By: TONY MARKS
Editor
TAMPA, Fla. - With a nine-game conference schedule, football coaches in the Southeastern Conference will now face greater challenges in addition to ever-changing trends associated with the transfer portal and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) agreements. On top of that is proposed legislation in Congress, rule changes, and talks about the conference breaking away from the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
With all this in mind, and with fall camp beginning in a few weeks, the conference coaches gathered in Tampa, Fla., for SEC Media Days. Among those addressing the media were first-year head coaches at Kentucky, Auburn, Florida, Ole Miss, LSU, and Arkansas.
The following is a rundown of insights on certain challenges facing these new head coaches.
Kentucky Wildcats
Will Stein is new head coach of the Wildcats after spending the past three seasons as an assistant at the University of Oregon. He was also an assistant at the University of Texas and The University of Texas at San Antonio. He is a Kentucky native and played for the University of Louisville, and his father is a former player on the Kentucky team.
Stein said he brought in 45 new players and a new coaching staff to Lexington while building a new state of art weight room. He also said his team will be tough in the face of the upcoming challenges.
“This is going to be a tough program,” he commented. “Football is the toughest game played by tough men. It’s physically demanding and mentally exhausting. Guess what, life is tough, too. The one thing I refuse to be is soft-minded. I understand, I’ve already accepted myself that there will be tough moments this season. There always are in every year that I’ve ever coached. Our response as a team will dictate the outcomes. I cannot wait to fight adversity with this group.”
He continued, “Our process on the field also centers around accountability. Do your job. It takes all 11 being on the same page in all three phases for us to maximize success.”
Auburn Tigers
Alex Golesh is one of three new SEC coaches who came over from head jobs in the Athletic Conference. Golesh spent the last three seasons as head coach at the University of South Florida.
For Golesh, the biggest challenge facing his team is finding its identity.
“I don’t really have any goals, other than laying a foundation for what Auburn football is going to be for years to come,” he said. “That starts with building an identity. This word ‘identity’ is the only thing we’ve talked about as a program and what does that look for us, what is the identity of our program, who are we when people sit down and watch us play on Saturdays.”
He continued, “The identity is one thing for me to talk about, one thing for me to preach, one thing for me to hold a standard in every aspect of our program, but it’s another for our kids to embrace it and live it.”
Florida Gators
Jon Sumrall also takes a job in the SEC after spending previous years in the American Conference. He was named the head coach of Tulane in 2023 and guided the Green Wave to a playoff appearance last season.
For Sumrall, the biggest challenge of the schedule is his team playing Texas for the third consecutive season. “It’s a big game because you’re playing Texas, and they’re really good,” he commented. “Every SEC game is a big game. Every game is a big game. I don’t change; don’t matter who we play. Doesn’t change the prep. It stays the same.”
“But it is new and unique to be playing Texas a third year in a row,” he continued. “It’s not something that’s historically been a part of Florida’s past or Texas’ past. Who would’ve thought 10 years ago that Florida was playing Texas for the third year in a row and not playing Tennessee. Like we don’t play Tennessee this year. That’s really kind of weird.”
Ole Miss Rebels
Pete Golding took over as head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels in the middle of a postseason run after then head coach Lane Kiffin took the head job in Baton Rouge. His Rebels are coming off a loss to Miami in last season’s College Football Semifinals and are predicted to finish third in the SEC this season.
As for the challenges ahead, Golding said, “But we know every season brings challenges. Obviously we’re excited for the challenge. We know there is still a lot of work to do. Obviously getting into camp here starting on August 6th, we’ve got to stay healthy and making sure we’re getting guys in the right spot.”
LSU Tigers
Lane Kiffin is entering his first season as head coach of LSU after being the head coach at Ole Miss. For him, the biggest challenge this season is dealing with the expectations surrounding him and his team with a payroll of approximately $40 million.
“I’ve built my life out of pushing out of comfort,” he said. “That may not be for everybody. That’s fine. That’s just how I am. This job has really pushed me out of comfort to take a new job, to be at LSU. Like everyone talks about, the pressure of LSU and what comes with that.
“And there is more things to be done as the head coach of LSU than anywhere I have been that are asked of me. I’ve really enjoyed that. It’s been exciting to do that and to rebuild within a program a roster and to come in and come off of a 7-6 season and then the expectations that everybody in the media has that we’re supposed to be this great team right away. That’s an awesome challenge.
“You want to talk about getting uncomfortable. That does it. Expectations make you uncomfortable. They make you not be able to just go through motions in any aspect of your program. So that’s been awesome.”
Another challenge for Kiffin’s team is the schedule. As he said, “My concern about the nine (conference) games is that you’re going to lose non-conference games. Teams will eventually get out of the bigger non-conference games because the selection process is not fixed. Until that is fixed to really truly reward strength of schedule, I was against it because I think what you’re going to have is more conference losses. You don’t prove anything.
“If I would keep playing -- we’re all in the same conference. We keep playing each other. We don’t really prove that we’re better than anyone else, and we’re taking away out-of-conference games. I just think that it’s going to cause issues that we’ve already seen.
“Until we can get into a world where people can actually look at teams and say that team that is 9-3 with their schedule is a better team than that 11-1 in a different conference, which now I think we aren’t even close to doing that, I think it causes a problem because we don’t have enough non-conference in our sport.”
Arkansas Razorbacks
Ryan Silverfield takes over as head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks after previously head coach of the Memphis Tigers in the American Conference.
As he said, the biggest challenge is the schedule with his team playing Utah and Georgia in back-to-back weeks. But, he conceded part of that deals with such things as television contracts.
“I’m not up here to sit here and complain about anything,” he expressed. “Let’s go out there and give us the best fight. They asked us to play at 6:00 a.m. outside. Let’s go play in the bay right now in Tampa. Whatever the heck that looks like. If it’s midnight, so be it.
“Obviously my number one thing is always the well-being of our student-athletes, no matter what that looks like. If there’s opportunities that make more sense for the well-being of our football team, so be it. I appreciate people that are sticking up for us and fighting the good fight.
“Whatever time they ask us to play, obviously we got a heck of a challenge going to Utah, and we know the atmosphere there playing at night. We know a hell of a challenge we have when we face the Georgia Bulldogs in Fayetteville for the SEC opener.”
Georgia Bulldogs
Georgia, with returning head coach Kirby Smart, is coming off back-to-back seasons as SEC Champions and back-to-back losses in the All State Sugar Bowl. The Bulldogs are again the favorite to win the conference this year, according to a preseason poll.
With his team coming up short in the postseason in each of the past two seasons, Smart is focused on the field instead of off the field distractions.
“I think this time in college football, the landscape of college football, that’s all the talking heads want to talk about,” he said. “Everywhere I go, TV, media, everybody wants to talk about the landscape of college football.”
He continued, “I’ve had questions about expansion, more SEC games, portal, college and federal legislation to navigate the NIL era we’re in, players leaving, coaches leaving. That’s all people want to talk about. What we focus on in Georgia is what wins football games, and that’s my passion and energy. That’s what we love to do. We love to grind it out, play physical football, be explosive in offense, be explosive in defense by how you create turnovers and how you create sacks.
“At the end of the day, I don’t enjoy talking about all these things that are the landscape of college football. I enjoy talking about what wins and what allows our team to have the best chance. The consistency and performance is probably what I’m most proud of over the last 10 to 11 years, including this season.”
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