SEC Media Days Are a Spectacle That Goes Beyond Football

HOOVER, Ala. — Off in the distance, down an escalator in the lobby of a suburban Birmingham hotel, the sweet sound of college football is in the air.

One day, that sound is a cowbell incessantly clanging and echoing through the halls. The next, fans with giant fake championship rings on their heads yell "Roll Tide" to each other and the cameras. 

Welcome to SEC media days. 

"It's dubbed the unofficial kickoff, so I'll take that."

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey enters his second season as the most powerful man in the most powerful conference in the country, and his 15th overall as an employee. During that time, he has witnessed firsthand the rise of SEC media days from an annual event that simply introduces media to players and coaches shortly before the start of fall camp, to what it is now—a four-day college football extravaganza. 

"It's truly intentional that we choose these days, because it allows us to have a conversation first," he said. "It is a positive promotional platform for the Southeastern Conference and our student-athletes walking around here to be interviewed. It also gives a break after media days prior to preseason practice."

With over 1,500 media members credentialed for the 25th edition of media days, 30 radio stations on radio row, 15 rooms for the three players and one head coach from each school to meet with media, live television coverage on ESPN and SEC Network and a lobby at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham - The Wynfrey Hotel that resembles a pep rally, the event is unlike any other in the sport.

"The level of interest indicates that it is enormously important around our region and around our country. Football never stops in a lot of people's minds," Sankey said.

It truly doesn't. 

The lobby of the Wynfrey during SEC media days is a different world. With hundreds of people packed into a space that's no larger than a putting green, fans of different schools flock to celebrate the upcoming season.

Cowbells clang, cries of "Roll Tide" burst out repeatedly and fans anxiously stare at an escalator for hours on end for the moment that their player or coach takes the ride down to the lobby. Some fans even show up from halfway around the world.

Glavine Tillman is an 8-year-old Georgia fan from the area who came to media days with his mother, Leigh. His one goal was to meet new Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart, where he had one simple message to convey.

"Go Dawgs," he said. 

Tillman got his autographs and the chance to meet with Georgia's contingent but also talked a little football with Bleacher Report and the fans around him.

"I think [Georgia] is going to be pretty good this year," Tillman explained as Mississippi State superfan Steven "Stingray" Ray stood on, "but not good enough to win the SEC. Maybe in a few years, though."

Ray and the rest of the Mississippi State fans made an impression on Tillman in the lobby, and it's one that he'll never forget.

"They're pretty crazy," Tillman said. "They ring a lot of bells."

Ray is a 2010 graduate of Alabama who, instead of cheering on his alma mater, has stayed true to his Bulldog roots and evolved into the ultimate Mississippi State fan.

"It is unbelievable here," Ray told Bleacher Report. "When [Mississippi State head coach] Dan Mullen walked in, it was unbelievable. Mississippi State likes to be a family, and family is here in the lobby when the players walk in. It's really nice."

This is Ray's first trip to the media circus, and it came complete with an appearance on the Paul Finebaum Show on SEC Network. He says he won't troll Ole Miss on Thursday when the Bulldogs' heated rival makes the rounds.

Jeff Moorer, however, doesn't have the same mindset. 

Moorer, an Auburn fan from the Birmingham area, showed up Wednesday morning sporting an Ole Miss hat and shirt for Alabama's session. During Alabama day last year, Moorer donned Ohio State gear to needle the Crimson Tide just a few short months after Ohio State beat Alabama in the College Football Playoff semifinals.

"Alabama said that they weren't going to be beaten, but I want to show that they can be beaten by a good Ole Miss team," Moorer told Bleacher Report.

It's all in good fun for Moorer, who's more interested in seeing the players and coaches and getting autographs and pictures than he is in harassing Alabama fans.

"I come to rub elbows with the great players and coaches and relish being in the SEC," he said. "I don't get to go to the games during the season, and this right here gets you ready for football season."

If you think an Auburn fan who routinely trolls Alabama fans by wearing gear of teams that beat the Crimson Tide in previous seasons wouldn't be welcomed on "Alabama day," you're wrong.

Barrett Sallee

Shannon Villa, an Alabama fan who annually wears a ring hat when the Tide arrive and trolled Auburn on Monday with a championship belt, has struck up a friendship with Moorer through the years while hanging out in the lobby.

Things don't get contentious in the lobby of the Wynfrey, which is packed to the brim when Alabama makes the rounds. Moorer and Villa are rivals when it comes to the programs they support, but they share a passion for kicking off the season in style in Hoover. And Ray's cowbell only came out when Mississippi State made the rounds.

"We share the same passion," Villa told Bleacher Report. "I enjoy talking to fans from other states and from other fanbases. I like to give them a little southern hospitality." 

The four-day SEC media event held annually outside of Birmingham serves as a greater purpose.

It's a modern-day college football convention where coaches, players, media and fans converge to talk football, reconnect with old friends, make new ones and celebrate the sport they love.

Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com unless otherwise noted. Recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.