2008 SEC Media Days Quotes and Preseason Predictions

Here's some quotes from all 12 SEC coaches. Just some key points from each of them I put together.

Houston, we have a problem. Just a little extra tidbit, great quote by Houston Nutt that I didn't put in here, "I'm excited to be the coach at Ole Miss University." Now I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for being a new coach at a new school, but it's still pretty funny when your head coach gets the name of your university wrong. It's University of Mississippi there Houston.

Here's what the head coaches had to say...

Florida Coach Urban Meyer:

"We have a very good team coming back. However, the way I'm breaking this thing down and I'm sharing with our team, you're going to read this quite often, so is our team going to hear it quite often, seven wins comes from talent. You start mixing in a little discipline, up to eight or nine wins. Somehow if you can develop a little leadership on your team, not necessarily seniors, but leadership to get you off the field on fourth down, defense, make a big play at the end of the game to win, that's when you start having great things happen for your program.

So talent wise very solid football team coming back. Some experience. Discipline, much improved outfit than we had a year ago. Leadership is a question mark which probably 117 teams are dealing with right now in America, or however many Division I A programs are dealing with. So that's the difference."

Mississippi State Coach Sylvester Croom:

"The biggest thing that's happened for us is we're now starting to see the residual effects of last season in the recruiting. As you know, with the nature of recruiting, it's such now that about mid season is pretty much over and done with. So last year's recruiting was pretty much in the books before we went down that winning stretch at the last part of the season.

But we are way ahead of where we've ever been in recruiting for next season. In fact right now I think we're at 19 commitments already. We've got a few guys in our state that, if we can get those guys committed, and we feel positive about that at this point, then we'll have an excellent recruiting year."

LSU Coach Les Miles:

"The '08 is where we're at. We're not defending. We're not dealing with rankings. This is a brand new year. If we're defending, come see the trophy, it's in our trophy case. We're not defending it; it's there. We got a brand new team.

The good news about this team is they've been through an experience that will allow them to continue to develop, to understand the work that needs to take place. We really invest in what we've determined to be our process. That process helps us identify the team. It's our work ethic and habit. It's a belief in the things that we do will make a difference. To me, it's every time frame: it's the spring, it's the summer. I think we paid a tremendous price this summer. I think we have leadership. And it's two a days and it's each game.

I think this team has very significant leadership. I think they have great character. I look forward to what will be the '08 team. Got a great attitude. There's been a hundred percent participation in the summer. I can tell you that I like our opportunities for '08. But it will be earned. It will start with App State and continue from that point forward."

Vanderbilt Coach Bobby Johnson:

"There have been a few opportunities. I haven't been out looking for those. I like the situation I'm in. I like the kind of school I coach football at. I like dealing with the kind of student athletes that we have. So those kind of schools have always intrigued me. But, like I said before, we've invested a lot at Vanderbilt. I don't think I'm going to coach anywhere else but Vanderbilt in my career."

Alabama Coach Nick Saban:

"I've seen a tremendous improvement in our team in those areas in this off season. We had a good off season. We had a good spring. We've had a great summer. And I think the team chemistry is certainly something that has improved, and I think it's because players understand what they're supposed to do, how they're supposed to do it, why it's important to do it that way, which makes them have a greater trust and respect for each other, and a confidence in what they're doing.

I think it also helps them be more responsible for their own self determination because they understand the expectation. The positive attitude, leadership that some of our older players have demonstrated has made a positive impact. We really feel good about the progress that we made.

But I think the key to our success in the future, we have nine seniors on the team, even though we have good leadership in that group, our improvement is going to depend on how our young players progress because we lack depth at several positions."

Georgia Coach Mark Richt:

"Excited about our football team. We've got an awful lot of returning starters that have played a lot of ball for us. We've got a lot of guys that have backed up that have played a lot of ball for us. I think a year ago we did a good job of allowing more guys to play. I think that paid big dividends as the season went on. It helped our morale. It helped our team speed. I think it helped our health.

We're losing 10-0 at halftime. I don't see a whole lot more emotion in that game. We win by the skin of our teeth. We have an open date before Florida. Then I announce to the team, Man, we are going to have to have more enthusiasm and energy or we're not gonna win. I said, Even if we got to fake it, we're gonna have more energy.

Then I said, As a matter of fact, after the first score against Florida, I want you guys to celebrate so hard that the referees throw the flag...But, again, I had no intention for our team to clear the bench.

Now, I called urban, I called Coach Meyer on Sunday. I told him what I told you. I said, I was a coach desperate to try to get some enthusiasm, and I was willing to take a 15 yard penalty.

Now, in hindsight, I asked the team to do an unsportsmanlike act, because it's called unsportsmanlike conduct, excessive celebration. In hindsight, I shouldn't have done it. I won't do anything like that again. It could have easily turned into a big stupid brawl and everything else.
That's as truthful as I can tell you what happened."

