New Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher
headlines six new football coaches in the SEC, which kicks off its annual media days today at a new site, Atlanta.
The Southeastern Conference kicks off its annual football media days today in new territory.
For more than three decades, Birmingham, Ala., has hosted the four-day event that draws more than 1,000 media members from across the country. This year, how2008. the SEC is shaking things up by moving the event to the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.
Select players and coaches from all 14 SEC teams will run the gantlet of media interviews, doing their best to talk about the upcoming season in front of a national-television audience.
With that in mind, here are a few topics to watch this week:
Coaching moves
A busier-than-usual offseason saw six teams in the SEC make coaching moves.
The biggest of those hires was Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M. The former Florida State coach shocked a lot of people when he decided to leave Tallahassee after eight seasons in what was one of the more conever, tentious divorces in recent memory. Of course, the 10-year $75 million deal he received from the Aggies more than makes up for Fisher’s troubles.
Dan Mullen also returns to familiar ground, landing at Florida following nine seasons at Mississippi State. Mullen was part of Urban Meyer’s staff that won national championships at UF in 2006 and The first task for the 46-year-old Mullen is reviving an offense that has seen better days, finishing at or near the bottom of the SEC in total offense in each season since 2010.
Joe Moorhead steps in for Mullen at Mississippi State, inheriting a program that is ripe for a big
season in 2018. After a disastrous coaching search, Tennessee hired Jeremy Pruitt to turn around a program itching to return to national prominence. Chad Morris wants to go fast at Arkansas while Matt Luke loses the interim tag and takes over the Ole Miss program.
Injury report
The decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to allow states to legalize sports gambling in May led to calls for a national college football injury report. More widespread domestic gambling could increase the financial value of key player injury information and supporters of the national injury report suggest it will help prevent players and support staff from becoming targets to share such information.
The Big Ten reportedly is urging the NCAA Football Committee to draft legislation making the injury report mandatory. Most conferences let each school decide how to handle releasing injury news. Some are transparent while others cite the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act as the reason they can’t release student personal health information to the public. The schools that do release health information get signed waivers from all players.
Coaches are sure to be asked for their opinions on the topic, with Alabama’s Nick Saban and Fisher most likely to generate the most attention with their answers.
QB controversies
Six quarterbacks are expected to attend SEC Media Days, led by Auburn’s Jarrett Stidham, Ole Miss’ Jordan Ta’amu and Mississippi State’s Nick Fitzgerald. And while each is slated to draw large crowds of media, it’s the players who aren’t in attendance who are the more interesting.
Alabama’s Jalen Hurts has been mired in speculation about his future after he was replaced in the second half of the College Football Playoff national-championship game by freshman Tua Tagovailoa. Saban has tried to downplay the quarterback competition, but it is one of the most talked about storylines heading into the upcoming season.
Not to be outdone, Georgia has its own quarterback controversy with incumbent Jake Fromm looking to retain his starting job and hold off incoming freshman Justin Fields. Fromm appeared as safe bet to start the season on Sept. 1 against Austin Peay until it was revealed he broke his right hand. LSU is also facing a tough decision at quarterback, one made even more difficult with the addition of Ohio State transfer Joe Barrow.