- Shane Beamer earns the ‘everything is rosy’ award for genuine enthusiasm. Beamer has good reason to be excited, having taken the Gamecocks from two wins in 2020 to seven wins in 2021. Hopefully, 2022 will not give him and his program a rude awakening. Though Beamer has one of the SEC’s most experienced squads, surpassing last season’s win total will be a challenge.
- Eli Drinkwitz tried to exude optimism about his program. He is to be awarded for his ‘valiant effort’ considering all is not well in Columbia. He did himself no favors talking about Gus Malzahn as a mentor.
- Clark Lea ran away with a ‘straight face’ award when he said,
"We know in time Vanderbilt football will be the best program in the country."
The response through social media to Lea’s statement was derision. The thing is, Clark Lea is a wordsmith, much as is Nick Saban. He chooses words carefully and precisely. So he might believe exactly what he said. Vanderbilt coaches need every bit of confident boldness they can muster.
- Brian Kelly – As we wrote a couple of days ago, LSU fans were mostly bored by Brian Kelly’s Media Days presentation. During Q&A, he was asked if the Alabama Crimson Tide beatdowns of Notre Dame influenced his desire to leave South Bend. The answer was not boring. He claimed one of his teams did pretty well against the Tide, earning him a ‘shaky grasp on reality’ award.
- Kirby Smart took some heat from not-Georgia fans talking about a need to adjust the recruiting calendar. Kirby is correct but earns an ‘ I can’t take the grind’ award anyway. His new 10-year, $100M-plus contract should provide some resilience.
- Josh Heupel earned a ‘never try to out quip Lane Kiffin’ award. Heupel was asked if he, like Kiffin, had signed any mustard bottles at Media Days. Heupel made a golf ball joke, saying he wished he had a golf ball in Knoxville when at least one was thrown at Kiffin. It was a joke, but one that was not funny given throwing golf balls at coaches standing on a sideline is a dangerous situation.
- Jimbo Fisher won the ‘nobody believes a word I say’ award saying he has no problems with and has great respect for, Nick Saban. Fisher also denied what was said, and clearly seen and heard, on a video of an Aggie assistant touting NIL payments to recruits.
This week was another SEC Media Days spectacular that did not disappoint as a major media event.