SEC media days promise chaos, talk of OU, Texas and Alabama post-Nick Saban
Thanks to Trademark Exteriors Renovation and Fowler Automotive for sponsoring my coverage of SEC football media days.
OU had its big welcome to the SEC a couple of weeks ago, but now, the Sooners are set for their first SEC event.
SEC football media days.
What will it be like seeing the Sooners with the Vols and Bulldogs, not the Cowboys and Jayhawks? Will OU and sidekick Texas be the biggest draws?
So much to talk about, so Tulsa World columnist Berry Tramel and I will do just that on The Jenni Carlson Show.
Episode highlights
2:25: What do you expect SEC media days to be like?
4:25: Will OU and Texas be the headliners at SEC media days?
6:05: Who are you most interested to hear from?
9:55: Any players you’re wanting to talk with at SEC media days?
12:45: Question you most want asked and answered?
17:55: What do you need to hear from Brent Venables and the Sooners at SEC media days?
19:25: Lasting impression from Big 12 media days?
21:15: Any surprises from Big 12 media days?
Producer: Jacquelyn Musgrove
Creative Director: Michael Lane
Transcript
Jenni: Berry, how's it going?
Berry: Well, a little jet lagged just like you, Jacko. We got back in from Vegas after not that many days in Las Vegas, but that place will wear you out either way, especially when it's 118 degrees.
Jenni: Yeah, we almost got to see a record high, but I will take it cooler next time if they would set that up for us. Big 12 media days, it was a lot, especially with the heat, but now we're starting to turn our attention to SEC media days. Berry, It'll be the Sooners' first real true event in the SEC. But let me ask you this first of all. You and I have been to a lot of media days over the years, but we've never been to SEC media days. It’s the granddaddy of all media days. What's your expectation of just what this is gonna be like?
Berry: My expectation is chaos. A lot more media than what we're accustomed to. A lot less intrapersonal interaction with coaches and maybe players. The Big 12, all these years, I've done it forever, since the formation of the conference. You're almost that long tenured, and we knew so many people, including some of the newsmakers, the coaches and whatnot. And we're going to have to start over with a bunch of the conference.
We're lucky in four of these guys are former OU assistants. One of them is now the OU head coach, Brent Venables. And so that helps a little bit, but we're going to have to start meeting a lot of people, and it's going to be more difficult, I think, to make connections with people than ever before.
Jenni: Yeah, I think you and I have both had conversations with people that have experienced SEC media days, and the belief is that, yeah, it says ‘media day,’ but it's really not about us media as much as it is about the TV partners media. So it's more about the show for the TV audience, which I get. They pay big bills. I understand. But yeah, it is gonna be interesting to see just how those days go. Four days down in Dallas. Four teams each day, which will be a much more spread out schedule than we had for Big 12 media days where it was two days for 16 teams, eight a day. So lots more time per team, if you will. But I mentioned this earlier, Berry, OU and Texas coming into the league, the new kids on the block. Are they the headliners in this? They're not Georgia, they're not Alabama as far as recent history goes, but how do OU and Texas figure into just who's the headliner in this whole thing?
Berry: Well, I think it depends on who you are. For like, the national media and maybe even the people that cover the conference as a whole, OU and Texas are the sort of the intriguing storylines, the subplots, the people who draw the most interest. The people who cover the Auburn Tigers or the LSU Tigers or whatever other Tigers is in the league — I guess they got three — their No. 1 story in Auburn is Auburn. So they're not going to say, ‘You know, I wonder what's going on with OU and Texas?’ So I do think from a wider perspective, yeah. Unless it's Karen DeBoer, Alabama. The Nick Saban era is over, and that's a case of, people want to know what's going to happen to the Crimson Tide and their great dynasty. DeBoer is clearly a winner, but he's never coached south of, I think it's Carbondale, Illinois. So he's now down in Dixie, and we'll see how it goes.
Jenni: I do think Karen DeBoer, obviously a huge story. Alabama, huge story. But yeah, I think these two new schools are gonna draw a lot of interest. People wanna hear from Steve Sarkisian. They wanna hear from Brent Venables, from the players.
