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10 questions SEC coaches did not answer during the league’s teleconference
By Joe Cox
Published:
As football approaches, SEC head coaches are back in a place most of them hate to be — in front of the media. Monday’s SEC teleconference offered a chance for coaches to discuss a few hot-button topics surrounding their teams and the league. Or not.
While most of the media are focusing on the questions that the 14 SEC head coaches answered, we’re looking at the ones they didn’t answer. Here are 10 of those.
Alabama: Jalen or Tua or Talen or some other Bennifer style combo?
All Jalen Hurts did was lead Alabama to an undefeated regular season, another SEC title and very nearly another national championship as a true freshman. So what happens now that Tua Tagovailoa looks even better throwing the football as a true freshman? If Nick knows, he’s not talking.
LSU: Is Arden Key going to be on the field this fall?
Key wasn’t addressed in the teleconference, and while Ed Orgeron has said he expects Key to be back in school this summer, he’s been incredibly vague on the details. The SEC West could depend on the answer.
Auburn: Is Auburn going to try to turn Jarrett Stidham into a read-option scrambler or is Malzahn going to adapt?
There’s no question that pairing a decent QB with Auburn’s ground game can change the SEC landscape. There’s also no clear way that Stidham, who does have dual-threat skills, but is most known as a downfield bomber, fits into what Malzahn has done recently. So what gives? We’ll all see soon, but nobody’s talking now.
Texas A&M: Did somebody finally buy Kevin Sumlin a calendar that has the month of November on it?
A&M’s head man is on the short list of SEC coaches fighting for their salaries, and Sumlin’s ability to sink or swim probably will be defined mostly on whether his team, which has struggled deeply in recent years to do so, shows up in November.
The Aggies are 5-7 in the past three Novembers, with three of the wins coming over Western Carolina, Texas-San Antonio and Louisiana-Monroe.
Ole Miss: What is Hugh Freeze going to do if the NCAA hammers the Rebels?
A couple of years ago, Freeze could have almost picked his coaching job. He ran up-tempo fun offenses and recruited great players. But with the NCAA albatross hanging around Ole Miss’s neck, one key question is whether Freeze will stick around if things go from tough to tougher in Oxford.
Georgia: Can Kirby Smart coach close games?
Fair or unfair, there’s a stereotype hanging around the UGA program that the well-heeled new head coach was in way over his head in season one. Losing the Dobbsnail Boot game to Tennessee didn’t help matters much. This year, Smart either catches up on the learning curve or becomes the guy who does less with more than anybody.
Tennessee: Can Butch Jones survive another year where his only championship is “Of Life?”
Jones’ ability to sell Tennessee football was looking good a year ago. But then, his veteran team he had built didn’t win squat, and now he’s back to trying to rebuild. Tennessee’s fan base has been fairly patient, but another empty eight-win season would probably test that patience.
UK, USC, Vandy: Which up-and-comer of the East drops and falls?
Only once before last year had Kentucky, South Carolina and Vandy gone to a bowl in the game season. But it happened in 2016. That said, odds don’t favor it happening again, and one of these three teams will probably pave the way for the other two. So which is it? Stoops, Muschamp and Mason weren’t telling, but somebody is set up to fall back in 2017.
Florida: If Feleipe Franks is the answer, why wasn’t he the answer in 2016?
Jim McElwain has himself in a bad position — and no, it has nothing to do with a shark. He declined to turn UF’s season over the true frosh Franks in 2016, even while Jalen Hurts tore up college football. Now Franks apparently is the man in Gainesville, and if so, McElwain looks like he dropped the ball last season. If not, then 2017 could be a long year. So which is the answer in this unwinnable question?
Everybody: Who are will be the SEC’s 15th and 16th teams?
The mega-conference era is coming, and the rumblings from the Big 12 are growing louder. But who will bend? Will A&M let Texas come in? Or does South Carolina make way for Clemson? Or Kentucky for Louisville? We’ve got to give the SEC coaches a pass on this one, because they don’t know (much) more than we do, so at least, we can understand why nobody was answering this question.
Joe Cox is a columnist for Saturday Down South. He has also written or assisted in writing five books, and his most recent, Almost Perfect (a study of baseball pitchers’ near-miss attempts at perfect games), is available on Amazon or at many local bookstores.