A look inside SEC Media Days
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hoover, Ala.-After leaving the laid-back shores of Lake Oconee, the site of the ACC kickoff, this morning we are in this Birmingham suburb to begin three of the most intense days in our business-the annual SEC Football Media Days.
This event is not for a media member who just has a passing interest in the sport. It is 12 hours of wall-to-wall, hardcore football talk spread over three days. But to me these meetings mark the official beginning of football season. It’s tiring, but it’s fun.
Let me give you a sense of how this works and to set up the schedule for the rest of the week.
Today’s first session begins at about 1:45 p.m. when SEC commissioner Mike Slive addresses the assembled print media. He stands before a podium in a very large ballroom and gives his introductory remarks and catches us up with any news that is going on in the conference. Then the interviews begin.
Each day we spend about 4-5 hours interviewing players and coaches from four of the 12 SEC schools. Today’s schools are Florida, Mississippi State, LSU, and Vanderbilt Among the players scheduled to meet with the media today are Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, the Heisman Trophy winner. His teammate, OT Phil Trautwein will also be here. Old Phil might get a little lonely during the interview sessions because most of the writers will want to talk to Tebow. And when they talk to Phil, most of the questions will probably be about his quarterback.
FYI: I am working on a story about Tebow and the incredible travel schedule he has kept since winning the Heisman Trophy. It will be in Thursday’s print section and should be posted on ajc.com sometime tonight. You won’t believe what this guy does in the little free time that he has.
Each player and coach spends just over two hours being interviewed. And during that time they have to make stops in 10 different rooms. They spend 40 minutes in the print/internet room because it is by far the largest and then 10 minutes each in a radio/internet room and three different rooms for local television in the SEC markets. Raycom, SEC-TV (that’s not a network but some shows that are produced for cable outlets like FSN South), CSS, CBS, and ESPN all have their own rooms and get 10 minutes each with each participant.
The coordination of this is very complex. The coaches and players are pulled from room to room through the Wynfrey Hotel like rock stars or presidential candidates in a desperate effort to stay on schedule. The time for every appearance in every room is scripted for all of the players and coaches. If one coach or player lingers too long in one room it can throw off the entire schedule.
For example, here is the schedule for Georgia coach Mark Richt once he arrives here Thursday morning. All times are Central:
8:40-9:20-Print
9:20-9:30—CSS
9:30-9:40-TV1
9:40-9:50-TV2
9:50-10:00—TV3
10:00-10:10-Raycom
10:10-10:20—Radio/Internet
10:20-10:30-SEC-TV
10:30-10:40-CBS
10:40-10:50—ESPN
Two coaches and four players are put through this cycle. Then two more coaches and four more players are brought in and the process starts all over. This goes on for three days. Just telling you about it makes me tired.
But here is the lineup for the week with the players in parentheses:
Today (2:10 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.)
Florida (Urban Meyer, QB Tim Tebow and OT Phil Trautwein).
Mississippi State (Sylvester Croom, QB Wesley Carroll and LB Jamar Chaney)
LSU (Les Miles, C Brett Helms and DE Tyson Jackson)
Vanderbilt (Bobby Johnson, S Reshard Langford and WR George Smith)
Wednesday (9:40 a.m. to 2 p.m.)
Alabama (Nick Saban, OL Antoine Caldwell, S Rashad Johnson)
Georgia (Mark Richt, WR Mohamed Massaquoi, DT Jeff Owns)
Ole Miss (Houston Nutt, DE Peria Jerry and OT Michael Oher)
Tennessee (Phillip Fulmer, DE Robert Ayers and RB Arian Foster)
Friday (9:40 a.m. to 2 p.m.)
Auburn (Tommy Tuberville, C Jason Bosley, DE Sen’derrick Marks)
Kentucky (Rich Brooks, DE Jeremy Jarmon and WR Dicky Lyons, Jr.)