So that begs the next question, Berry. Who are you most interested to hear from? It's players, it's coaches, but it's also some of the conference people. Who sort of piqued your interest?
Berry: Well, I mean, I'm interested in seeing some familiar faces. Josh Heaped on some level I know. Shane Beamer from South Carolina was a super guy to deal with when he was here in Norman. And of course, Jeff Lebby is not that far removed from the Sooner staff. And Mark Stoops is a very familiar face. Never coached at OU, but certainly, somebody named Stoops has.
But … Lane Kiffin is a can’t-miss press conference. A little bit like he's the Mike Gundy of the SEC. I've been around Kirby Smart. Fairly boring. Straightforward. You know what you're getting. Brian Kelly, sort of the same way, unless he decides to do a Cajun accent. But I think for me, it'd be Lane Kiffin. See what the Lane Kiffin Show is.
They’ve got some interesting coaches in the SEC. Hugh Freeze is at Auburn. We'll see how Hugh Freeze is. Billy Napier is on the hot seat, job’s on the line at Florida. And Eli Drinkwitz is apparently quite the character at M-I-Z-Z-O-U. So, you know, we'll start learning some of this stuff on Monday in downtown Dallas.
Jenni: Yeah, you know, it's interesting to me when you see who's sort of at the same time. There are some rivalries, there are some knocking of heads and it just so happens that OU is gonna sort of be doing the two-step on the same day with Missouri, as far as being in the main media room. Missouri got a couple of recruits, a couple of transfers from OU. I don't know if there's bad blood between the two, but it is interesting that they're the two that are gonna be sort of going through the main media room in the same stretch of time in that afternoon session.
But yeah, I guess the thing you never know is what beef is gonna pop up at SEC media days because occasionally Lane Kiffin will say something or somebody will bring up something and all of a sudden that's the story. So to me, the question of what are we talking about? It hasn’t been revealed just yet. I mean, who knows what somebody might pop off with on Monday that could become the story for the rest of the week. That has yet to be seen.
I agree about Lane Kiffin, though. I definitely want to go check out what he has to say. I think he's the one I'm maybe most intrigued by.
Berry: Well, yeah. And you know, he's liable to say anything about NIL. He already has. The transfer portal is, you know, we’ve got so many hot-button, hot-issue topics in college football. Not just paying the players. How to pay them. Then for the people who tend to just like to talk football at their football games, we got a 12-team playoff this year. To me, that would be the cool thing to talk about all week. My eyes get glazed over when we talk about administration and how the Big Ten and SEC is going to split up all their money and all that kind of stuff. I mean, I think fans would rather talk about who's going to make the playoff. The format. Is one of the SEC teams going to have to go to Ann Arbor, Michigan in December and play in 21 degree weather. Those kinds of things. I think it'd be interesting. Hopefully we do a lot of that in Dallas.
Jenni: We talk about Lane Kiffin, Eli Drinkwitz, lots of those types of names, but any players that you're interested in hearing from?
Berry: Oh, I'm interested in the Alabama guys. Jalen Milroe will be there. Just what's life like post-Saban? I mean, this is sort of like in America when FDR died in 1945. For a whole lot of Americans, he's the only president they knew. He's the president for 13 years, and they didn't remember any other president being in the White House.
And what's that like? What's it like when, you know, Bill Belichick no longer is the coach of the New England Patriots? What was it like when the Dodgers moved on from Walter Alston? And those kinds of things. We see it quite a bit in college basketball. These long standing coaches, Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim, that crowd. We don't see guys that successful that long like Nick Saban (in college football). Never seen anybody like Saban, but just his impact on the football program, the culture, the state of Alabama, the whole nation of college football. What's it like on the inside to go from Nick Saban to this coach who just a years ago was an NAIA coach in South Dakota? That fascinates me.
