SEC MEDIA DAYS: Takeaways From Day Three

Only one more day left of SEC Media Days and on Wednesday, it was time for Alabama, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Missouri to take the podium.

Be sure to check out the home page at BamaHammer.com for full coverage from the Crimson Tide’s appearance with Coach Nick Saban, Kenyan Drake, Reggie Ragland, and Ryan Kelly.

Arkansas Razorbacks

There is some optimism coming out of northwest Arkansas for the upcoming season and I think it’s perfectly called for. The Razorbacks could possibly be still a year away from contending for a Western division title. Many fans made fun of the hire of Bret Bielema but at the time, I thought it would be a great hire in a few years if they gave him time. Their roster was in such a mess, it would have been difficult for anyone to win there.
One thing I took away from Bielema today was that he was funny. We really do have some funny characters for coaches in the best conference in the country. The reporters tried to get an answer out of him on what Spurrier said about them doing cartwheels over a 7-6 record. Bielema let it pass on by, only saying, “Selfishly, they’re the one group I feel good about taking a picture with.” The one that really got me was his answer about why the offensive line was on the cover of their media guide and Bielema told the reporters, “I respect my elders”.

By far the best comment from him was concerning the bowl game with Texas. Look, I loved beating Texas more than anything in the Rose Bowl and have greatly enjoyed their demise since then.

Missouri Tigers

Always nice to have two old friends at Media Days at the same time. For those who may not know, Coach Saban and Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel got to know each other when both played and learned a great deal of knowledge from legendary head coach Don James.

Pinkel had to deliver a bit of bad news this morning about one of his players, which is a star defensive lineman. Harold Brantley was involved in a serious automobile accident last month and as a result of those injuries, he will miss the entire season. Here is hoping for a speedy and great recovery for that young man.

One of the conference’s newest members has won the Eastern division title two years in a row but, the Tigers hardly get that preseason love. Pinkel says that doesn’t bother him, but he thinks it does the players. If you took a look at recruiting rankings and see where the Tigers come in ranked every year, you might ask how do they always end up in Atlanta? Coaching and evaluation. Their staff trusts their system more than anyone else’s.

Kentucky Wildcats

Coach Mark Stoops and company will be looking to improve on six consecutive losses that ended the 2014 season. That’s another coach I think can get things going if they will just leave him alone. It may never get to the point that they are competing for SEC titles, but you never know what is possible.

It also sounds like the renovations for Commonwealth Stadium are progressing nicely with summer of next year scheduled for completion.

Stoops said that the Wildcat fans want to see blue collar, hard working, fun football team out there. They know those expectations and are working toward those.

After a head coach has been in place for three years, most administration expects to see some improvement and Stoops know that. He wants the Wildcats to finish it out by playing in a bowl game.