The SEC certainly knows how to put on a show.
That was apparent as the college football world descended upon the Omni Hotel in Dallas for four days. Hundreds of media members filled up both the main media room and the radio row just outside.
Understandably so. It was a landmark moment at SEC Media Days as Texas and Oklahoma had officially arrived.
What did we learn over the course of four days? Here’s five takeaways from SEC Media Days.
Saban’s impact
Nick Saban won’t be on the sidelines this fall. That will take some getting used to for college football fans.
But even in retirement, his impact on the sport and on the SEC was felt throughout SEC Media Days. Four current SEC head coaches were formerly assistants under Saban: Georgia’s Kirby Smart, Texas’ Steve Sarkisian, Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin and Florida’s Billy Napier.
Sarkisian addressed Saban, who was sitting in the back of the main media room on the SEC Network set, during his presser. He spent three seasons with Alabama under Saban.
“No one have you impacted more than me,” Sarkisian said. “I would not be standing here today without you and what you’ve meant to my career, to my life, and I can’t thank you enough.”
“The impact you’ve had on our game has been second to none, and I just can’t thank you enough,” he continued. “I want to be able to publicly do that to you, Coach. Thank you very, very much.”
Cool moment as Texas coach Steve Sarkisian salutes Alabama legend Nick Saban at #SECMediaDays
— Nate Sanchez (@nate_sanch77) July 17, 2024
"No one have you impacted more than me. I would not be standing here today without you. What you've meant to my career, to my life, I can't thank you enough." #RollTide #HookEm pic.twitter.com/Th9J19tnQH
New Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer remarked on his role replacing Saban.
“There will only ever be one Coach Saban,” he said. “This program is special, and I guess I just take it as a great honor to be the one that gets to do everything we can to carry on the great tradition.”
Kirby Smart believes Saban made him into the two-time national champion coach he is today.
“The demand for excellence is met by none other than him,” Smart said. “So that standard that he set for me, day in and day out, he met himself. He doesn’t hold you to any different standard than himself.”
Saban opened up about his retirement.
“The biggest thing I miss is the relationships with the people, the players, the coaches, the staff,” Saban said on Wednesday.
Texas and OU elevating the conference
Texas and Oklahoma joining the conference was the headline of the week.
Texas’ media availabilities for Steve Sarkisian and Quinn Ewers were the most attended of the week. When introducing Sooners coach Brent Venables, Commissioner Greg Sankey remarked on the amount of cameras awaiting Venables’ entrance.
“We’ve established a new record for the entry cameras over there,” he said.
Aside from what Texas and Oklahoma had to say this week, just about every coach expressed their thoughts on the SEC’s newfound status, as Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin put it, a “super conference.”
Brian Kelly described the conference as “an incredible challenge from top to bottom.”
You don’t need to go through the litany of superlatives Sankey outlined to realize the SEC was already the top dog in college football. But the challenge only grows from here.
“When Texas and Oklahoma came into the conference, every schedule was going to get harder,” Kirby Smart said.
When asked about Georgia’s trip to Austin this fall, he said Texas is “built like an SEC football team.”
While the common fan might view the new SEC as a gauntlet to deal with, these high-level coaches welcome the challenge.
“You want to compete against the best,” South Carolina coach Shane Beamer said. “You want to coach against the best. That’s what you get to do in the SEC.”
![Oklahoma head football coach Brent Venables answers the question of a media member during...](https://dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/F5BLUH3YNVF65BCP6IEQRC4D3Q.jpg?auth=e53a5f8378c8a57f8c0d7e21947e6fbcfc2d4cb45d6443d352dd562394ab727c&width=430&quality=80)
Time will tell just how ready Texas and Oklahoma are for the grind of an SEC schedule. But historically, the Longhorns and Sooners have been prestigious programs. “It’s a partnership of elite with elite,” Venables said.
Tap the brakes on expansion
Amid rumors of Clemson and Florida State searching for ways out of the ACC, Sankey quickly dismissed any ideas of further expansion.
