SEC Media Days 2023

As teams return to camp post the summer break (as do media folks), chatter surfaces around this time of all the things which have happened since January. Or if you are Tennessee then you have grabbed the headlines all on your won in the most spectacular of fashions.

The vols get sanctioned

So let’s start with the Vols. Following the NCAA investigation into recruiting violations (lots of cash in brown paper bags), the NCAA announced their list of sanctions this week. 

The headline catcher was that because previous head coach, Jeremy Pruitt is now nowhere to be seen in the Knoxville area and that the University of Tennessee had taken action following their own internal investigation – i.e. self censorship, the NCAA elected not to take Bowl games away from the Vols.

While this has drawn criticism from certain quarters it seems pointless censuring a coaching staff and players who had nothing to do with the previous regime. So to penalise young men from playing in the pinnacle of a hard fought season has always been a bitter pill to swallow. The Vols avoided this.

However the sanctions imposed were reasonably tough. The school is on probation for five years which along with an $8m fine, which ranks up there with the highest fines ever imposed on schools, a reduction in scholarship and recruiting visits will slow the Vols down, but not finish them. There are also additional fines related to the Vols Gator bowl appearance in 2020, which will take the total fine to $9m which sets a new record.

The school also forfeits any wins during 2019 and 2020. Which if you recall under Pruitt were few and far between.  

Which begs the question many are asking – was the NCAA tough enough? Comparisons to other schools who did not rack up the  200 or so infractions of the NCAA recruiting guidelines, seems just. Other schools have been hammered more for less which further shows the inconsistency of the NCAA.

Pruitt, who is currently out of the game following a short stint with the New York Giants was hit with a six year show cause order which reflects Pruitt’s complete lack of respect for the recruiting criteria. The show cause makes it very difficult for Pruitt to find work in College football for the foreseeable future – although not impossible as the hiring of Hugh Freeze has proved.

However, in reality this is the best possible outcome for head coach, Josh Heupel.

Is the hunt for Alabama’s QB their greatest problem at this point?

I wrote earlier in the year about Alabama’s hunt for their QB1. One assumes that head coach, Nick Saban has a better idea than the rest of us as to who will suit up at quarterback in the season opener against Middle Tennessee on September 3rd.

But sitting here my only guess is that Jalen Milroe who appears to be incumbent, will start the season. Equally I have no idea if Ty Simpson, Eli Holstein or indeed transferree Tyler Buchner will grab the jersey.

Which is a pretty good Segway into what could well end up being Bama’s real concern over the next few weeks.

The importance of summer and fall camps cannot be stressed enough for teams, in general but certainly for those that are trying to bed in a new quarterback and a new offensive co-ordinator. Earlier in the year Tommy Rees joined Alabama from Notre Dame, as offensive coordinator replacing the much maligned Bill O’Brien.

Saban has put a lot of faith in Rees, a young coach with a blooming reputation. In fact you can’t help compare the situation (not the coaches) when Saban hired Lane Kiffin to revamp his offense.

Which means that the news of Northwestern sacking head coach Pat Fitzgerald should concern those in T-Town. Rees has been mentioned as a name the Wildcats are watching and interested in. Northwestern need to have a strong character to lead them forward out of the mess they find themselves in. A big splash hire is unlikely to happen given the likely sanctions Northwestern will find themselves on the end of. 

But Rees could find the return back to the mid-West enticing. Northwestern is a storied program operating in the heart of Chicago, which must be a wonderful city to live in.

In this context, splash would be the right word, nay Tsunami perhaps should Alabama lose its new offensive co-ordinator a matter of weeks ahead of the new season. This would not go down well in Alabama.

Which means this is a story to keep in your line of sight.

How will the bulldogs cope with the pressure

Georgia football is National Champions for successive seasons. While this has been done before, it has been over 90 years (and in a very different structure) that a team has been National Champion for three successive years. So it’s fair to say that in modern day college football no team has won three successive championships.

You may recall at last year’s SEC Media Days the Bulldogs head coach coming out swinging by saying that “Georgia would not be hunted, they will do the hunting”. These were strong words from Kirby but they set the tone for the season. Georgia did not falter in their quest for back to back Championships and are favourites in many analysts eyes to repeat their repeat. Three-peat is what I think you call it.

Which makes sense given the standard that Georgia has set and with another outstanding recruiting year, they have all the tools available to them to dominate college football.

Except for two things.

First up as I wrote a few weeks ago, Kirby Smart’s summer has not been straightforward. Arrests for dangerous driving which resulted in the most tragic of circumstances and more recent accusations of sexual misconduct (by his players, not Kirby Smart to be clear!), has meant that Georgia has hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Kirby will leave us in no doubt that his team is focused on nothing more than a National Championship but time will tell us if this will have an impact.

But the greatest barrier to a third successive title might just be that fact itself. It has never been done in recent times and as the Dawgs successfully progress through their schedule the pressure will only build with each step forward. How the players  cope with this will be down to the way in which the coaching staff leads them through it.