Dallas, Texas – July 16, 2024 – Arthur Davis II
SEC Media Days continued with Session 1 which was headlined by Georgia Head Coach Kirby Smart and Tennessee Head Coach Josh Heupel. Day 2 was wrapped up with session 2, Oklahoma Head Coach Brent Venables and Missouri Head Coach Eliah Drinkwitz gave updates on their programs. Our notes on the day are below.
Georgia Head Football Coach Kirby Smart
- 9th season as UGA Head Coach
- UGA is 46-2 in last 48 games
- One loss in 2023 season (Alabama SEC Championship)
- Defeated Florida State in Capital One Orange Bowl 62-3
- Bulldogs open 2024 season against Clemson in Atlanta (Mercedes Benz Stadium)
- In 2024, UGA will play 6 home games (SEC- Auburn, Mississippi State, Tennessee), 2 neutral site games (SEC- Florida), and 4 true road games (SEC- Kentucky, Alabama, Texas, Ole Miss)
- UGA has added four new assistant coaches for 2024 season
- Coach Smart says the SEC Championship game should be played even in a 12 team playoff world, says there’s a lot of value add in that game
- Smart says as a defensive coach it is very important that the defense sets the tone and dictates the game instead of allowing offenses to set the pace and tone
University of Tennessee Head Football Coach Josh Heupel
- Vols finished 2023 9-4 (SEC 4-4)
- Won the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl over Iowa 35-0
- Losses in the SEC at Florida, Alabama, at Missouri and Georgia
- 2024 schedule has 7 home games (SEC- Florida, Alabama, Kentucky, and Mississippi State, 1 neutral site game (Duke’s Mayo Classic vs. North Carolina State at Bank of Ameriaca Stadium, Charlotte, NC), and four road games (SEC- Oklahoma, Arkansas, Georgia, and Vanderbilt)
- Head Coach Josh Heupel played quarterback at Oklahoma, won a national championship as a player
- Fourth year as Tennessee Head Football Coach
- SEC Coach of the Year 2022
- Heupel says he is ready to go to battle with his group
- Very experienced at the line of scrimmage
- Recruiting has incorporated both baseball and basketball head coaches as a team effort
- Portal gives the ability to “patch holes” inn the roster
- Two new assistant coaches join Heupel’s staff for 2024 season
Oklahoma Head Football Coach Brent Venables
- Oklahoma’s inaugural season in the SEC
- Sooners were 10-3 in 2023 (7-2 Big XII)
- Losses at Kansas, at Oklahoma State, and in the Alamo Bowl to Arizona
- 2024 schedule includes 7 home games (SEC- Tennessee, South Carolina, Alabama), one neutral game in Dallas versus Texas (SEC), and four road games (SEC-Auburn, Ole Miss, Missouri, and LSU)
- Venables entering his fourth season as Head Coach in Norman
- Was an assistant for the Sooners for 13 years
- Oklahoma has 53 new players coming to Norman for the 2024 season, 38 scholarship and 15 walk-ons
- Venables says he and the Sooners are excited to join the SEC and are “running towards the SEC”
- Three student athletes that attended SEC Media Days were All Americans
University of Missouri Head Football Coach Eliah Drinkwitz
- Mizzou ended the 2023 campaign at 11-2 (6-2 SEC) Losses to LSU and at Georgia
- Defeated #7 Ohio State in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic 14-3
- First bowl win since 2014 Cirus Bowl against Minnesota and Coach Drinkwitz’s first bowl win at Mizzou
- 2024 schedule includes 7 home games (SEC- Vanderbilt, Auburn, Oklahoma, and Arkansas) and 5 road trips (SEC- Texas A&M, Alabama, South Carolina, and Mississippi State)
- Mizzou finished the season ranked #8 in NCAAA College Football
- Drinkwitz enters his fifth year as the Head Coach for the Tigers
- Named 2023 SEC Coach of the Year
- Former Head Coach at Appalachian State
- Mizzou sent program record number of players to NFL combine this past winter
- New defensive coordinator named in February 2024, Corey Batoon, comes to Mizzou after a three-year stint as the defensive coordinator at South Alabama, was at Ole Miss from 2012-2016 season
- 22 players with at least 12 starts at the college level
- 31 players with at least four starts at the college level
- Drinkwitz is 28-21 at Mizzou and 40-22 overall as a Head Coach