Jenni: Yeah, yeah, I think that's definitely something to talk about. That player roster to me, I'm sure as I look at it more, I'm going to get some names that I'm definitely going to want to see. But you know, any time you talk about quarterbacks, who the quarterbacks, what they're saying. Jackson Arnold will be there for Oklahoma. Quinn Ewers will be there for Texas. It's only three players per team, Berry, at SEC media day compared to Big 12, which I think mandates at least four but lots of times teams bring five. So you get a lot of teams that will bring five, but it's only three at SEC media day. The Sooners who will be there are Jackson Arnold, Billy Bowman, Danny Statesman. So all three of those guys interest me.
But I think anytime you're talking about these quarterbacks at other places, what are they like? What about the experienced ones like Milroe at Alabama but the inexperienced ones too, like Jackson Arnold. What do they have to say at SEC media day? To me, that'll be interesting in a league that really has become more quarterback dependent, not the ground-and-pound league of the old days. Now they wanna throw it around, too. So those quarterbacks to me, I'm gonna be looking to hear from as many of them as I can for sure.
OK, I asked you last week this question before Big 12 media days, you liked it, so I'm asking you again: question you most want to ask and get answered at SEC media day?
Berry: And get answered. Something about the playoff. How about this? Do we want even more playoff home games in the 12-team playoff? We're going to have an 11-game playoff. The first four games are going to be on campus. The next seven, neutral site. Would coaches like to make the quarterfinals, first round, maybe even the semifinals? Get rid of the bowls.
It's going to be really cool if you get to host a playoff game in that third weekend of December. Do they want to expand that, model it after the NFL playoffs? It's really cool if you get to host. It’s not so great if you have to go on the road. So, the SEC is coming from a position of strength. I think they would probably take their chances on as many home games as possible, but I'd be interested in seeing on that.
One of the things I like about this playoff is those seven neutral site games because the NFL, they go all home games, but it's such a controlled environment in terms of parity, in terms of everybody on an even playing field. And even the selections are all mathematic. The schedule is roughly the same. Best record in the college is very subjective and selective, and a committee decides who's playing who. I tend to think you get a better result with more neutral site games, but maybe the coaches would prefer more campus games.
Jenni: The campus games came to mind for me … because at Big 12 media days we got to hear from the new executive director of the playoff, Rich Clark. It was his first public appearance as executive director, taking over for our good buddy Bill Hancock, who I will miss terribly at college football events, but super excited for him to have some time to relax and retire. But Rich Clark, impressive guy, Berry. 38-year Air Force …
Berry: Who knew the Air Force relied on impressive people to be lieutenant generals? I thought they'd drive down the street and pick somebody out of a crowd.
Jenni: But a guy that has flown in combat, has gone before Congress, and now he's in charge of this playoff. You asked him a great question during his big press conference. What is it about these home sites that could be different than regular season? He rattled off a bunch of things. But one of the things he came back to was, this is probably going to be the biggest game these campuses have ever had. And I think it's a great point. Even the most storied programs could say, it's unlikely that they've had anything bigger than a national playoff game on their campus. So to me, it was a great point, got me excited about the potential of some of those matchups. Who could play who, where they could be. So, yeah, would the SEC be interested in maybe adding to those? It was really kind of fun to think about the possibilities of some of the teams that could show up in places like Columbus, Ohio, or Eugene, Oregon. Things you don't usually think about. I think it's pretty cool to think about that.
Berry: Here's an example, Jacko. It's not crazy to think some year, even this year, the committee could end up with an eight-nine tandem of Oklahoma and Texas. And think about the weight of that decision on who's eight and who's nine. You know, the difference between the eight and nine seeds in something like this is literally nothing. Probably if it became OU-Texas, it would probably go to whoever won their matchup in Dallas, but you could really have an OU-Texas or Alabama-LSU or even Georgia-Oklahoma. You could have SEC matchups in the first round. So, that'd be what I hope we get more inter-conference matchups. I'd rather see Ohio State play LSU and Oklahoma play Penn State, than Penn State play, you know, Michigan or Oklahoma play LSU. But just the idea of some of these matchups in December, third week of December.
Jenni: It's fascinating. Yeah, and don't forget our long held hope that Bedlam becomes a playoff game. Now, again, if it's an eight-nine matchup, stand back. That'd be fun to see where that game would be.