Arkansas (Bobby Petrino, LB Elston Forte and C Jonathon Luigs)
South Carolina (Steve Spurrier, LB Jasper Brinkley and WR Kenny McKinley).
Let the fun begin.
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Will this year be it for Bobby Bowden?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Greensboro, Ga.-I spent Monday just hanging out with the head coaches at the ACC preseason meetings. Here are some topics for this morning’s discussion.
1. Is this it for Bobby Bowden? There have been rumblings that with his successor, Jimbo Fisher, already in place, this year just might be it for Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, who turns 79 in November. Bowden said “no” when pressed on the question by the media.
“I’m still the head football coach and I’m not ready to get out,” said Bowden, who has 373 career victories, one more than Penn State’s Joe Paterno on the all-time list.
Many years ago Bowden told me (and a lot of others) that the only thing that would drive him out of coaching was poor health or losing. He said at the time that he couldn’t stand the idea of losing four or five games in a season. His last two teams have both gone 7-6.
“I’ve had to adjust my thinking of that,” he said.
Bowden concedes that if things don’t go well, or at least get better in 2008, the decision could be made for him. But nobody in Tallahassee, especially president T.K. Wetherell, wants that to happen.
My belief? Bowden believes that after a couple of good recruiting classes, 2008 will be the set-up year for a run at the ACC title in 2009. I can’t tell you how badly Bowden wants to go out with some kind of championship. He does not want to be remembered as limping to the end of his remarkable career.
But first he has to get through 2008 and for that, September is huge. Florida State will play its first three games without 20-plus players who were suspended in the academic cheating scandal. They’ll beat Western Carolina and Chattanooga with no problem. But on Sept. 20 Wake Forest comes to Doak Campbell Stadium, where the Deacons won 30-0 in 2006. Believe me when I tell you that this will be one of the biggest games in Bobby Bowden’s career.
2. Beamer to keep an open mind on quarterbacks: Virginia Tech received 58 of 65 votes from the media to win the ACC Coastal. Coach Frank Beamer was surprised at that margin because there are so many unanswered questions at Virginia Tech—like the quarterback position.
Beamer insists that both of his quarterbacks, Sean Glennon and Tyrod Taylor, are going to get an equal opportunity to win the starting job before the Hokies open the season on Aug. 30 against East Carolina in Charlotte.
“We needed both of them to win the ACC championship last season but I would like to get it down to one before we play East Carolina,” Beamer said.
You can tell from Beamer’s body language that he’s not really thrilled with the two-quarterback system. He certainly didn’t think it worked in the 24-21 loss to Kansas in the Orange Bowl.
“We just never got into a rhythm,” said Beamer, set to begin his 22nd season in Blacksburg. “It always felt like we were a play behind.”
I don’t know that Beamer will get his wish. If he can only play one quarterback, it would have to be Glennon, who is the most consistent of the two. But Taylor gives Virginia Tech a chance to make big plays. And with All-ACC running back Brandon Ore dismissed from the team, and with the next two backs both recovering from injuries in spring practice, I believe the Hokies will need two quarterbacks again to win the championship.
Keep your eye on this as we go through the season.
3. ACC plans to report on injuries: It’s not a rule so the coaches don’t have to follow it. And if the coaches don’t follow it, there will be no enforcement of it.
But several coaches told me that they have no problem with the new suggested guidelines from the league to report on injuries each Thursday during the season. Here is how it will work:
On Monday the school will announce if there are players who are having surgery and are known to be out for the season. Then there will be no discussion on injuries of any kind until after practice on Thursday, when the school’s medical staff will release information on players and there ability to play in Saturday’s game.
Each player will be listed in one of five categories: Definitely playing, probable, questionable, doubtful, and definitely out for the game.
“It’s not unlike the NFL and that seemed to work,” said Virginia coach Al Groh, the former head coach of the New York Jets.