“We’re focused on our 16,” Sankey said. “I’m not a recruiter. My job is to make sure we meet the standard of excellence that we have for ourselves on a daily basis. That attracts interest. It’s done that with the two universities we have added this year. They’re not the only phone calls I’ve ever had, but I’m not involved in recruitment.
Another element that could be steering the SEC away from the ACC is the ongoing litigation between some ACC schools and the conference.
“Our presidents have been clear that I am not going to entangle us in litigation around expansion,” he said. “So I pay attention, but I’m not engaged in those conversations.”
SEC rivalries ignited (and reignited)
In adding Texas and Oklahoma, the SEC also added some premier rivalries.
Not only is the Texas-OU rivalry joining the conference, but the Longhorns’ rivalries with Texas A&M and Arkansas have also been revived. .
Sarkisian joked that Arkansas fans “hate Texas more than they like themselves.” Arkansas coach Sam Pittman agreed with Sarkisian.
Speaking of rivalry, SEC coordinator of football officials John McDaid explained how the his crews will officiate the “Horns Down” gesture.
“We’ve talked a lot about that,” McDaid said. “I’m asking my officials to use a framework of judgment where the act to be a foul needs to be one of three buckets. It needs to be taunting an opponent, it needs to be a travesty of the game or it needs to otherwise compromise our ability to manage the game...
“The act needs to be offending to the senses. If you took that act out of a football stadium and did it in a shopping mall or a grocery store, would it offend the senses to a majority of the people in the area? That signal would not.”
![Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Kyler Murray (1) holds up upside down horns after receiving the...](https://dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/ZRGZ6IT3XP3NZFSQSG3YU7MCKE.jpg?auth=543fc2c0a284a7e98efd8f8cf0a3b9dd9ae729349fcad9fdf67c151d2bfe665e&width=430&quality=80)
“Everyone has a hand signal,” Sooners defensive back Billy Bowman Jr. said. “If you let a hand signal affect you and affect the game, maybe you shouldn’t be there.”
The Texas-Oklahoma rivalry is alive and well. But even though the Longhorns and Aggies haven’t met on the gridiron in 13 years, that rivalry is alive and well.
Texas A&M offensive lineman Trey Zuhn III was raised as an Aggie, as both his parents went to school there. As the game returns, he said at SEC Media Days that he purchased a picture of a longhorn and hung it upside down in his room.
“I’ve been dreaming about this game since I was a little kid, playing in Kyle Field, playing against Texas,” Zuhn said. “Like it doesn’t get better than that for an Aggie growing up.”
Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers said his father believes this rivalry is bigger than the Red River rivalry against Oklahoma.
“Hearing stories from my family and my dad,... I’m excited to have that game back and it’s going to be cool, especially going to Kyle Field Thanksgiving weekend,” he said. “That place is going to be rockin’. We’re all fired up for it.”
A culture shift in College Station
Jimbo Fisher had a penchant for making headlines. However, the biggest Aggie headline to come from this week didn’t even come from Texas A&M.
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops admitted that he was “pursued pretty aggressively” by Texas A&M last November. After it was initially reported Stoops was set to be the next Texas A&M coach, ESPN’s Pete Thamel shot that notion down. Ultimately, the Aggies landed on Duke’s Mike Elko.
Since then, things have been quiet in College Station as Elko is working to shift the culture.
“I’m proud of how quiet our offseason has been,” he said. “I’m proud of how quickly our players have adapted to a new culture and a new way of attacking football.”
![Texas A&M head football coach Mike Elko answers a question from a media member during the...](https://dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/MWFAPI53ARDTLAQRUBVGP2B2EA.jpg?auth=d382eff281f2ed15d23f53366f7c0058557981341944efbae2dfc6cca903a074&width=830&quality=80)
The response from the Aggies’ players at SEC Media Days would indicate the culture shift is working.
York said transformation of the locker room’s culture has been palpable, citing a newfound accountability and discipline. He also said the previous staff and locker room wasn’t all on the same page.
“I don’t know if we all wanted the same thing at the end of the day,” he said. “But things happen for a reason and we’re here with Coach Elko.”
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