Ole Miss Coach Houston Nutt:

"Well, I think it's good. I think it's good because I'm proud that they wanted us in their family. They see something there. What's more important, that the players, they feel the same way. You can see that by their attitude.

So I think it's a good thing. You know, to go in with no expectations or low expectations to me doesn't do much for me. I mean, you want to set that level high. When you walk into a room, in my very first meeting, when you walk into a room, you ask how many of y'all have been to a Bowl game, not one student athlete can say, I've been to a Bowl game. To me that motivates me. That excites me. You want to take them where they can't go by themselves. You want your staff to take them where they can't go by themselves. That's what coaching to me is all about, trying to make a difference in a young person's life, taking them to the next level, to make them a better person, better father, better husband, on and on.

Expectations, those things don't bother me."

Tennessee Coach Phillip Fulmer:

"Our team has worked really hard during the course of the off season. Starting back in January, we had a couple of issues, off the field distractions that weren't very pleasant for us to deal with. And to our team's credit, to our coaches' credit, particularly to our seniors' credit, we haven't had anything that's come up really since February. I like that. I think that says something about our focus and our attitude, about what this team could and hopefully will be about.

We're certainly in a process right now with our football team growing, new offensive coordinator that I'm really excited about, new quarterback, in the same year, is a challenge, defensively, of getting back and playing at the level that we expect to play as we did against some teams last year, Arkansas, for an example; Georgia, in the championship game against LSU, to play at that level consistently is certainly a challenge.

The growth of our team from a leadership standpoint, I have made a list. There's about 11 or 12 guys on the offensive side that look like they can be outstanding leaders for us. Got about that many, 11 or 12 guys, on the defensive side. Not all of them are starters, but guys that can have that kind of demeanor and personality to be good leaders."

Auburn Coach Tommy Tuberville:

"Last year we had a good football team. The one thing that we didn't do is we didn't come out of the blocks. We lost two of the first three games, and both of 'em were at home. We lost four games total, and three of those games were on the last play of the game. We need to have a sense of urgency, a lot more than we did last year. And so I think this will be a point that we can use with our team, our coaches, and we can use it as a rallying point that a lot of people are counting on us and picked us in certain situations.

So I'm looking for consistency. That's gonna be the theme of what we need this year. And I think that our players will understand it a lot better by being picked number one in the West."

Kentucky Coach Rich Brooks:

"But I feel very good about all of the positions returning on offense, the people that have an opportunity to replace them. I think that we're gonna be a very good offensive football team. We have talent at running back. I think it will be, again, the best offensive line. The same statement I made last year, I'll say it again this year. This will be the best offensive line we've had since I've been at Kentucky. We have four talented running backs. Quarterback is yet to be resolved between Hartline and Pulley.

Defensively we should be the best defensive team that I've had at Kentucky. Our defensive front is outstanding, our secondary, our linebackers. We have depth, competition and experience."

Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino:

"As far as our football team goes, the strength of our team starting out would be our offensive line and our defensive line. That's where we have the most experience back. That's where we have the size and athletic ability and the skill of those young men to play their position. They did a nice job in spring ball. They did a real nice job throughout the summer on working in the weight room and in conditioning.

I'm looking forward to the challenges of coaching in the SEC Conference. I know the players and the coaches are the best in the country. The fact that if you get to the championship game, you're competing for the SEC Championship, then you have a chance to compete for the National Championship. And that is certainly what all of our goals are. "

South Carolina Coach Steve Spurrier:

"But, anyway, we're getting pumped up there at South Carolina. We've got better players than we've had there. We've hopefully got better coaches. Last year was a disappointing ending. 6-6 is mediocrity at its best, and that's where we finished. A couple of heartbreaking losses at Tennessee, Clemson game that would have changed things around, but we didn't quite win 'em. Didn't make a play there at the end of the game. Huge difference between 8-4 and 6-6. But at 6-6, maybe it was good for us in a way, because as a head coach, I got to look and say, Hey, how can we get better?

So got some new stuff there, new stuff all around. We're trying to get better. We don't like 6-6. We did qualify for a Bowl. But there was another school, Alabama, at 6-6. They had a little bit more pull than South Carolina did (smiling). But that's okay. That's the way life is, and we understood it. We need to do better than 6-6."

SEC PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH

SEC Champion - Florida (36), Georgia (18), Auburn (13), LSU (1), Tennessee (1), Ole Miss (1).

No.	School	Votes
Eastern Division
1.	Florida (45)	98
2.	Georgia (23)	121
3.	Tennessee (2)	222
4.	South Carolina	266
5.	Kentucky	356
6.	Vanderbilt	407
Western Division
1.	Auburn (48)	99
2.	LSU (21)	120
3.	Alabama	228
4.	Mississippi State	299
5.	Ole Miss (1)	338
6.	Arkansas	386