“The coaches agreed that it would be a good idea to have some consistency in this area,” Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe said. “We’ll see how it works.
Here is the only problem that I see. Coaches like Grobe who have open practices will see this information get out early. Coaches who close practice will be able to control the information.
4. Tommy Bowden hopes the media is right: As expected, Clemson was the overwhelming pick by the media to win the Atlantic Division and to win the ACC championship. Clemson received 59 of 65 first place votes in the division and 51 votes to go to Tampa and win the championship game.
“The last couple of years ya’ll have picked us to finish second or third and that’s kind of where we have been,” Bowden said to a large group of reporters gathered around his table. “Hopefully ya’ll will be smart again.”
In case you are wondering, the media have picked Clemson to win the ACC championship five times in their preseason poll here at the annual meetings. They were right four of the five times.
What the media wanted to know is how Bowden and his team will handle the pressure of high expectations. He was pressed by reporters to reveal how disappointed he would be if this team, which is his most talented, did not win the conference championship. Bowden insisted that he is not going to apologize if his team wins 10 games but does not capture the ACC championship.
“Look at (Georgia’s) Mark Richt. He didn’t win a championship but I don’t think he was disappointed in his season,” Bowden said.
Then someone pointed out that Georgia, despite not winning the SEC championship, did go to a BCS bowl (Sugar). No ACC team has ever received an at-large bid to the BCS.
Bowden has a new contract with a $4 million buyout. You would think he is totally secure after years of being on the hot seat. This is going to be a very interesting year at Clemson.
5. Randy Shannon says goodbye to Orange Bowl: A big chunk of Randy Shannon’s life was spent at the Orange Bowl as a player and a coach for the University of Miami. But last season was the Hurricanes’ last at the old stadium, where they had played their home games since 1937.
The Orange Bowl, the place where Joe Namath shocked the world and Doug Flutie threw the Hail Mary pass that won him the Heisman Trophy, is no more. It’s gone, demolished last spring.
“I was flying back to Miami and looked out the window and I noticed that it was gone,” said Shannon. “It’s just unbelievable that it’s not there any more.”
Shannon said he will not wax nostalgic about the Orange Bowl. He is already focused on Miami’s new digs at Dolphin Stadium, north of the city. The powers that be have built his team their own locker room facility at the stadium so they don’t have to share with the pro team. They have promised to make the stadium Miami green and orange on Saturdays instead of the Dolphin teal.
“There is so much good about this decision and I feel good about it,” Shannon said. “We are going to make it our home.”
Shannon conceded that the best way to make Dolphin Stadium feel like home for the Hurricanes is to start winning more games. He is absolutely right about that.
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Clemson knows Bama game in Dome will be huge
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Greensboro, Ga.-A look behind the scenes here at the ACC preseason football meetings at Reynolds Plantation:
1. Alabama has Clemson’s attention: As was the case last season, when Clemson opened at home with Florida State, the Aug. 30 opener with Alabama at the Georgia Dome has the ACC favorites very focused on getting ready for the season.
“We were focused in spring practice. We were focused during summer workouts and we’ll be focused when we get to camp,” senior quarterback Cullen Harper said. “We’re opening with an SEC team on national television. This is a big stage and a whole lot of people are going to be watching. To get where we want to go, we have to get this season off to a good start. This is our chance to do that.”
Clemson will be favored. The Tigers have more players. But it is still Alabama. Alabama wants to win. Clemson HAS to win. Should be interesting.
2. Eagles already miss Matt Ryan: Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan came to this event a year ago and made his presence felt. He was an impressive guy and it was clear from listening to him talk that Ryan was going to have a big year. He did and became the No. 3 pick in the draft by the Falcons. On Sunday Ryan still had a strong presence at these meetings. “I’ve done 10 television interviews and they all started with a question about Matt,” said tight end Ryan Purvis. “It’s hard to replace a guy like that. He was just a vocal leader.” Ryan just wasn’t a vocal leader. He led by example. He made things happen. BC folks will tell you and Ryan has joined Doug Flutie as the best leaders the school has ever had in football. Ryan will be replaced by Chris Craine, a senior from Mechanicsburg, PA. Crane threw four passes, completing two, as Ryan’s backup last season. He has skills but has not been tested. After opening with Kent State in Cleveland, Boston College hosts Georgia Tech on Sept. 6.