Hey, last thing on SEC media days. Brent Venables, his Sooners will be there. What are you needing to hear from them? We've obviously maybe heard from them more than we would have otherwise because of the move to the SEC becoming official. But is there anything from Brent and his players that you'd like to hear at SEC media day?
Berry: I don't think so. I mean, Brent really, I think he's been fairly forthcoming when he talks about this team, and we know a lot about this team. What we don't know about this team, he really doesn't know about this team. You know, like how good is the offensive line going to be here in mid July? Brent Venables doesn't know. He's not going to know until September.
I do think it will be interesting to watch Brent just interact with the SEC media. You know, Brent's a little, he's a little bit, what's the word? He doesn't really get bothered or changed much by the environment. If he's talking to you one-on-one in the corner, if he's talking to 150 people in a press conference, he's about the same. Not everybody's like that. Not every coach is like that, but Brent is. Let's see how he does in front of a thousand in the Omni Ballroom where he'll be next week. So just how he interacts with the SEC media. I tend to think we won't see any difference, but it'll be interesting to see.
Jenni: Well, as we look forward to SEC media days, let's take a second and close the book on Big 12 media days. Any lasting impressions of the two days in Las Vegas for the Big 12?
Berry: Um, it was hot.
Jenni: Was very hot.
Berry: It was very hot. Here's what I thought: I think Big 12 people thought that losing OU and Texas and moving to Vegas for crying out loud, away from the conference center, might impact the attendance. And it was down about a hundred people. Generally they draw about 600 credentialed media. 500, I think were there. But in terms of the hoards that would come and follow OU and Texas … they only lost one hoard because it was replaced by Deion Sanders and Colorado. I mean, it's impossible to get close to Deion. There's just dozens and dozens of reporters around him. His players, not quite as bad, but, Deion really sort of took up a little bit of the slack, you know, about half the slack that was lost with OU and Texas. Deion took it up. Now, Deion's not gonna be in Boulder forever, but at least on the outside, the sizzle and the atmosphere, the energy at Big 12 media days was not severely impacted by the loss of Oklahoma and Texas courtesy of Coach Prime.
Jenni: Yeah, it was a lot. I mean, the buzz went up on Wednesday when he was first up, when he was in the building. Just a lot of people there for his press conference. And I thought it was pretty telling that the attention is there. Whether you like him or not, people are paying attention to him. So that was definitely evident. And he was even being talked about on Tuesday when he wasn't there. So when you've got impact that way, I think it speaks to the vibe that he carries around with him.
Hey, any surprises? Anything that surprised you about who you talked to, what you heard, those sorts of things at Big 12 media days?
Berry: I’m always pleasantly surprised at how charismatic Joey McGuire is. I shouldn't be. It’s his third year. But he's a winning personality, and he can really draw people. I was very impressed with Arizona coach Brent Brennan. He's not a guy we know much about. He's inherited a program. but I was very impressed with him. Everybody else of the newcomers, I had them pegged pretty good. I didn't know much about Brent Brennan. I was very impressed with him. The entire Arizona congregation was solid. So I think Arizona, at least from a PR standpoint, is going to be a very solid addition to the conference.
Jenni: I’m gonna segue this into my final question for you, but my biggest surprise was how fun it was to watch Shedder and Shiloh Sanders have a joint press conference. The sons of Deion, who are safety and quarterback, they did their availability together at one point. And I know you wrote about that for the Tulsa World, how surprisingly fun and charismatic that whole session was. So what else do you got coming up at the Tulsa World? What should people head over there to tuslaworld.com and see you from you, BT?
Berry: Well, I mean, I'm going to have another Mike Gundy column on the weekend, but I can tell you, one of the things about being in Vegas is there's something always going on. And we went from Allegiant Stadium, Big 12 media days, we didn't even go back to our hotel. Ashton Slaughter and I from the World got into an Uber, went over to T-Mobile Arena, and there's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort playing for Team Canada against Team USA. 18,000 people. An Olympic showcase game. The arena was going wild, and I got to talk to Lu Dort one-on-one and we talked about the Thunder summer and what's going on with the Thunder and Team Canada.