Why Bret Bielema Has Replaced Steve Spurrier as the King of SEC Media Days

HOOVER, Ala. — Move over, Steve Spurrier. There's a new sheriff in town.

When the "Head Ball Coach" abruptly resigned from South Carolina in October of 2015, it left a void in the SEC "talkin' season" universe.

Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema has filled that hole.

The fourth-year head coach of the Razorbacks stole the show on Wednesday at SEC media days with his wit, candor, subtle shots and willingness to display his personality on the biggest offseason stage of the year, rather than hide it from the cameras.

Shots at other teams? Bielema's got that.

With Alabama head coach Nick Saban making the rounds at the same time on Wednesday and the status of tackle Cam Robinson and safety "Hootie" Jones in question, Bielema made it clear that he doesn't have those kinds of problems in his program.

"You don't have to worry whether or not—if I'm going to suspend anybody for the first game," Bielema said in the main ball room. "It doesn't come up in our program. Not to say it won't. At some time it may rear its ugly head. In four years I never had to make a decision about the opening game if I'm going to start somebody or not."

Brynn Anderson/Associated Press

Bielema also isn't afraid to get a little raunchy. 

When asked to describe his team, Bielema veered more toward an R-rating.

"At Arkansas we're not built very sexy, we're just kind of a work in progress," he said. "We need a lot of time in the bathroom to get ready and come out and look great. But when we do, we'll stop time. And at some point we'll get to where we want to be. And when we get there, it just means a little bit more."

The sexy talk wasn't done, either.

Michigan recently renewed its rivalry with Notre Dame, which forced the Wolverines to cancel their planned series with the Hogs. When asked to address the cancellation, Bielema stuck up for his program in a way that only he can.

"I'm sorry, the Michigan-Notre Dame thing sounds sexy to everybody else, but I think Michigan and Arkansas sounds sexy," he said.

Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

This isn't the first time that Bielema has steered the media days bus down this road.

Last year in the TV room, Bielema had a creative way to describe his feeling when his team took a knee to beat Texas in the 2014 Texas Bowl.

"It was a proud moment" he said. "Borderline erotic."

He described defensive lineman Deatrich Wise as "beautiful" in the main ball room. Two years ago, he went even farther when describing then-true freshman defensive lineman Bijhon Jackson.

Bielema is honest, forthcoming, self-deprecating and fun. He's everything Spurrier was when the Head Ball Coach was in the conference—minus only the visor.

Spurrier is missed, there's no doubt about that.

But with Bielema around, there's always a guarantee on the table that SEC media days is going to get weird.

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