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The SDS crew is on site this week in Hoover, Ala., covering the 2016 SEC Media Days. If you missed the coverage today, here’s your Day 3 recap …
It was a news-filled day in Hoover, but there’s no doubt that Day 3 was defined early on by a heated exchange between Nick Saban and Paul Finebaum during SEC Network’s coverage of the event on Wednesday.
Roll Tiders flood the local event like no other, and many were there to get a glimpse of the Crimson Tide representatives, who are just about six months removed from their national championship game victory over Clemson in Glendale, Ariz.
It was also Arkansas’ turn to take the stage, fresh off winning six of its last seven games to finish 2015, including victories over Auburn, Ole Miss and LSU.
A couple other teams in attendance, Kentucky and Missouri, went in the opposite direction, losing six of their last seven games.
However, the Wildcats have lots of returning talent that has Lexington optimistic that the program can end its five-year bowl drought. Meanwhile, Missouri is turning the page with a new head coach.
ALABAMA
We caught a glimpse of some smiles from Saban at the conclusion of last season, which ended with yet another national title and expectations hitting their head against the ceiling since they can’t really get any higher.
But he wasn’t doing much of that on the set with Finebaum and the SEC Network crew.
Saban wasn’t asked the tough questions during his press conference, which has become a trend at this year’s Media Days after the same happened with Dan Mullen in regards to Jeffery Simmons.
However, Saban was grilled about it in other rooms during the event, and most notably on national television by Finebaum. Things got a tad heated between the two.
Full video: Saban goes off on Paul Finebaumhttps://t.co/3fhyqU9fiYhttps://t.co/lazKcCfsPO
— FootballScoop (@FootballScoop) July 13, 2016
And even during the commercial break.
The most interesting takeaway may have been the insinuation by Saban that the two players may have been victims of cops who were disgruntled LSU fans.
The arrest of offensive tackle Cam Robinson and defensive back Hootie Jones dominated the headlines out of Hoover, and Robinson also chimed in with something to say during it all.
https://twitter.com/gridironnow/status/753295614436409344
In other news, Alabama is apparently cooperating with Auburn, giving them advice as it prepares for its season opener against Clemson. However, Alabama isn’t being as cooperative with defensive back Maurice Smith’s hopes of transferring.
ARKANSAS
While many media members were reluctant to get the most obvious question of the day out through their teeth, Bret Bielema made it clear that no one would have to even worry about broaching that subject with him, a clear jab at division rivals Alabama and Mississippi State.
“You don’t have to ask me if we’re going to suspend anybody for the first game,” Bielema said. “That doesn’t come up in our program.”
He later added:
“I learned a very valuable lesson from Coach (Hayden) Frye (at Iowa), and he always said you recruit your own problems,” Bielema said.
As always, Bielema also had some quirky lines, both of which involved the word “beautiful.”
https://twitter.com/SaturdayJC/status/753258238829879296
He later called defensive end Deatrich Wise a “beautiful” player.
The fourth-year coach also addressed the cancellation of the Arkansas-Michigan series for the first time, surprisingly defending coach Jim Harbaugh in the process. Bielema even said he loves a guy that speaks his mind, loves the way he coaches the game and respects him tremendously.
That’s certainly a 360-degree turn from the animosity that existed between Harbaugh and the SEC during the offseason.
Bielema also announced that two players have left the program, senior receiver Eric Hawkins and sophomore defensive back Willie Sykes.
KENTUCKY
During Mark Stoops’ time at the podium, he let it be known that he was still targeting former Kentucky prospects who had decommitted as the program lost some notable ones this past spring.
“We still love any guys that decommitted or whatever,” Stoops said. “Listen, I want our fans to embrace them. They’re good people. These are hard decisions for these kids. They get pulled a million different directions. I don’t think anybody made these decisions very lightly. They still have great respect and feeling for Kentucky.”
That’s to be anticipated as sometimes programs regain those commitments. What people didn’t expect was that Stoops was still actively recruiting a couple other players who had been with the program and either been dismissed or graduated!
https://twitter.com/KSTV_Sports/status/753290019624853505
Defensive end Jason Hatcher was dismissed from the program earlier this year, and linebacker Khalid Henderson graduated last year.
Stoops exhibited confidence that the Wildcats could take the next step this season, saying the team has taken everything up a notch during offseason workouts to get over the hump.
“We had longer spring practices. We need to have a tougher two-a-days, a tougher camp and continue to expand our capacity to handle more to endure what it takes mentally and physically to compete and to win in this league,” Stoops said. “In particular, to close the gap on the close games. We’ve been very close. We’re tired of being close. And our players are doing what it takes in expanding that capacity, expanding everything we’re doing to give us a larger margin to not have to play a perfect game all of the time.”
When asked what the commonality was last season in the times Kentucky came up short, the first thing he mentioned was “playmaking ability.” The team certainly returns plenty of that in the skill positions this season.
MISSOURI
Considering how they finished last season, the second half of Wednesday’s Media Days session didn’t have much sizzle with a pair of teams that both finished 5-7 and a combined 3-13 in SEC play.
Still, Missouri made headlines when the school, filled with turmoil since last season, was losing athletic director Mack Rhoades to Baylor, which currently has its own problems.
The Tigers announced that Wren Baker would take over the position in an interim role. First-year coach Barry Odom clearly isn’t the only new leaf being turned at Mizzou.
In the last 12 months, Missouri has lost its president, chancellor, AD, football coach, and baseball coach.
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) July 13, 2016
Nonetheless, Odom spent his first Media Days as a head coach brimming with confidence about this year’s Missouri team, and he’s excited about the offensive staff that’s in place.
“Offensively, we’ve got to be creative enough schematically to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to give our kids a chance and to put them in position, ask them to go make a play that they can by a formation, by a shift, by a motion,” Odom said. “Let’s give ourselves a chance offensively to play within the skill set of guys that we have.”
Missouri fans certainly love to hear that coming off a year that saw the Tigers finish dead last in the SEC in scoring offense (13.6 points per game) and total offense (280.9 yards per game).
Odom also answered a question about getting Kansas back on the schedule to renew that rivalry and made it clear that he’d love to if he’s given a vote because “it’s important that we look to build experiences for student-athletes that they have a chance to play in a game like that, a rivalry game like that, that really means something that they can carry with them forever.”
Odom also pointed out a couple times that the battle for the starting QB job between true sophomore Drew Lock and redshirt sophomore Marvin Zanders will carry over into the fall.
Born and raised in Gainesville, Talal joined SDS in 2015 after spending 2 years in Bristol as an ESPN researcher. Previously, Talal worked at The Gainesville Sun.
