remain plenty big despite the weight loss and could be more agile with better endurance in ’15. But it does seem like Bielema has a weird football fetish with offensive linemen, like he can’t stop playing with his favorite toys.

4. Missouri will in fact mix in some 3-4 defense in 2015.

The Mizzou media got a few tidbits from the players, like LB Kentrell Brothers, who mentioned that defensive coordinator Barry Odom plans to deploy the “Dawg” position — a hybrid linebacker/defensive end — this fall.

Odom since has moved to silence his players, part of the (in my opinion silly) code among football coaches to try to guard every detail of their game plans like it’s a spy wars-level international secret. He’s played coy with the media regarding his defense. But it seems clear based on the information that’s leaked out during Missouri’s spring practice that the team indeed will play some 3-4 in ’15, something we speculated would happen when the team hired Odom.

Based on his time as defensive coordinator at Memphis, Odom seems like the kind of coach who can tweak his philosophy to best fit his personnel. He reminds me a bit of Adam Gase, who led the Denver Broncos to the playoffs as offensive coordinator for both Tim Tebow and Peyton Manning, reworking the entire offense based on the strength of each player.

The best coaches aren’t married to their particular system, but can evolve to make sure that the offense or defense maximizes the skill set of the team’s best players. If Odom is considering some 3-4, it isn’t because he’s desperate to force his preferred defense on the Tigers, or because he wants to decommission the #DLineZou. He must feel like Mizzou is set up well to be multiple on defense.

If the team can learn Odom’s version of the 3-4 fast, it will give offensive coordinators an extra wrinkle for which to prepare.

5. Andy Ludwig is a no-nonsense guy with a sense of humor.

Vanderbilt’s new offensive coordinator hasn’t minced words when discussing the four quarterbacks competing for the starting job.

Rather than make do like the Commodores are loaded at the position and giving lip service to the fact that having multiple options “is a good problem to have,” he’s more or less insinuated the team needs to get a lot better at the position to be competitive on offense.

My favorite line of Ludwig’s this spring pertaining to the quarterbacks: “you’ve got to (be able to) complete the forward pass.”

Everything out of Nashville suggests that Patton Robinette and Johnny McCrary will enter the summer as the finalists for the starting quarterback job. McCrary finished the 2014 season as the man, but Robinette thus far has been a more accurate passer.

Ludwig says he’ll build the offensive play-calling and tendencies around his starter’s strengths this summer and fall. Whomever wins the job, thus far it seems like the offense is in capable hands. Ludwig seems like a coach that can be as blunt as South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier without coming across as smug or arrogant. And he seems unafraid to roll up his sleeves and get his hands dirty with some players that have a long way to go, something that LSU offensive coordinator Cam Cameron has needed to learn.