O’Gara: Everything I found interesting from Day 1 of SEC Media Days in Dallas
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DALLAS — Yeah, it feels different.
Any time the SEC Media Days aren’t in Hoover, it feels different. After all, what’s SEC Media Days if Belk doesn’t flank it in the middle of a mall? Different. That was the case last year in Nashville and the year before that in Atlanta.
But yeah, SEC Media Days in Dallas was as unique as any to date. The accompanying moves of Texas and Oklahoma into the SEC had something to do with that.
On Monday, Texas and Oklahoma didn’t take the stage yet. They were, however, at the forefront of plenty of conversations. So was this new era of college football that’s set to begin in 2024, some of which was interesting (the SEC is now using iPads on the sidelines) and some of it wasn’t (Greg Sankey again asked for help from Congress for college athletics regulation).
In addition to Sankey, LSU, South Carolina, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt took the stage to kick off Day 1. Here’s everything I found interesting from Monday in Dallas:
Greg Sankey puts SEC expansion on the back burner … for now
And with the words “16 is our today, and 16 is our tomorrow,” the SEC commissioner officially confirmed that the conference won’t be adding any other teams … today or tomorrow.
Make of that what you will. After all, this is the first SEC Media Days with Oklahoma and Texas as members of the SEC. Three years ago when Sankey spoke at SEC Media Days, nobody would’ve imagined that those 2 programs would agree to join the SEC by the end of that week. Sankey didn’t tip his hand with that, which was why the Houston Chronicle’s breaking news sent shockwaves throughout the sport that week in Hoover.
Would Sankey have said that “16 is our tomorrow” if the ACC’s Grant of Rights deal went up in smoke? That feels doubtful. Sankey added that he doesn’t spend “an enormous amount of time” digging into the issues facing the ACC. At this point, though, there’s no poaching to be done. The SEC won’t try to match the Big Ten’s 18 programs just to get to 18. Sankey has been adamant that the SEC will retain its geographical integrity as the true “Southeastern Conference.” It remains to be seen if that’ll be the case a decade from now.
Sankey: “I’ve responded now three times where our focus lies. Im not going to fuel speculation on what happens next. We can stay at 16 for a long, long time and be incredibly successful.”
Translation: unless the ACC implodes, status quo.
— Matt Hayes (@MattHayesCFB) July 15, 2024
But for now, Sankey can stand on the new era of 16.
“We’re focused on our 16,” Sankey said. “Period … I’m not gonna guess about what happens next.”
We still don’t have an SEC tiebreaker system, which is wild
I’m pretty stunned that we’re in mid-July and we still don’t have an SEC tiebreaker. This is the first year in which there’s an SEC Championship without divisions. I asked Sankey about that Monday. Like, is there a plan?
“Yes. In fact, we had our athletics directors on a videoconference Thursday where we provided an update. It is a lengthy plan consolidated around, I think, eight principles,” Sankey said. “We go back to our athletics directors at their next videoconference that’s about two weeks away. We can finalize that any time between now and the start of the season.
“We have an annual in-person meeting where any of the little pieces that have been identified for review can be refined and finalized. So absolutely.”
That sounds like “a work in progress.” Not ideal, if you ask me. There are now all sorts of scenarios in which a couple of 7-1 or 6-2 SEC teams that didn’t face each other will be competing for an SEC Championship berth. There needs to be a way to figure that out. Let’s not forget that in 2003, the SEC’s tiebreaker system needed to be changed in November because it was possibly going to come down to a vote from athletic directors. The SEC pivoted … thankfully.
It remains to be seen what all 8 of those principles will be and if any of them will lead to a mid-season pivot like we saw 21 years ago. If Sankey wants, he can just offer my suggestion with just 5 tiebreakers. I’m confident it would have universal approval.
Nick Saban didn’t pick Alabama to play for an SEC Championship
The Alabama coach’s day started with a sheepish admission that he forgot his credential in his hotel room and that he couldn’t access SEC Media Days until he went back and got it.
What a time to be alive.
Another crazy thought? Saban is now a media member who gets to actually make predictions. That included an SEC title game prediction … which didn’t include Alabama.
Nick Saban thinks Alabama will miss 2024 SEC title game.
