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Previewing SEC media days: Georgia turmoil, new planners and move
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Chris Low Close Chris Low ESPN Elder Author College football reporter Signed up with
ESPN.com in 2007 Graduate
- of the University of Tennessee
- Alex Scarborough Close Alex Scarborough ESPN Staff Writer Covers the SEC.Joined ESPN in 2012. Graduate of Auburn University.Jul 17, 2023, 07:00 AM ET The SEC enters media days with its talk of
- realignment and brand-new schedules currently in the past. Oklahoma and Texas will sign up with the conference next season to much excitement and a brand-new era will start
in college football.So what will the coaches and players talk about during media days? The on-field action, of course.Alabama’s make over offense under former Notre Dame offensive organizer Tommy Rees, Brian Kelly’s second year at LSU and the incredible variety of transfer quarterbacks in the conference will be the talk of the week in Nashville, Tennessee.Ahead of all the podium prognostications, vibrant predictions and sound bites, our writers address the 5 most significant concerns and subjects of SEC media days.1. How does Georgia respond to off-field questions?Alex Scarborough: On the field, the concerns are obvious: Who will change Stetson Bennett at quarterback? How does the offense change without Todd Monken as planner? And what about a defense that will now lack stalwarts Jalen Carter and Kelee Ringo?Editor’s Picks 2 Associated Georgia’s schedule may be simple, however the path to duplicating as nationwide champions for a third consecutive season is no piece of cake. Coach Kirby Smart may invest the majority of his time in Nashville addressing what’s happened off the field, though, since the speeding-related incidents devoted by his players have actually piled up. Earlier this month, freshman outside linebacker Samuel M’Pemba was clocked going 88 miles per hour in a 55 miles per hour zone– about
an hour prior to Georgia receiver Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint appeared in an Athens courtroom and pleaded guilty to driving 90 mph in a 45 mph zone on May 23. ESPN reported in June that Georgia football players and their cars and trucks have been involved in at least 10 reports of traffic-related moving violations in Athens-Clarke County considering that Jan. 15, when Georgia offending lineman Devin Willock and football team member Chandler LeCroy were eliminated in a reckless driving occurrence in which cops declared previous defensive lineman Jalen Carter was racing them hours after a championship game celebration.2. How will Alabama browse modification on offense?Scarborough: It became abundantly clear during the course of last season that something had to change on offense for Alabama. The scheme used by planner Bill O’Brien was too reliant on quarterback Bryce Young; the running game lacked an inside presence; and the receivers who viewed DeVonta Smith and Jameson Williams bloom into stars didn’t develop into reliable playmakers. With Young and O’Brien off to the NFL, Nick Saban was given a clean slate. He brought in a more pro-style organizer in previous Notre Dame OC Tommy Rees and opened up the quarterback competitors, welcoming in
previous Combating Irish QB Tyler Buchner to go with returning players Jalen Milroe and Ty Simpson. With a great group of young running backs, do not be surprised if Alabama becomes more run-heavy this season, relying less on what will still be an unverified receiver corps and taking a few of the burden off whoever the beginning QB will be.3. How will LSU fare in Year 2 under Brian Kelly?
Brian Kelly took LSU to the SEC championship game in his very first season with the program. What’s next for the Tigers? Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports Chris Low: When are expectations not lofty at LSU, specifically when you generate a coach the caliber of Brian Kelly and are coming off a championship game four years earlier?The Tigers amazed a great deal of people a year ago in winning the SEC’s Western Department and knocking off Alabama in Kelly’s first season in Baton Rouge. Taking that next action will prove much more tough, however LSU has the pieces in location to make another runin the West and return to the SEC national championship. It begins with quarterback Jayden Daniels, who progressed last season in LSU’s offense. Having
a complex quarterback with experience assists resolve a ton of issues, particularly when your entire offensive line is back. Tackles Will Campbell and Emery Jones began as freshmen last season, and Kelly thinks that unit has a possibility to be special. And on defense, linebacker Harold Perkins Jr. returns after developing himself as one of the SEC’s top big-play defenders as a freshman, and additionally, defensive take on Maason Smith’s return from injury is another reason to like LSU’s defense. This isn’t Kelly’s very first rodeo. He comprehends the expectations and understands that LSU will be circled around on a great deal of groups’ schedules this season. But it’s likewise an LSU team that improved as the season progressed a year ago, and there’s no reason to believe that Kelly, given his pedigree, will not get even more out of this team in 2023.4. Can Bobby Petrino conserve Jimbo Fisher from the hot seat?Low: The Petrino-Fisher pairing raised a great deal of eyebrows around the college football world when Fisher worked with Petrino in January to come in and be Texas A&M’s offensive planner. Fisher and Petrino are both understood for their volatility, and it’s affordable to question how they will mesh in what’s clearly an important season for the whole Texas A&M program. Fisher knew he required to shake things up on offense, step far from being the main playcaller and bring in somebody who had done it at a high level. Petrino is a polarizing– going back to his shooting at Arkansas– but there’s no denying he’s long been one of the best playcallers
in football. Fisher is constantly going to be associated with the offense, and he will be with Petrino as they put the strategy together every week. However Petrino would not have actually taken the job at Texas A&M if it weren’t going to be his program. Get your favorite live sports, stories and originals with ESPN +, Disney+and Hulu. Update to a Disney Package plan and start streaming something for everybody today! Eventually, the proof will be in how the Aggies’ offense fares after completing 101st nationally in scoring last season(22.8 points per game ). Petrino has some promising talent to work with, including receivers Ainias Smith and Evan Stewart, and a more skilled offensive line hell-bent on playing up to its talent level. Center Bryce Foster is the enforcer in the middle of that line and has a possibility to be a star. Among the important things Petrino has done best during his profession is develop quarterbacks, and sophomore Conner Weigman has the arm strength and skills to be one of the country’s breakout quarterbacks this season under Petrino’s tutelage. The Aggies clearly have to be able to throw it much better after finishing next to last in the SEC in passing efficiency last season. No doubt, the Fisher-Petrino concerns will continue till we enter the season, however look for the Aggies to awaken on offense.5. Which transfer QBs will have the greatest impact?Scarborough: SEC coaches weren’t bashful about dipping into the transfer website for assistance at quarterback this offseason. There might be as numerous as five starting QBs in the league this season who were playing in another conference last year. We currently covered Alabama including Buchner to the mix. But right down the roadway in Auburn, first-year coach Hugh Freeze snatched former Michigan State starter Payton Thorne to take on last year’s starter, Robby Ashford. And at Ole Miss, coach Lane Kiffin surprised lots of by lighting a fire under Jaxson Dart– who threw for 2,900 backyards last season after transferring from USC– by including not one however 2 QBs by means of the portal: former Oklahoma State starter and All-Big 12 choice Spencer Sanders and former five-star possibility Will Howard from LSU. In the East, Kentucky quickly replaced its previous transfer QB Will Levis with another transfer in
former NC State starter Devin Leary. And Missouri– instead of
stand by with Brady Cook coming off an injury that triggered him to miss out on all of spring practice– generated Jake Garcia from Miami.
- realignment and brand-new schedules currently in the past. Oklahoma and Texas will sign up with the conference next season to much excitement and a brand-new era will start