Ultimate Guide to 2016 SEC Media Days
The circus is coming to town.
SEC media days—the annual event held at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham - The Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Alabama—kicks off on Monday and will go through Thursday afternoon.
The event, which features each SEC head coach, three players from each team, commissioner Greg Sankey and a radio row that resembles the one created prior to every Super Bowl, serves as the unofficial kickoff to the college football season.
What should you expect during the four days in Hoover?
The Schedule
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The coaches and players will make the rounds starting on Monday, when commissioner Greg Sankey kicks off the event after lunch with his second "state of the SEC" speech.
When will your favorite teams and players take the mic and dominate coverage on ESPN and SEC Network? Here's the schedule, courtesy of SECSports.com (all times ET):
Monday, July 11
- 12:35 p.m. - 3:25 p.m. - SEC commissioner Greg Sankey
- 12:35 p.m. - 3:20 p.m. - Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn, wide receiver Marcus Davis, defensive end Carl Lawson, defensive tackle Montravius Adams
- 3:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. - Florida head coach Jim McElwain, linebacker Jarrad Davis, offensive lineman David Sharpe, safety Marcus Maye
- 3:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. - Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason, running back Ralph Webb, linebacker Zach Cunningham, defensive back Oren Burks
Tuesday, July 12
- 9:35 a.m. - 10 a.m. - SEC coordinator of football officials Steve Shaw
- 10:05 a.m. - 1:25 p.m. - Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, tight end Jeb Blazevich, offensive lineman Brandon Kublanow, defensive back Dominick Sanders
- 10:05 a.m. - 1:20 p.m. - Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen, linebacker Richie Brown, wide receiver Fred Ross, defensive lineman A.J. Jefferson
- 2 p.m. - 5 p.m. - Tennessee head coach Butch Jones, quarterback Joshua Dobbs, linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin, defensive back Cameron Sutton
- 2 p.m. - 5 p.m. - Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin, quarterback Trevor Knight, defensive end Myles Garrett, wide receiver Ricky Seals-Jones
Wednesday, July 13
- 10:05 a.m. - 1:05 p.m. - Alabama head coach Nick Saban, tight end O.J. Howard, defensive end Jonathan Allen, defensive back Eddie Jackson
- 10:05 a.m. - 1:05 p.m. - Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema, tight end Jeremy Sprinkle, defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr., linebacker Brooks Ellis
- 2 p.m. - 5 p.m. - Missouri head coach Barry Odom, tight end Sean Culkin, defensive lineman Charles Harris, linebacker Michael Scherer
- 2 p.m. - 5 p.m. - Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops, running back Jojo Kemp, center Jon Toth, linebacker Courtney Love
Thursday, July 14
- 10:05 a.m. - 2:35 p.m. - Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze, quarterback Chad Kelly, tight end Evan Engram, defensive lineman D.J. Jones
- 10:05 a.m. - 2:35 p.m. - LSU head coach Les Miles, running back Leonard Fournette, center Ethan Pocic, defensive back Tre'Davious White
- 10:05 a.m. - 2:35 p.m. - South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp, wide receiver Deebo Samuel, offensive lineman Mason Zandi, defensive end Marquavius Lewis
The Scene
2 of 9Fans outside the doors of the Wynfrey see the main ballroom where coaches spend 30 minutes and players split up into corners for another half-hour, and also see the set on the second floor of the Wynfrey where ESPN and the SEC Network are set up.
That's not the whole scene, though.
In fact, there's much more to the circus.
Two other main rooms—one for local television stations and another radio/internet room—get each player and coach individually for 10 minutes. These are the fun rooms where Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema called a kneel-down "borderline erotic" last year and Fox Sports' Clay Travis famously asked former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow about his virginity.
Elsewhere, there are individual rooms for each of the SEC's radio and television partners that get players and coaches for 10 minutes each. There's a massive radio row downstairs in the corridor between the hotel and the Galleria Mall with more than 20 radio stations set up in a very confined area and occasional fans that either slip upstairs without a credential or hang out in the lobby of the hotel and radio row.
Because of the many different areas for players and coaches to talk, you will see a variety of different quotes that other credentialed media members might have missed, because it's impossible to cover every corner of the Wynfrey at all times.
The Characters
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No Steve Spurrier? No problem.
The former South Carolina and Florida head coach attended a record 23 media days, according to the SEC. But he won't be in Hoover as a head coach this year after resigning from South Carolina in the middle of the 2015 season.
That's bad news for those in search of killer soundbites, right?
Not really.
Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema's "borderline erotic" comment last year when discussing his team's kneel-down to beat Texas in the 2014 Texas Bowl was way more "Spurrier" than Spurrier had been lately. Expect a heavy dose of "Hoganese" when the head Hog makes the rounds on Wednesday while Alabama is also in the building.
LSU's Les Miles will discuss his summer vacation, Florida's Jim McElwain will likely talk about his latest creation on his Big Green Egg and the most surprising newcomer will be Georgia head coach Kirby Smart—who will surprise the masses by being the polar opposite of his former boss, Nick Saban.
Don't worry about Spurrier's absence. There are plenty of characters in the SEC to go around.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Coaches on the Hot Seat
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"Hot seat, hot seat, hot seat."
