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The 2016 football season draws closer every day. To feed the crescendo of excitement, the SEC will play host to its annual SEC Media Days from July 11-14 in Birmingham, Ala.
While it’s no Super Bowl Media Day, coaches and players from throughout the conference can expect a barrage of questions ranging from the serious to the flippant.
We came up with a few questions we’d like to see SEC coaches and designated players answer throughout the week. To wit:
Can Hugh Freeze and Ole Miss put their offseason troubles behind them? It’s been quite the offseason for Ole Miss — which has witnessed Denzel Nkemdiche in the ICU for alleged drug use, his brother Robert leap from a hotel room prior to the Cotton Bowl and Laremy Tunsil’s infamous draft-night tumble. The latter might have been the most damaging after Tunsil admitted to receiving financial help from coaches. All three headaches are gone from Oxford now, but what measures Freeze puts in place to prevent any re-occurrences is paramount for a Rebels team that believes it can contend for the SEC West.
Is Jacob Eason the answer under center for Georgia? The Bulldogs were a talented squad, but quarterback play limited them in Mark Richt’s final season in Athens. Greyson Lambert (1,959 yards, 12 TDs, 2 INTs) returns for his senior campaign, but whether or not he’s the answer for Georgia at quarterback has long been opined. Jacob Eason arrives between the hedges with a wealth of talent and even more hype. Will the nation’s top quarterback recruit get a shot to see the field as a true freshman for the Bulldogs in Kirby Smart’s first year?
What kind of discipline will Cam Robinson face? Police arrested Alabama left tackle Cam Robinson after allegedly finding marijuana and a stolen firearm in his possession. That incident also saw teammate Hootie Jones get booked. We know it’ll be futile asking Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban who his starting quarterback will be in Week 1 against Southern California. So we might as well press the legendary coach on any potential suspension for his star lineman.
Can we get a Muschamp death stare? No? Well then how about querying the new South Carolina head coach about his quarterback situation. The Gamecocks struggled at the revolving door of a position last year and return two of those quarterbacks in Perry Orth and Lorenzo Nuñez. Both flashed signs of brilliance in 2015 but finished middle of the road as part of the SEC’s No. 7 passing offense. With talented freshmen Jake Bentley and Brandon McIlwain in Columbia this summer, we’d like to get a better idea of who will get the nod.
How does Tennessee avoid succumbing to the hype? The Volunteers enter the 2016 season with a tremendous amount of hype laid upon the shoulders of the veteran roster. Butch Jones’ squad is stocked with more experience than just about any team in the SEC and has stars at many positions, including arguably the most dynamic run game in the conference. Offseason issues and lawsuits have been a distraction. We’d like to know how Jones is keeping his players from folding under the pressure.
Will Antonio Callaway and Treon Harris wear orange and blue this year? Antonio Callaway burst onto the scene in 2015, finishing second only to Texas A&M’s Christian Kirk among freshmen in all-purpose yards, piling up 1,211 as a receiver and kick-returner. Harris, while struggling at times, still managed to lead the Gators to an SEC East title after the suspension of quarterback Will Grier due to alleged doping infractions, and he was said to be switching to receiver. Jim McElwain suspended both Callaway and Harris in March for a violation of the school’s conduct code. Callaway has been cleared to take classes, but neither are back with the program yet. We’d really like to know what they did to land in the doghouse, but we’ll settle for an answer about their availability come Week 1 against Massachusetts.
Is there anything you’d like to say to Michigan, Mr. Bielema? Michigan rankled Arkansas this week by cancelling the upcoming series between the Wolverines and Razorbacks slated for 2018 and 2019. Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema isn’t one to mince his words or hold back his thoughts — and do so in colorful fashion. The ebullient Hogs coach has no problem going after his former conference the Big Ten either, calling out Ohio State last year for what he perceived to be a weak schedule. We’d like to know how Bielema feels about Jim Harbaugh right about now.
Can Missouri rediscover its offense? Only Kent State had a worse scoring offense in the entire nation than the unit Missouri (13.6 PPG) trotted out on the field last year. Gone now is head coach Gary Pinkel and maligned quarterback Maty Mauk, who spent the majority of 2015 suspended from the team. Drew Lock appears to be the man that new head coach Barry Odom will hand the reins to. But can the pair turn around an atrocious offense that averaged just 281 total yards per game?
What will be Mississippi State’s identity without Dak Prescott? Mississippi State begins its post-Dak Prescott era in search of a quarterback. Nick Fitzgerald appears to have the inside track when it comes to replacing Prescott, who left Starkville with just about every Bulldogs passing record that there is. Fitzgerald didn’t exactly seize the job this spring. Redshirt junior Damian Williams could easily earn the position over Fitzgerald. Both Williams and Fitzgerald are dual-threat quarterbacks, which should somewhat ease any transition for the Mississippi State offense.
Does a Johnny Manziel culture still exist at Texas A&M? Kevin Sumlin probably won’t address this in detail, but the mass exodus of five-star quarterbacks from the head coach’s program is a bit unsettling. The Aggies watched helplessly as Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray packed their bags and left College Station about a week apart toward the end of the 2015 season. It was Allen, who has since transferred to Houston, who claimed the Manziel culture of partying is being ignored by team officials. In fact, it’s some of those same officials that are not helping matters — particularly Aaron Moorehead was disciplined by Sumlin after the wide receivers coach went on a Twitter tirade upon learning the fate of Tate Martell, another five-star quarterback who defected from the Aggies in May. Oklahoma graduate transfer Trevor Knight is the benefactor of the defections. Can he survive the culture of Sumlin’s program?
Chris Wuensch is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers South Carolina and Tennessee.
