Greg Sankey trolls Jim Harbaugh during Kalen DeBoer’s SEC Media Days introduction
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Greg Sankey is occupied all week at SEC Media Days, kicking off the event on Monday before introducing every head coach in Dallas. On Wednesday, that included new Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer who steps in to replace the legendary Nick Saban in Tuscaloosa.
Wednesday’s lineup at media days also features what Sankey described as “a statistical anomaly.” That anomaly is 3 of the 4 head coaches from the College Football Playoff in attendance. Saban, though recently retired, is on hand in Dallas thanks to his new broadcasting gig with ESPN and the SEC Network.
DeBoer is now at Alabama but led Washington to the Playoff last season. Steve Sarkisian, the head coach at Texas, is now leading the Longhorns into the SEC after taking the program to the semifinals last season as a member of the Big 12.
The one head coach from last year’s Playoff absent from SEC Media Days? That would be Jim Harbaugh, and Sankey had a bit of fun with that fact.
“Through the day today, we’ll have with us 3 of the 4 head coaches who led teams in the College Football Playoff semifinals last year. I don’t think that’s ever happened,” said Sankey. “Between Coach Saban, Coach DeBoer and Coach Sarkisian, you’ll see 3 of the 4. Coach Harbaugh didn’t want to come to Media Days, apparently, in the SEC.”
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Of course, Harbaugh has plenty of good reasons to avoid Dallas (and it’s not because of the NCAA’s sign-stealing investigation or the fact he sent Saban into retirement with a Rose Bowl win over the Tide). The former head coach at Michigan is now back in the NFL, chasing an elusive Super Bowl to go with the recent national championship he grabbed while in Ann Arbor.
Either way, Sankey’s crack was good for a chuckle from those on hand, but the attention moving forward will be how DeBoer and Sarkisian handle the SEC, along with the emergence of Sherrone Moore as the new head coach at Michigan.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
