SEC Football Media Days – Day 1

Dallas, Texas – July 15, 2024 – Arthur Davis II

Its almost that time of year so many of us wait for, SEC Football is right around the corner. SEC Media Days kicked off with a message from SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey followed by Session 1 which was headlined by LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly and South Carolina Head Coach Shane Beamer. Day 1 was wrapped up with session 2, Ole Miss Head Coach Lane Kiffin and Vanderbilt Head Coach Clark Lea gave updates on their programs. Our notes on the day are below.

Greg Sankey Notes

• “From 14 deep, to 16 strong”
• 10^th year as SEC Commissioner
• With addition of Texas and Oklahoma, there are now over ½ million students enrolled in SEC schools
• SEC is working with Apple and adding iPads to SEC football sidelines this fall
• SEC is the only conference to have participated in all 14 BCS playoff s
• Speaking about NIL, Decades of change in just a few months for the SEC and college athletics
• Continually spoke about “same set of rules” for all college athletics instead of the state by state as is the current state
• Several references to looking at US Congress to standardize NIL rules nationwide as opposed to state-by-state rules and laws
• Speaking in reference to a tie breaker system, because there is no east and west divisions now, 9 principles, very lengthy, SEC athletic directors are still discussing the final product, can choose to implement any time as long as it is before the season starts
• Commissioner Sankey was asked how closely  he monitors the movement within the ACC, he said “I pay attention” He also reiterated that he is not a  recruiter and is concentrating on the current 16 SEC teams
• Commissioner Sankey was asked three questions in a row about other teams joining the SEC, he was adamant that his current focus is on the current 16 members and did not address any more expansion questions
• 2025 SEC Football Media Days will be held in Atlanta

LSU Head Football Coach Brian Kelly

• LSU was 10-3 in 2023 (SEC 6-2)
• Won the 2024 ReliaQuest Bowl (formerly the Outback Bowl) 35-31 over Wisconsin
• Losses in 2023 to Florida State on a neutral field, and two road losses to Ole Miss and Alabama
• LSU opens against USC on a neutral site in Las Vegas, at Allegiant Stadium on September 1st
• LSU plays 7 home games against Nicholls, UCLA, South Alabama, Ole Miss, Alabama, Vanderbilt, and Oklahoma
• LSU has four road games, all in the SEC, they go to South Carolina, Arkansas, Texas A&M, and Florida
• Kelly was adamant that they need to play “more complementary” football, stressing that at the end of the day, they needed to “play better defensively”
• Bragged on their incoming and returning receivers, saying that room goes 6-8 players deep, all with a chance to make an impact in 2024
• Kelly said LSU uses the transfer portal as a way “to top off the tank” but stressed that if the portal is used as a need based system, he thought those teams would face “rough seas ahead”
• Kelly is going into year three as the LSU head man

South Carolina Head Football Coach Shane Beamer

• South Carolina was 5-7 in 2023 (SEC 3-5)
• Was not bowl eligible in 2023
• Losses to North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Missouri, Texas A&M, and Clemson
• South Carolina opens SEC play on the second weekend against AT Kentucky (September 7^th)
• Out of conference foes are in the season opener against Old Dominion then Akron and Wofford and at Clemson to close out the 2024 regular season
• South Carolina has seven home games (SEC- LSU, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Missouri)’
• South Carolina has five road games (SEC- Kentucky, Alabama, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt)
• 2023-2024 best two back-to-back recruiting year rankings since 2012
• Seven top vote getters for permanent captain return to 2024 team
• Head Coach Shane Beamer will return to Norman to face his former team Oklahoma on October 19^th– he was the Assistant Head Coach and running backs coach under then Head Coach Lincoln Riley in Norman
• Spencer Rattler (NFL- New Orleans Saints) will have to be replaced by the winner of a three-way quarterback rating going into fall camp
• Beamer says South Carolina “has not been far off” in the last few years
• Beamer states that running back Raheim “Rocket” Sanders has remained in Columbia for most of the off season, since February has lost ^% of his body fat and now weighs 228 lbs. as of last week

Ole Miss Head Football Coach Lane Kiffin

• In 2023 Ole Miss was 11-2 overall (SEC 6-2)
• Won the 2024 Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl 38-25 over the Nittany Lions of Penn State in Atlanta
• Losses were at Alabama and at Georgia
• The Rebels have seven home games (SEC- Kentucky, Oklahoma, Georgia, Mississippi State)
• Ole Miss will play five road games, four in the SEC (South Carolina, LSU, Arkansas, Florida) and one ACC opponent, Wake Forest
• Head Coach Lane Kiffin’s father, NFL legend Monte passed away  July 11^th 2024, he was a Super Bowl Champion as a defensive coordinator  (Tampa Bay-Super Bowl XXXVII) and is in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Ring of Honor
• Kiffin described a standard size and length that some schools in the  SEC are able to recruit to, and that Ole Miss has been trying to recruit that way
• Says the Rebels will “look better getting off the bus” this year than they have inn the past
• As pertaining to the transfer portal, Kiffin says it changes from year to year between how he recruits from the portal, JUCO players and traditional high school recruits, says it changes just like free agents in the NFL
• Kiffin says he is a “traditionalist” when it comes to expanding conferences and that some rivalry games may be lost due to those expansions
• On Oklahoma and Texas joining the SEC this year, Kiffin says that the SEC has   brought in “two national perineal powers” which will make existing SEC head coaches’ “jobs harder” going forward

Vanderbilt Head Football Coach Clark Lea

• The Commodores were 2-10 (SEC 0-8) in 2023 Wins were both in Nashville against Hawaii and Alabama A&M in the first two games of the season
• Vanderbilt was not bowl eligible in 2023
• In 2024 the Commodores have seven home games in 2024 (SEC- Alabama, Texas, South Carolina, Tennessee)
• Out of conference game against Virginia Tech (Home), Alcorn State (Home), Georgia State (Away), and Ball State (Home)
• SEC road games include Missouri, Kentucky, Auburn, and LSU
• Clark Lea begins his fourth year at Vanderbilt, his Alma Mater (2004 and 2007)
• Vandy has made a philosophy change, with three major areas of change, Training, changes/additions in staff, and expedited roster change
• New strength coach hired- Robert Stiner, joined Vandy in December 2023 from Georgia State, changed the weight room philosophy and how players are trained
• New Offensive Coordinator hired in December 2023, Tim Beck, comes from the same position at New Mexico State University
• Lea is now the Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator
• Also hired Jerry Kill from Nex Mexico State, where Kill was the Head Coach of the Aggies, he will serve as chief consultant to the head coach and senior offensive advisor 
• 21 Vandy players from State of Texas
• 53 players on Vandy’s team now that weren’t in July 2023
• 106 of the 120 person roster were recruited by Lea at Vandy