SEC Football: No fireworks through first day at Destin meetings

Most of the college football world was disappointed on Tuesday. SEC football was center stage, but the conference made it through day one of its spring meetings with no exploding stories.

Fans were poised for something closer to a media-contrived, reality show starring Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher. Nick Saban spoke to media members but refused to provide headline material. Jimbo Fisher did not speak, though he is expected to do so later in the week.

Saban was asked if he had proof Texas A&M bought players. His answer “I never said that anybody did anything wrong” satisfies no one other than Greg Sankey. It was a sort of a non-apology, apology. Not Alabama fans will find it lacking candor. Many Crimson Tide fans believe Saban spoke the truth and no apology was needed.

His accusations last week were the Aggies bought players, Given the current NIL terrain, nothing prohibits them from doing so.

The nothing wrong clarification means there is nothing to stop programs or collectives from buying players. The perspective of Nick Saban and others is ‘doing nothing wrong’ does not mean what was done was right.

The video in the tweet below includes Saban’s ideas about the problems with the current use of NIL deals and how some changes are needed.

Moving on to serious matters that warrant attention, some SEC football rules change proposals were made public on Tuesday. One of them, submitted by the University of Alabama, is to move the intraconference deadline date from Feb. 1 to May 1. The adjustment would match what the NCAA established in its Transfer Portal policy.

The real work on other important issues began on Tuesday. It was and will mostly be conducted quietly throughout the week. The conference cannot do its business in public forums.

Some big changes for SEC football could come out of these meetings. The format of a 16-team league must be worked out, requiring adjusting the structure of annual and rotating opponents. Expanding the regular-season schedule to nine games is part of that process. There will be dissension Greg Sankey will want to keep as private as possible. An agreement and a decision are expected this week.

More than a little time and thought will be devoted to the NIL mess. At this point, progress would be consensus that what has evolved through NIL is not sustainable.

There will also be discussions about the SEC’s position on CFB Playoff expansion and whether the SEC might decide to stage its own Playoff.

Before the meetings began, there was some buzz the SEC was prepared to make one or more momentous decisions. Many SEC football fans would favor boldness.