Normally we’re hitting you with Georgia news here in our morning “Dawg Tags” space. But with SEC Media Days in town for the week, we’ll try instead to catch you up on some of what you might’ve missed the previous day over at the College Football Hall of Fame.
For this week at least, let’s call it the “Best of the Rest.”
Cutting the mustard
One of Monday’s odder scenes was seeing Lane Kiffin sign a bottle of mustard for a fan on the “Blue Carpet” area of the Hall of Fame. He apparently has done that many times in the past year.
It started after his Ole Miss squad defeated Tennessee in Knoxville last October. The Rebels’ win at Neyland Stadium included some controversial calls that went against the Vols in the final seconds and ended in a rain of mustard bottles – and a lot of other items – thrown down to the field by angry Tennessee fans. Kiffin, of course, coached at Tennessee for one year before bolting for Southern Cal.
“I did sign a mustard bottle,” Kiffin confirmed from the podium during his SEC Media Days appearance Monday. “That was the first guy to come up, and I think he had an Alabama shirt on, so I was a little confused there.”
Actually, the man was an LSU fan, or at least he wore a hat with the Tigers’ insignia sewn in.
Mustard bottles were only one part of the onslaught of debris that rained down from the stands in the final seconds of the 31-26 Rebels’ win. There were also beer cans, water bottles, half-eaten hot dogs, basically anything that wasn’t bolted down. Kiffin actually was hit on the side of the leg with a golf ball. It was just a glancing blow, however.
“I have signed a lot of mustard bottles and golf balls,” Kiffin said. “It’s been a unique offseason.”
Go for it
Speaking of Kiffin, he was surprised to learn from a reporter that Ole Miss broke the school record for fourth-down attempts under his leadership last season. The Rebels “went for it” 49 times, leading the nation.
“Now I know we have the most attempts in the history of football,” Kiffin said sarcastically. “I used to coach for Pete Carroll. He said, ‘Don’t just do things really well, do them better than anybody’s done them before.’ So at least I know that stat now.”
Kiffin said going for it on fourth down is not just him being bold and brash. He said analytical studies reveal it’s often the best percentage play. But the Rebels also failed a lot on fourth down last season. They failed to convert 18 times. Their success rate of 63.3% ranked 28th nationally.
“We sell, too, that we believe in our players,” Kiffin said. “It’s not just analytics. That’s a huge part of it, but the players feel, ‘We believe in you, we put you in those situations, we play aggressively.’”
No tie zone
Finally, Kiffin surprised SEC organizers by showing up without a wearing a tie with his suit. Best anyone could tell, that’s breaking new ground for coaches’ media-day fashion. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey addressed it with Kiffin.
“He’s, like, ‘Man, I’ve always wanted to do that,’” Kiffin shared. “I’m, like, ‘Well, don’t just do things the way they were done before.’ He was, like, ‘I was waiting for someone to do it.’ So, maybe the commissioner won’t have a tie next year.”
Brian Kelly’s Southern conversion
New LSU coach Brian Kelly garnered some unfavorable headlines last winter with his fake Southern accent after he was appointed the Tigers’ new coach. He was asked to use it Monday to answer a question about his favorite Cajun food discoveries.
“Understand now, I have a Boston, Midwestern, Louisiana accent now. It’s three dialects into one,” Kelly said. “I’ve got all kinds of stuff to throw at you. Just be ready.”
Alas, Kelly did not attempt a Southern accent this time. But he did reveal a new affinity for crawfish etouffee and grilled oysters.
KJ’s Bojangles plug
Sankey gave Georgia’s Kearis Jackson a bit of a plug Monday when discussing NIL. The senior receiver met with the SEC’s leadership at the spring meetings in Destin, Fla. to update them on UGA developments.
Jackson told the committee about one of his social media engagements, which was to create an Instagram post about the 45 steps to making a Bojangles biscuit.
Sankey said he also was in Athens when he witnessed another NIL phenomenon.
“Auburn gymnastics was competing, and Suni Lee was cheered by everyone in Stegeman Coliseum,” Sankey said. “You don’t get that much between rivals when they’re cheering for an individual student-athlete.”
Luther Burden update
Missouri beat out Georgia last year for five-star receiver Luther Burden from St. Louis. Coach Eliah Drinkwitz was asked about that Monday.
“As far as getting the chance to sign Burden, one of the things that attracted me to this job was the ability to recruit elite SEC players in our own state,” Drinkwitz said. “In order to do that, you got to keep your best players at home. We were able to do that with Luther Burden. Now it’s up for us to deliver.”
Early returns are that the 6-foot, 200-pound speedster is figuring prominently in the Tigers’ plans on offense plans, including possibly as a starter. But Drinkwitz didn’t want to brag on Burden too much.
“The biggest thing for me and for our staff is we’ve got to ignore the noise,” Drinkwitz said. “We can’t put too many unrealistic expectations on Luther. He doesn’t have to be anybody but the best version of himself moving forward, and we’re going to ask him to do that.”
