NASHVILLE – Here’s some of what was said Monday at the SEC media days in Nashville.
Commissioner Greg Sankey
On the passing of former Mississippi State coach Mike Leach:
“Last year in Atlanta, one of my backstage conversations was about the uselessness of neckties. It was a conversation that went much longer than I anticipated and ended in the rhetorical question of why neckties survived but powder wigs went away. That conversation was with Mike Leach, and today I’m without a tie just to honor Mike’s memory. You know we lost Mike in December, a person important not simply to the Southeastern Conference -- we only had him for a few seasons -- but to all of college football. He was fascinating and impacted the lives of thousands of people across the college football spectrum and across his life. He provided wedding advice, evaluated Halloween candy, and if you ended up in a phone call talking about history, you had better have scheduled a great deal of time as he recited his historical knowledge. He also observed the world from a perspective that made you think and often made you laugh, and sometimes made you just perplexed. It’s important that we remember people who have contributed, be it for the short-term or the long-term to this wonderful conference. And we’re going to miss Mike, but he’s not going to be forgotten.”
On potential of further SEC expansion
“I’ll go back to my standard observations: I think we are a super conference. That’s why it took a part of your life that you’ll never get back to go through what we achieved last year. Not that you didn’t know any and all of that information. My reference to people want to be a part of it really reflects back on the outreach from Oklahoma and Texas. That was a question I received yesterday. I’ve been careful. When I was here in Atlanta last year, I was clear that we’re focused on our growth to 16. I’ve watched others message about we’re not done yet. I referenced this, we’re going to go to this particular region. I just don’t think that’s healthy. People can criticize me to say, wow, you really sprung it on people in ‘21, which we did, and maybe there’s no clean and perfect way to deal with conference membership. It’s not been a topic in the Southeastern Conference other than providing updates, so we’re very attentive to what’s happening around us, whether those are from all of your fine investigative writing or maybe opinions, and then focusing on our growth to 16 because it’s an enormous task. So that’s my view.
“Do I think it’s done? People will say, well, I get to decide that. Right now it appears others are going to decide that before we have to make any decisions. My view is we know who we are. We’re comfortable as a league. We’re focused on our growth to 16. We’ve restored rivalries. We’re geographically contiguous with the right kind of philosophical alignment, and we can stay at that level of super conference. When you go bigger, there are a whole other set of factors that have to be considered, and I’m not sure I’ve seen those teased out other than in my mind late at night.”
LSU coach Brian Kelly
On entering his second season
“We’re excited about what we’ve done in a very short period of time. The foundation of success is built in consistency. Alabama and Georgia continue to hold that mantle of consistency in terms of playing for championships, and that’s what we’ll be looking to be at LSU, is playing for championships consistently, year in and year out. You don’t do it by just being a one-and-done. You’ve got to be able to do that over a period of time, and that’s really the transition from year one to year two. Where in year one I was learning the league. I was learning how to go on the road and play in the kind of environments. I was learning our roster and our strengths and weaknesses. Going into year two, we have a lot of that knowledge and we understand a lot of those things necessary to be competitive and win games. Now it’s how do you do it week in and week out.”
On the importance of the run game
“So when we talk about a running game, what I’ve always wanted to do from an offensive structure is create physicality at the line of scrimmage. So we want to be a physical -- we do not want to be a finesse running team. We want physicality at the point of attack. When we’re talking about a running game -- look, if you’re going to put eight guys on the line of scrimmage or nine guys on the line of scrimmage you’re going to limit our opportunities. We’re going to have to throw the ball really well, and in that particular game, we may not have a great running game. It doesn’t mean we can’t be physical at the point of attack and continue that physicality. When we talk about offensive structures that I like to build, it’s physicality up front, and I think we’re going to have that this year with returning veteran players, with our strength training and conditioning program into its second season. I like where we sit in that position.”
Quarterback Jayden Daniels
On his transition from Arizona State to LSU
“LSU is special to me, like you said, the fan base and everything. Just the state of Louisiana has took me as one of their own. I kind of feel like I’m from Louisiana now in a way. Even though I’m from California, I’m from the West Coast, they took me in as their own, treated me -- respected me. And just the transition coming from Arizona State to LSU is night and day just what the fans exemplify, the energy that they bring each and every week to our games and how much they care about us and how much they care about LSU football is second to none.”
On his potential Heisman Trophy candidacy
“I mean, I don’t really look at stuff like that. I’m blessed and honored to be part of a prestigious award like that. Hopefully when I win football games, hopefully my odds go up, but my main thing is really just focusing on helping the team win football games. If individual success comes with it, then it comes with it.”
Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher:
On Texas joining the SEC in 2024
“I think it’s great for college football. I think it’s great for Texas and Texas A&M. I mean, I think anytime the old rivalries are renewed -- I’ve been in a lot of rivalries, been fortunate to be in college football a long time and be in some of the great rivalries in college football, and this one, A&M and Texas definitely is a great rivalry. I think it’s great for us and it’s great for them, and it’s great for college football in general.”
On hiring Bobby Petrino as his offensive coordinator
“Bobby was hired for a reason, and he’s a tremendous coach and tremendous guy and tremendous football mind, tremendous recruiter. He’s done a great job recruiting since he’s been there, everything he does. He’ll call a lot of -- hopefully he’ll call the game. We’ll have suggestions on things we do, whether it’s offense or defense. Every coach is always involved. It’s a more collective thing than people want to give it room for, but when you get to calling and you get on a roll, you’ve got to have a guy that can do it, and I think Bobby can definitely do that, and does it as well as anybody in college football. I have great respect for him. Me and him, we’ve had a great admiration for each other for a long time, his production and what he’s done.”
Receiver Ainias Smith:
On the offense under new offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino
“One thing I would say is just the upbeat, the uptempo-ness of the team. We definitely have, let’s just say, a quicker mindset on how we should run our offense. Definitely want to start with a lot more energy, a lot quicker, and being a lot more consistent throughout the entire season for sure.”
On defensive back Smoke Bouie, who transferred from Texas A&M to Georgia
“Smoke was a dog. He came with that enthusiasm each and every day. He was eager to compete. He was a tough competitor. He never backed down from a challenge. I remember the first day I saw him, we were playing 7-on-7, and he was going up against all the best. He didn’t want anybody less. Georgia is getting a tough competitor, a guy who’s willing to do what’s necessary to win. Shoot, he’s a great guy.”
Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz
On the quarterback competition
“Brady Cook played, was our starter last year. Brady was injured throughout the spring and looks to be returning to form. Look forward to him coming back, and he’s going to have his hands full holding on to that position with Sam Horn and Jake Garcia. Both of those guys are very competitive, and in fact they played in the 2020 state championship game in the state of Georgia. Collins Hill versus Grayson, I believe. Jake reminds us that he got the win that year. Sam reminds us the next year they went undefeated and won it in his senior year.
“So all three of those guys have their own strengths and college experiences. Dylan Laible, a junior college transfer, is also competing for that job, and we’d look to have a very strong competition at the quarterback position.
Cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine
On coming close to upsetting Georgia last season
“We know we were one play from winning that game and that could have changed our whole season. They won the SEC and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
On Missouri trying to earn a winning season
“That’s what we’ve been working on the whole offseason is finding a way to finish those close games and come over the hump. So we’ve just been making the players be accountable. It’s a player-led team now, so everybody is accountable.”
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