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Here’s what the SEC’s coaches had to say after their bowl games.
NICK SABAN, after Alabama’s College Football Playoff semifinal loss to Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl: “I’m very proud of what this team was able to accomplish. We’re very disappointed in the outcome today. It was our goal to play our best in this game, so we would have an opportunity to play in a national championship game. But we obviously didn’t do the things that we needed to do as well as we needed to do them to have a chance to do that.”
BRET BIELEMA, after his Razorbacks put up a dominant defensive performance in the Texas Bowl: “Those guys got so much better in the spring and the fall and they’ve gotten better all year long. They’ve really become player-coaches, where they’re correcting each other out on the field.”
A disappointed GUS MALZAHN, on the problems the hurt Auburn in the Outback Bowl: “That’s some of the same stuff that we’ve done this year. It’s a good thing that we hired the best defensive coordinator in college football and he’ll get it corrected.”
MARK RICHT was proud of his team after the Belk Bowl: “It was a year that I thought we had overcome a lot. I think this game was maybe very similar to the type of season we had as far as losing some key people and other guys having to step up and make plays and just continue our focus and continue to fight.”
LES MILES was unhappy with his team’s defense and the reports of John Chavis leaving: “I’ll just tell you, at LSU we’re going to have a great defense. We’ll have a great defense and play like hell.”
Despite losing the Orange Bowl, DAN MULLEN was proud of Mississippi State: “I think everybody doubted that [I could build a program here]. I think everybody everywhere doubted that we could come back here. And here we are. I couldn’t be more proud of our guys.”
GARY PINKEL and Missouri were happy to hear “SEC” chants after the Citrus Bowl: “We’re representing the SEC. Our players are very proud members of the SEC and that’s certainly something we had mentioned.”
Ole Miss put up a disappointing effort in the Peach Bowl, but Hugh Freeze was still proud of the season: “I didn’t have our kids prepared to play at a level that they deserved to be able to play and compete today. But extremely proud of our kids and how they’ve turned this program in a short three years to being relevant and competitive.”
STEVE SPURRIER, on his team’s four-year run: “These senior guys here, Dylan (Thompson) and his buddies, they’ve been here the last four years and won 40 games. It was a nice finish for our guys to win three of our last four. Pharoh (Cooper) made some big catches, Dylan made some big throws all over the place. He had a few sacks he should have thrown it away…the last sack was a good sack.”
BUTCH JONES and the Tennessee Volunteers are emerging as a top team in the SEC East: “We still have a long way to go. But I said this is the most challenging year I’ve had in coaching, but the most rewarding.”
KEVIN SUMLIN, after his young team pulled out a bowl win, the school’s fourth straight: “Our message to to the team afterward was that’s what the offseason is going to be about — growing up and maturing as a team.”
A former freelance journalist from Philadelphia, Brett has made the trek down to SEC country to cover the greatest conference in college football.