3. Miami gets rid of “cancerous” attitudes: It sounds like Miami was not a very fun place to be last season. The Hurricanes were 5-7 overall (2-6 ACC) in their first year under coach Randy Shannon. But Miami didn’t just lose last season, they were embarrassed more than once. The worst moment was a 48-0 loss to Virginia in the last game in the old Orange Bowl. Dozens of former players had come back for the occasion and the Hurricanes went out and laid a goose egg. Things have changed since last season, said offensive tackle Jason Fox, who expects a different level of commitment this season.
“The difference in the attitude of this team and last year’s team is like night and day,” Fox said. “We got rid of a couple of guys who had cancerous attitudes. They only cared about themselves. Now we have a bunch of guys who are focused on becoming a team.”
Fox is part of a new players’ committee at Miami with the power to identify these kinds of problems and take action.
Miami opens its 2008 season on Aug. 28 against Charleston Southern. It will be the Hurricanes’ first game in their new home, Dolphin Stadium. The Orange Bowl Stadium, in case you had not heard, was taken down by the wrecking ball.
4. Florida State’s “identify crisis”: Drew Weatherford, Florida State’s senior quarterback, said the 7-6 records of the past two seasons have been a reality check to the players in the Seminole program.
“I think some of our guys just thought because we had a spear on our helmet we were supposed to go out there and win 10-11 games,” Weatherford said. “I think we had an identity crisis at some point. We forgot what it means to play at Florida State.”
Weatherford, who threw for 2,049 yards and nine touchdowns last season, was brought here to represent Florida State at media days. But I’m hearing that offensive coordinator/head coach in waiting Jimbo Fisher really likes the ability of sophomore Christian Ponder to make plays. Weatherford will also be pushed for playing time by sophomore D’Vontrey Richardson of Leesburg. So Weatherford, who is an impressive individual, is probably going to have to fight to keep his job before this season is over.
5. Wake not satisfied with nine wins: You know that Jim Grobe has changed the culture at Wake Forest when the Deacons say they were not satisfied with last season’s 9-4 record. The season before Wake Forest won 11 games and their first ACC championship since 1970.
“We were very disappointed with the way we finished last season,” said Aaron Curry, who set an NCAA record for linebackers when he returned three interceptions for touchdowns. “We set a standard the year before and we don’t want to go back.”
Wake Forest started 0-2 last season and then won nine of its last 11 games. One of the losses was by one point (17-16) to Virginia on the road. In that game Sam Swank, one of the best kickers in college football, missed a 47-yard field goal with two seconds left.
And keep this in mind. Clemson will be picked to win the Atlantic Division by the media at this event. Clemson should win the division and the championship game. But if the Tigers stumble, don’t be surprised if Wake Forest jumps up and wins the division again. Clemson goes to Wake Forest on Oct. 9, a Thursday night.
Here’s a bonus note that is not ACC related:
Georgia State coaches go to work: There should be announcement pretty soon but Georgia State’s first three assistant coaches-offensive coordinator John Bond, defensive coordinator John Thompson, and George Pugh-are scheduled to be in their new offices today. Georgia State will begin playing a limited schedule in football in 2010.
