SEC Media Days 2016 is here. Although Tennessee football isn’t up until Tuesday, here are five things Volunteers fans should still watch for on Day One.
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The de facto start to the college football season is here! You can dismissively call SEC Media Days a circus all you want.
It’s an epic circus that gets fans primed and ready for the college football season.
The preseason predictions come in, the coaches address the state of their programs, the SEC officials talk about any new changes, the players give their takes, and the media that generates the hype behind college football first gets it feet wet here.
Everybody’s happy.
For Tennessee football fans, the big day is Tuesday. But the schedule on Monday includes a few things they should watch out for with SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey and future Vols opponents Florida and Vanderbilt set to take the stage.
Here are a few things Vols fans should pay attention to on the first day of SEC Media Days 2016 in Birmingham, Ala.
1. Will SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey address satellite camps?
As Clay Travis stated earlier this year, satellite camps are the most talked about thing in sports that absolutely nobody cares about. The casual college football fan will simply know that it’s some obscure NCAA rule that doesn’t allow you to hold camps too far away from your school.
But it’s made huge headlines because Nick Saban, in his never-ending quest to complain about everything and always play the victim, started a war of words with Jim Harbaugh over it during the offseason. And Saban gained support from Butch Jones, many other SEC coaches, and for a brief time, the NCAA.
So this controversial issue that nobody cares about may be addressed by Sankey, or it may not. Quite frankly, we’re only telling you to pay attention to this for entertainment.
2. Will anybody on Florida deliver any trash talk to Tennessee?
The Florida Gators are up at 3:30 p.m., with head coach Jim McElwain first. McElwain created a culture of Florida trashing the Vols no matter what, which started last year when he said, after Tennessee’s epic collapse in The Swamp, “You just don’t lose to Tennessee.”
Of course, that really got under the skin of Vols fans, and it’s only been made worse this offseason as Jalen Tabor has been trashing everybody in Knoxville, particularly Jalen Hurd. Tabor will not be in Birmingham, but that doesn’t mean somebody else won’t create headlines. So Rocky Top should pay attention.
3. What is Florida’s quarterback situation?
This is something all Vols fans want to know immediately. For two years in a row, they have been burned by two different quarterbacks who just happened to turn it on in the fourth quarter. Now, Will Grier has transferred and Treon Harris has converted to wide receiver. So the frontrunner for the starting spot is now former walk-on Luke Del Rio.
McElwain will likely give some insight into the situation overall on Monday. Austin Appleby, Kyle Trask, and Feleipe Franks are all other quarterbacks on the roster. Although McElwain is billed as an offensive genius, how he feels about his situation will tell how good the quarterback play will be. After all, he couldn’t work miracles with John Parker Wilson. Every Vol fan likely hopes the situation is as bad this year.
4. How will Derek Mason address Vanderbilt’s offensive woes?
Ever since he has been at Vanderbilt, Derek Mason has been in the process of overhauling the program, despite inheriting one that was in great shape. Still, defense is no longer a question, as his transition to a 3-4 began to pay off last year.
Now it’s time to get the offense up to snuff. If Mason can do that, Vols fans should be nervous about the Commodores this year. How he talks about the offense at this year’s Media Days will be a telling story about what to watch for this Fall from Vanderbilt.
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5. Will anybody from Vanderbilt say anything stupid?
This is just a fun one, but it’s one all Vols fans find humorous. Mason has a history of acting like there is a rivalry with Tennessee, and he has his players believing that, even though there is nothing of a sort.
When he first took the job, he made all that talk about winning the East and said he wanted to focus on beating Florida and Georgia, ignoring Tennessee. Then he referred to the Vols as the “Team out East” his first year. It was laughably pathetic.
So now, with him just trying to get to six wins one year to save his job, will he still focus on trying to dismiss a program that has dismissed his program for the last 70 years? Or will he and his team grow up? Just for humor, it’ll be worth finding out.