Get ready for hot seat talk, because it's coming.
At least one coach on the hot seat will make the rounds each day of the event, with Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn kicking things off on Monday, Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin going Tuesday afternoon, Kentucky's Mark Stoops hitting the floor on Wednesday and LSU's Les Miles closing up shop on Thursday.
Expect all of them to be peppered with questions regarding their job statuses...and expect all of them to dodge said questions with the quickness of a top-tier defensive back.
Each will have his own way to go about it. Malzahn will be more formulaic and process-oriented, Sumlin will say that he's confident in his team despite the offseason noise, Stoops will do the same and Miles will use the English language in a way that's unmatched by anyone to a point where we'll all just laugh and move on.
Nothing the coaches say in Hoover will be an indicator of impending doom, although there will be plenty of folks trying to get in that "gotcha" question.
Get Ready for the Tennessee Buzz
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Barring an upset of Mike Tyson vs. James "Buster" Douglas proportions, Tennessee will be picked to win the East when media votes are tabulated and released on Thursday afternoon.
When that happens, take a deep breathe, relax and understand that these will be uncharted waters for the Vols. Tennessee was last picked to win the SEC title in 2005 (it finished fifth in the East), and has been picked higher than fourth in the division one time since 2010 (last year, when it was picked to finish second behind Georgia).
When the Vols make the rounds on Tuesday, you can bet your bottom, top and middle dollars that head coach Butch Jones, quarterback Joshua Dobbs, linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin and cornerback Cameron Sutton will be littered with questions regarding the hype.
Can the Vols handle it?
That's the $64,000 question, and we won't know the answer until toe meets leather.
Where Have All the QBs Gone?
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At Big 12 media days, eight of the 10 members of the conference will bring quarterbacks to its version of the summer circus.
In the 14-team SEC, there will be just three—including one quarterback, Texas A&M's Trevor Knight, who went to Big 12 media days twice as a member of the Oklahoma Sooners.
That's a massive indictment of the quarterback position in the nation's best football conference, and it will be a big topic of conversation for those schools currently navigating through quarterback turmoil.
The most notable quarterback battle is at Alabama, where head coach Nick Saban will make the rounds for the third straight season without clarity at the most important position on the field. All he has done in those years is win back-to-back SEC titles, make the College Football Playoff in each of the tournament's first two seasons and win the 2016 national title.
At Auburn, Jeremy Johnson—who attended media days last year—is battling with Sean White and junior college transfer John Franklin III for the starting spot in a critical year for head coach Gus Malzahn. Georgia has two upperclassmen—Greyson Lambert and Brice Ramsey—hoping to hold off the challenge of true freshman Jacob Eason. At Florida, transfers Luke Del Rio and Austin Appleby are both vying for the top spot on the depth chart.
You will hear a ton about quarterbacks in Hoover.
Satellite, in My Eyes
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With camp season in the books, expect plenty of questions to come to all 14 head coaches about their satellite camp experiences, whether or not it's worth it to spend an entire month on the road and—of course—Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh.
Don't expect much change from the party line.
While SEC coaches were allowed to participate in satellite camps this summer, commissioner Greg Sankey said at SEC spring meetings in June that the conference position remains that the practice of guest-coaching at camps, other schools and organizations should be banned by the NCAA and that the conference will continue to push for that to happen.
As far as Harbaugh goes, the "gotcha" questions regarding the second-year Michigan head coach will come early and often. If a head coach strays too far away from that party line, you know Harbaugh will jump at the chance to light that coach up on Twitter during a high-visibility time of the college football offseason calendar.
"Alabama Day"
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When head coach Nick Saban and the three Alabama players make the rounds, that's only part of the story.
The other, more entertaining part takes place in the lobby, where Alabama fans flock in droves to the confined space in front of radio row and the escalator to welcome the Crimson Tide to the circus.
In recent years, you'll find people who flew from halfway around the world to get a 30-second glimpse of Saban, autograph seekers galore and the guy who wears a ring on his head every year.
"This guy at SEC Media Days has a killer hat. pic.twitter.com/PsXZgT5GMm
— Barrett Sallee (@BarrettSallee) July 18, 2013"
What's funny about "Bama Day" is that it's similar to a pep rally prior to Saban's arrival. When he arrives, though, everybody shuts up as the head coach of the Crimson Tide holds court and signs a few autographs.
Heisman Talk
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There will be plenty of Heisman Trophy talk in Hoover at SEC media days, and it will start with one of the players who will close up shop at the event on Thursday morning—LSU running back Leonard Fournette.
The top running back in the country, reporters will litter Fournette with questions regarding the most prestigious individual award in college football—an award that he was the unquestioned front-runner for during the first two months of the 2015 campaign. What's more, don't be surprised if the New Orleans native gets a few questions from media members looking to cause a stir regarding the possibility of sitting out the 2016 season in an effort to preserve himself for the NFL.
Elsewhere, Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs and Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly will both field Heisman-related questions early and often.
We can only hope that somebody steps out a little bit and admits that it wouldn't be a bad thing to win it, even though it's far more likely that they will all toe the party line, recognize the honor of being mentioned, talk about the team and take it "one day at a time."
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.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
