See thedmonline.com next week for coverage from Atlanta.
The 2018-19 college football season is sneaking up on us. SEC Media Days start on July 16 and finish on July 19 at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. This change of scenery will mark the first time SEC Media Days will be held outside of Birmingham, Alabama since 1985.
SEC officials, coaches and certain student-athletes will be available to field questions from the media. The event will be live broadcasted by ESPN and SEC Network.
Reporters will look to ask the looming questions that have plagued the 2018 college football off-season.
Coach Matt Luke will look to reaffirm to the world that even though the Ole Miss Rebels will not be playing in a bowl game; the season will not go to waste. The players that will be brought out to answer questions with Coach Luke will be senior quarterback Jordan Ta’amu, senior center Sean Rawlings, and junior defensive tackle Josiah Coatney. The Rebels, who are coming off a 6-6 season, will look to build around their two top-ten NFL draft prospects, A.J. Brown and Greg Little.
A.J. Brown runs past defenders to score a touchdown during last year’s homecoming game against Vanderbilt. Ole Miss won 57-35. File photo By Chase Roberts
The other five new head coaches entering the SEC will likely be grilled with many open ended questions concerning the future of their perspective programs.
Jimbo Fisher of Texas A&M cashed in over the offseason with a monumental 10-year $75 million contract and will be asked how he plans to turn the Aggies program around. Dan Mullen of Florida will be answering big questions concerning Florida’s offense as the Gators have not successfully retained a quarterback for a whole season at the helm since Tim Tebow. Joe Moorhead of Mississippi State, Chad Morris of Arkansas and Jeremy Pruitt of Tennessee will be fielding all types of questions on how they look to turn their respective schools’ football team around.
Kirby Smart of UGA will answer questions about the Bulldogs’ upcoming campaign. First, Smart will have to answer how he plans to make his team forget about the notorious 2nd and 26 busted coverage against Alabama in this year’s National Championship loss. Second, there are many questions still surrounding the quarterback battle between returning starter Jake Fromm and No. 1 overall recruit Justin Fields. Also, Smart will likely detail how he will coach the 2018 UGA recruiting class, ranked No. 1 in the nation with seven 5-star recruits.
Defending National Champion Nick Saban will talk on his quest to his sixth national championship as the head coach of Alabama. Another infamous quarterback battle will be asked about between former starter Jalen Hurts and the savior of Alabama’s 2018 national championship, Tua Tagovailoa. Hurts, who was pulled from that game at halftime, was replaced by Tua who led the comeback win and brought home the national championship to Tuscaloosa.
A.J Brown and Jordan Ta’amu celebrates Brown’s touchdown during Saturday’s game against the Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns. Photo By Taylar Teel
The schedule for SEC Media days is listed below:
Monday: Texas A&M, Kentucky, and LSU
Tuesday: Georgia, Ole Miss, Arkansas, and Florida
Wednesday: Mississippi State, Tennessee, Alabama, and Missouri
Thursday: Auburn, Vanderbilt, and South Carolina
