SEC Media Days returns to Hoover this summer

ATHENS — Georgia coach Kirby Smart will take his rightful place on the podium in front of a room of SEC reporters on a Tuesday morning in July. That’s yet another sign of the sports world approaching normalcy.

The SEC on Wednesday announced the appearance schedule for its annual extravaganza known as Football Media Days. It’s set to take place at its customary time before preseason camps open, in this case July 19-22, at the The Wynfrey Hotel (now owned by Hyatt) in Hoover, Ala.

The media days were scheduled to be held last year in Atlanta. However, the event went virtual along with most everything else last summer because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Wynfrey Hotel has been the site of the SEC’s unofficial launch of the football season 18 times in the past 19 occurrences. It was last held there in July 2019.

The SEC released a tentative schedule that includes specific dates for coaches to take their turn at the podium. However, specific times were not included, and the player participants have yet to be determined.

On that front, Georgia quarterback JT Daniels, defensive tackle Jordan Davis and punter Jake Camarda would be good guesses for the Bulldogs at this point.

The SEC Network and ESPN will again bring the four-day event to a national audience.

While not stated specifically in the release, the SEC confirmed that the intention is to return the event to an in-person gathering. The conference said a media registration will be conducted in early June.

Following is the tentative schedule as released by the SEC:

July 19