“I believe in our Alabama team, too. I believe in Jalen Milroe. I just think the question marks in the secondary — until those get resolved — it’s hard to, sort of, jump on that bandwagon.”https://t.co/n2PKT0dfhu
— Mike Rodak (@mikerodak) July 15, 2024
He’s right. There are question marks in the secondary. Alabama lost an elite duo in Terrion Arnold and Kool-Aid McKinstry, plus Caleb Downs left for Ohio State. And without Saban, the ability to troubleshoot those potential issues in the secondary could be magnified.
So if Alabama isn’t the pick, who is?
“I think Georgia and Texas,” Saban said. “But I don’t think there’s any team right now, or any coach that you would talk to — including myself for many, many years — that right now there’s not some part of their team they’re concerned about. How those problems, sort of, get resolved — whether it’s a young player that comes in and makes an impact, or an older player that develops consistency — those are the question marks that I think make it impossible to make predictions right now.”
Ah, there’s the Saban we know and love. But to be clear, he doesn’t think that Texas is stepping into the SEC to step in and dominate.
“You know, what kind of tickles me is all these people asking me about how Texas always ran the conference they were in. They’re not going to run the SEC,” Saban said. “There’s a lot of arrogant people in a lot of places in the SEC, so forget all about that. They’ll be a great team and a great program and Sark will do a great job, but that’s not going to be a problem.”
Does Ole Miss have the best group of pass-catchers in America? Tre Harris believes so
If you don’t love Ole Miss’ group of pass-catchers, you’re admitting that you haven’t been paying attention. It’s not just that Harris is coming back as 1 of the 5 best receivers in the sport. Caden Prieskorn should be a preseason first-team All-SEC guy, and Juice Wells is a year removed from being a preseason first-team All-SEC receiver. On top of that, a healthy Jordan Watkins can take over a game.
Does Harris believe Ole Miss has the best group of pass-catchers in college football?
“I do, I’m gonna be completely honest with you,” Harris said. “But we still have a lot of work to do. We still have to go out and really prove it to everybody. We still have a season to play. Until the season starts, I do feel that way. Once the season starts, we’re gonna show everybody what it is.”
I don’t disagree. It helps that Jaxson Dart returns for Year 3 under Lane Kiffin. It’s hard to argue with the potential in that room. Ole Miss becoming a more pass-heavy group would be a significant 180, but an understandable one. After all, if it’s even a question that it’s the best group of pass-catchers in America, that’s telling.
That’s also, as Kiffin would say, rat poison.
Harold Perkins was a popular topic of discussion
The 2023 version of Perkins was not the best version of Perkins. That’s not debatable. The well-documented move to inside linebacker included him playing nearly twice as many snaps in coverage as he had rushing the passer. He went from being potentially the best defensive player in America entering the season to a second-team All-Conference guy by season’s end. That transition year coincided with LSU’s defense finishing outside the top 100 in FBS in several major categories.
After Brian Kelly completely overhauled his entire defensive staff, he answered an all-important question — what would he have done differently with Perkins?
“We would have tied him down and made him eat more. You know, we had an issue relative to his weight gain and we didn’t feel like that it really was his best position to be inside. I just felt like we were still in the developmental process with Harold. Like I said, you’ll see him today. Over 220 pounds and physically strong enough to handle the rigors of inside and out.
“I just felt like we were needing to put him in the best position possible to succeed to now where he is physically in a position and he’s matured, he now is able to be in more than one position.”
Kelly is right in that Perkins probably could’ve overcome some of those issues getting off blocks if he had been closer to prototypical middle linebacker size. But at the same time, Perkins talked about not thinking and just being able to react at that spot. That included a greater emphasis on film study, which is what you’d expect anyone to say in that spot. You’d also expect his teammates to back him like Garrett Nussmeier, who said “whatever Perk’s role is, I think he’s going to execute it to a very high level no matter what they ask him to do.”
(Future tense is key there.)
Perkins said he likes inside linebacker more than just rushing off the edge because teams can’t run away from him. New defensive coordinator Blake Baker is keeping Perkins at inside linebacker, but what he does with the beefed-up star post-snap is far more important for his 2024 trajectory.
Oh, and speaking of beef … this.
— LSU Football (@LSUfootball) July 15, 2024
Welcome to the SEC, Texas.
Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Down South. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.