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Five burning questions about the ACC
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The ACC Preseason football meetings start Sunday at Reynolds Plantation at Lake Oconee. There will be a million questions asked by the assembled scribes, but here are five that interest me:
1. What will the Georgia Tech defense look like under Dave Wommack? For seven years it was a lot of fun watching DC Jon Tenuta driving opposing offensive coordinators nuts. Wommack won’t be blitzing when he gets off the bus like Tenuta used to do. Tech has a couple of studs in the defensive front in Vance Walker and Darryl Richard. But for the most part Wommack starts with a pretty young defense, especially at linebacker and secondary. What will Ryan Perrilloux (QB, Jacksonville State) think when he looks at this defense on Aug. 28?
2. Will Drew Weatherford go the distance at QB for Florida State? Florida State obviously thinks so because the school is bringing him to the media session on Sunday. Weatherford is a fifth-year senior and if you just look at the numbers, he’s had a pretty decent career. As red-shirt freshman he had 18 interceptions. As a sophomore in 2006 he had 11 picks. Last season he only threw three interceptions. But he also threw only nine touchdown passes. The quarterback’s job is to get the ball into the end zone. Florida State was eighth in the ACC in scoring (23.3 ppg) last season. He had knee surgery on March 28 that has limited is off-season throwing and workouts. But he is a fifth-year senior and normally those guys play with a sense of urgency. We’ll see.
3. How is Cullen Harper’s shoulder?: Harper, Clemson’s junior quarterback from Alpharetta, suffered an injured shoulder in the Nov. 17 game with Boston College. He said this week that if Clemson had beaten BC and reached the ACC championship game, he probably would not have been able to play against Virginia Tech. He had surgery two days after the regular-season finale against South Carolina and played in the Chick-fil-A Bowl and struggled with the shoulder in an overtime loss to Auburn. Last season he was the ACC’s most efficient passer (27 TD, 6 int). How is the shoulder now and will it be ready for the opener against Alabama?
4. Will North Carolina finally find a running game?: For a school that has produced 24 rushers over 1,000 yards in a season, the Tar Heels simply could not run the ball in 2007, averaging 99.7 ypg (10th in the ACC). It’s one reason North Carolina (4-8) lost six games by seven points or less. Freshman wide receiver Greg Little made the switch and ran for 243 yards in the last two games of the season. Four starters return on the offensive line. If Little is the answer at running back, North Carolina will be the most improved team in the ACC.
5. Can Duke improve? Got to. Can’t get any worse. David Cutcliffe will enter preseason with a team that finished last in the ACC in total offense (271.1 ypg), last in scoring offense (17.9 ppg), last in total defense (424.4 ypg) and last in scoring defense (33.2 ppg).
Two players from each ACC will meet with us on Sunday. If you were there, what questions would you want to ask?
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Alabama at Dome in 2009 far from done deal
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Let’s begin today’s visit with a couple of “Not So Fast” items.
1. Alabama at Dome in 2009 far from done deal: Virginia Tech announced yesterday that it had agreed to open next season by playing in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff at the Georgia Dome on Aug. 29, 2009. Virginia Tech released the information on its website even though no opponent had been signed. In that release the school said that Alabama would be a possible opponent. But I heard from somebody in the Alabama football building last night telling me that the odds were against the Crimson Tide coming back to Atlanta for the second straight year. Alabama opens the 2008 season against Clemson on Aug. 30 and is thinking about playing Duke in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game in 2010. Alabama will also have a rookie quarterback in 2009 as John Parker Wilson moves on. The Crimson Tide might not want to throw a new QB against Bud Foster’s Hokie defense.
2. SEC Network still on the table: A couple of media outlets in Orlando reported this week on Florida’s huge multi-media deal with the Sunshine Network that will pay the Gators somewhere between $8-10 million per year over 10 years. One of those stories strongly speculated that Florida’s signing of such a deal means that an SEC Television network is not going to happen anytime soon. Why would Florida sign such a deal if the SEC, which controls all football and television rights, was going to form its own network?
I talked to Charles Bloom, the director of SEC Media relations, and others close to the process who told me that all of the league’s options are still on the table as negotiations continue to hammer out a new TV deal with CBS, ESPN, and its other television partners. Those negotiations, I’m told, have reached a very sensitive period and everybody on both sides wants to keep all of their options open.
