Hyping it up

ATLANTA, GA -- The time has come for the hype to begin, as players and coaches from around the Southeastern Conference descended here this past week for the annual gridiron media days.
The 2018 event marked the first time SEC Media Days were held outside the Birmingham, Ala., area since 1985. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said the event will return to the Hyatt-Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Ala., in 2019 and will likely be held in various locations in future years while making Hoover a periodic site for the event because of its central location in the SEC footprint.
Along with veteran head coaches like Alabama’s Nick Saban and Auburn’s Gus Malzhan, five brand new SEC head coaches and one transfer head coach took to the podium this past week to hype up their team’s outlook for the 2018 season.
Jimbo Fisher (Texas A&M), Dan Mullen (Florida), Joe Moorhead (Mississippi St.), Chad Morris (Arkansas), Matt Luke (Mississippi) and Jeremy Pruitt (Tennessee) are all in their first year as the main man at their respective league schools.
Among that group, only Mullen has been a head coach in the SEC, having served as Mississippi State’s leader the past nine seasons. Fisher had been the head honcho at Florida State since 2010.
One of the first coaches to step up to the podium this past week was LSU’s Ed Orgeron. Heading into his second full year after the interim tag was lifted from his name in 2016, Orgeron talked a lot about a number of potential pitfalls that the Tigers will face in 2018, particularly on the offensive side of the ball.
One of the first questions brought up to Orgeron concerned the removal of Matt Canada as the offensive co-ordinator and the hiring of his hand picked replacement Steve Ensminger.
When answering the question, Orgeron admitted hiring Canada away from the University of Pittsburgh and trying to install his whirling-dervish offense was a colossal blunder.
“It’s tough when you make a mistake,” Orgeron said, “but it’s even tougher not to admit you made a mistake, and it’s just not a good fit. And I had to do what I thought was best for the LSU program.”
“I have complete confidence in the direction in which he is going to lead our offense,” Oregeron said of Ensiminger. “We’re on the same page.”
Along the same topic lines, Orgeron also addressed the pressing situation at the quarterback position. Heading into this past spring, LSU had several highly recruited players on the roster, including Myles Brennan and St. James High School product Lowell Narcisse.
But, the addition of Ohio State transfer Joe Burrow raised some eyebrows as well as fed into a quarterback controversy frenzy.
To that issue, Orgeron somewhat surprisingly dangled the prospect of using two quarterbacks if necessary, though it clearly did not sound like his preference.
“We would like to have had a starting quarter back by the end of the spring,” Orgeron said. “It didn’t work out that way.”
The assumption, and Orgeron said nothing to change that, is that it will work out with Ohio State transfer Joe Burrow. But whoever wins the derby, Orgeron wants a victory that is sharply defined.
Another interesting topic addressed by Orgeron was the domination that Alabama has had over LSU the past six years. Counting the 2012 National Championship game, the Crimson Tide have won seven in a row over LSU.
“I think if you look at last year’s game at Alabama, it was a physical contest,” stated Orgeron. “We felt that we could handle them physically and compete with them, and that was the first time I think our players felt that in a while. Give Coach Saban and his staff the credit. They won the football game.”
“Almost is not good enough against Alabama,” he continued. “But we feel that a couple of plays here and there and continue to be physically, we’re going to be right in there with them.”
Speaking of Alabama, head coach Nick Saban also took on some very interesting topics at the podium, including talk of retirement. Saban, who turns 67 on Halloween, said he has no plans to retire. Only one man, Steve Spurrier, has coached football in the SEC past the age of 70.
“Let me say this,” Saban commented. “Miss Terry (his wife) does not want me at home. I really enjoy what I’m doing right now and as long as I’m healthy and I can do it, I’m going to continue to do it and not worry about any numbers or what my age is or anything like that.”
Saban noted, “But I would not want to be in the position where I ever rode the program down because I wasn’t capable of making a contribution that would be positive.”
Saban also took on the Tide’s own quarterback controversy. The controversy — was stoked in January when Saban replaced Hurts with Tua Tagovailoa at halftime of the College Football Playoff national championship game. Tagovailoa led Alabama to a comeback win, tossing a touchdown pass on second-and-26 to beat Georgia in overtime.
“The No. 1 thing you’d like to talk about is the quarterback controversy. You love to create it and continue to create it. You love to talk about. It’s still to be determined,” Saban said. “You can ask all the questions you want. All I’m going to say, ‘We’ll see.’”
A few other interesting side notes that had some LSU interest also invaded the inner-workings of the College Football Hall of Fame. Namely the hiring of two former Tiger coordinators; new Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher and new Arkansas defensive coordinator John Chavis.
Fisher was rumored to be in line for the head coaching job at LSU in 2015 when then head coach Les Miles was on the verge of getting booted. After a late November win against A&M in 2015, LSU players carried then-coach Les Miles off the field after beating the Aggies, a win that some believe saved his job as the school pursued Fisher.
Last November it was also reported that LSU decision-makers used Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher’s talked-about candidacy as a ruse to quietly negotiate with Texas head coach Tom Herman and stay ahead in the chase for the 41-year-old hotshot, but the potential deal fizzled after reports on that Thursday night exposed a plan the Tigers had kept shrouded for days.
“I love Baton Rouge, I have always had great affiliation with (LSU) and great love for that place,” Fisher said Monday in Atlanta. “We’re where we are right now (in College Station). They’ve got a great coach. I’m in a great situation.
Fisher continued, “I’ve always had great appreciation for those fans. Those people there treated me unbelievably well.”
For Chavis, this is his fourth coaching stop in the SEC. He was a position coach at his alma mater, Tennessee, from 1989-94, then became defensive coordinator there from 1995-2008.
Then he landed at LSU and had a successful run with Les Miles and the Tigers, winning the Broyles Award in 2011 as the nation’s top assistant after helping them reach the national championship game.
But as you might remember, Chavis’ time in Baton Rouge had a rocky end when he left for Texas A&M. He spent 2½ years in a legal battle with LSU over a $400,00 buyout the school said he owed for leaving for Texas A&M. He was not retained on incoming head coach Fisher’s staff.
Now Chavis must revamp an Arkansas defense that allowed 438.3 yards per game and gave up a whopping average of 36.2 points last season. They finished 4-8, leading to the firing of Bret Bielema.
As Media Days were ending on Friday, the SEC coaches picked LSU to come out fifth in the SEC West behind Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi State, and Texas A&M.
According to WAFB-TV in Baton Rouge, “LSU did not get a vote for the SEC Championship, while Alabama received 193 votes to win the conference and Georgia was second with 69 votes.”