There is little continuity across teams in the SEC. Each school is dealing with its own individual experiences, and that showed on the second day of SEC Media Days on Tuesday.
From scholarship counts to managing expectations, here’s what each of Tuesday’s SEC representatives had to say:
Georgia
In back-to-back seasons Georgia has come physical and metaphorical inches of winning or competing for a national championship. It’s given Georgia fans high expectations for college football’s crown, and coach Kirby Smart addressed those demands Tuesday morning.
“I feel like we made great strides in each season,” Smart said. “And although 24-and-5 the last two seasons is good, it's not good enough. It's not where we expect to be at the University of Georgia.
Two years ago, Smart received heaps of praise for his SEC Championship game win and College Football Playoff Championship game appearance. Now though, he feels that goodwill slipping and it’s hitting the all-or-nothing point for the Bulldogs.
Ole Miss
For the first time since 2014, Ole Miss will have 85 scholarship players. It was a point of excitement for coach Matt Luke. With it, Luke expects a sharp improvement in the depth of his squad.
“You guys all know that depth is a huge, huge part of being in this league,” Luke said. “I'm really looking forward to seeing that depth show up, especially towards the end of the season.”
In a physical league where reserves are needed, Luke and the Rebels are more than glad to finally be back on equal footing with the SEC in terms of scholarship numbers.
Tennessee
When Jeremy Pruitt and Tennessee hired Jim Chaney as their offensive coordinator in January, they got more than just the team’s play-caller—they got experience and familiarity.
“He's had a lot of success,” Pruitt said. “Jim understands the University of Tennessee. He coached there before. So when it comes to hiring an offensive coordinator, I couldn't think of nobody else I'd rather hire than Jim Chaney.”
Pruit also noted that it helps to know about the teams you’re going up against. Luckily for the Volunteers, Chaney spent the past three seasons as the offensive coordinator for divisional-foe Georgia.
Texas A&M
Almost every coach so far has been asked about mental health with his athletes after SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey broached the topic Monday. Of all of the answers, it probably was Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher who expanded on the topic best.
“It's the biggest problem,” Fisher said. “When do they ever get a break? When does a kid now ever get to be a kid? When is he allowed to make a mistake without somebody wanting to kick him out?”
It was one of many answers on growing mental-health concerns within college football, but also one of the most powerful ones this week as well.