Do I think there is going to be an SEC TV network when the new deals start in 2009? No I don’t. I think given the the popularity of SEC football, the league will get a very attractive deal and will not have to create a network with all of the distribution hassles that go with it. But it makes for a great bargaining chip.
3. Kudos to Stinchcombs, Greene: We read way too much about athletes getting in trouble. The fact is that every school has about 100 players in its program and it’s usually 8-10 guys that keep coaches up at night and keep reporters checking the police blotter. But if you’re a fan and you love the game, it is discouraging and you grow pretty tired of reading about it.
That’s why it’s refreshing to see what former Georgia players David Greene, Matt Stinchomb, and Jon Stinchcomb are doing in an effort to give back. On Saturday they are hosting their annual Countdown to Kickoff children’s charity event at the UGA practice fields in Athens. There is golf on Friday and a fans day on Saturday, July 19. Over 22 former Georgia players are scheduled to participate. They will be signing autographs and there will be games for the children. There is more information, including the chance to buy tickets, at their website www.ugakickoff.com. All proceeds from the event go to four charities all dealing with the care of children. This is a good thing.
4. Price of football going up: Georgia is not the only place in the SEC where it is going to be hard—and pricey—to get a football ticket this fall. Thanks to some fine work by Jon Solomon of the Birmingham News, it looks like the minimum donation necessary just to buy a ticket has gone up about 80 percent over the past 10 years in the SEC. The fact is that while a lot of people complain about the BCS and the lack of a playoff in the sport, the popularity of college football, and thus the ticket demand, is at an all-time high. The good news in that for schools is that they can charge a high premium for the right to buy tickets. The bad news is that younger fans, like recent UGA grads who are just getting started in their careers, can’t afford to buy tickets of any kind.
5. What will happen to Ezekial Knight, Alabama linebackers? Alabama’s linebacker problems took another hit Wednesday when the school declared senior Ezekial Knight “medically disqualified” for the 2008 season. Knight’s health status cannot be completely revealed because of privacy laws but it has been reported that he had surgery in 2006 in an effort to correct a heart murmur. Now comes word that Knight will try to leave Alabama and play at a lower division. Whoever signs Knight needs to be very careful. I just hope the kid and the new school don’t go doctor shopping.
Alabama is now down to basically one linebacker they know can play, the splendid sophomore Rolando McClain. Knight, who started at outside linebacker last season, is gone. Prince Hall, who started five games last season, is on indefinite suspension for an undisclosed violation. He may or may not get back on the team. Jimmy Johns, who may have given some depth at the position, has been kicked off the team after being arresting for cocaine distribution. This position is a big concern for Alabama.
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I always THOUGHT Urban Myer was a crybaby. Now, I don’t have to think about it anymore. Further, why didn’t the publisher and editorial staff of the publishing company not edit out such a wimpy story?? How does one post TD celebration have any... read the full comment by Carlton Powell | Comment on A look inside SEC Media Days Read A look inside SEC Media Days
Wow the season isn’t even here yet and you guys are some kinda cocky.Ya sure Spurrier isn’t your coach?... read the full comment by CJGATOR | Comment on A look inside SEC Media Days Read A look inside SEC Media Days
Urban Cryer, the Ole Bawl Coach. What a pathetically sore loser. The celebration penalty put UF in great field position for their first score! If you’re going to hang out with this guy bring a cheese tray - because he always brings plenty... read the full comment by Buckhead Dawg | Comment on A look inside SEC Media Days Read A look inside SEC Media Days
Where was Massaquoi the rest of the year ? You guys pounded us last year it was one of Georgia’s better games,can’t take anything away from ya.Look forward to Nov 1st... read the full comment by CJGATOR | Comment on A look inside SEC Media Days Read A look inside SEC Media Days