Atlanta is the place to be this week.
Beyoncé is performing tonight at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game is on Tuesday night at Truist Park, which includes the T-Mobile Home Run Derby tonight at 8 p.m. (ESPN), and SEC Football Media Days are today through Thursday at the Omni Atlanta Hotel at Centennial Park and the College Football Hall of Fame.
We’re still over five weeks away from the start of the college football season, but SEC Football Media Days is often referred to as the unofficial kickoff to the season.
Week Zero is on Saturday, Aug. 23, and features games like Iowa State vs. Kansas State (in Dublin, Ireland) and Stanford at Hawaii.
The first SEC football game of the year is on Thursday, Aug. 28, with Missouri hosting Central Arkansas, followed by Auburn at Baylor at 8 p.m. on Friday (FOX).
Most SEC teams begin their seasons on Saturday, Aug. 30, including the University of Florida’s season opener against Long Island University (LIU) at 7 p.m. in The Swamp.
There are some significant out-of-conference showdowns, including Texas at Ohio State, Alabama at FSU, and LSU at Clemson in Week 1.
I was fortunate to attend SEC Football Media Day in the 2000s when Steve Spurrier was the head coach of the Gators.
It’s part press conference, part pep rally and certainly a primer for the upcoming season.
Last year, it was held in Dallas, Texas, where they welcomed the two new members (Oklahoma and Texas) to form the 16-team “Super Conference.”
The event is back in Atlanta after Nashville, Tennessee, hosted it in 2023.
“While I was preparing my remarks for media days, I recall that last time we were here in Atlanta one of my backstage conversations – I’ve noted this – included the discussion of why powdered wigs went away and neckties remained, and that was with Mike Leach,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said this morning. “I just want to make a note that we appreciate an adjustment made by the National Football Foundation to change the qualifying criteria for head coaches that makes Mike and others eligible for election into this college football Hall of Fame.”
Despite how much the college football landscape has changed with NIL and the transfer portal, the SEC is stronger than ever.
“We have common sense geography, restored rivalries, record-breaking viewership,” Sankey said. “In fact, I asked for some data this weekend. If you take the consumed viewership hours on linear TV, almost 40 percent of that viewership was focused on games involving Southeastern Conference universities and teams. Big Ten was next, right around 30 percent. That means with those two conferences, just over two-thirds of the total viewership of college football is embedded between the SEC and the Big Ten.”
There are plenty of storylines at SEC Football Media Days, including the 2024-25 College Football Playoff’s new 12-team format, with the first round games played at the home fields of higher-seeded teams or other designated sites.
This year’s semifinals will be at the Fiesta Bowl and Peach Bowl, with the national championship game in Miami.
“I felt the first year of the 12-year College Football Playoff was a success,” Sankey said. “That doesn’t mean everything was perfect, and there are certainly opportunities to improve. But what happened through the 12-team College Football Playoff is we brought teams into the conversation at a time when they would have been talking about their bowl game. We brought teams into the National Championship conversation so the young people on those teams had that National Championship competition access point.”
LSU, South Carolina, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt met with the media today.
“The expectations are always high,” said LSU coach Brian Kelly. “We’ve got some outstanding players. I think you start always with the quarterback in Garrett Nussmeier. I think when you look at Garrett, what he brings is a mindset of a coach’s son. That is, I’m always looking to improve. Every day he comes to workouts, every day I come to practice, he’s looking for areas to improve on. I would tell you that experience is going to be his best teacher in the SEC. Having played a year in the SEC and seeing what needs to happen on a consistent basis is most important.”
Ole Miss, which has the third most SEC wins of all 16 SEC teams over the last four years, will have a new starter at quarterback for the first time in three seasons after Jaxson Dart was selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. Austin Simmons takes over under center.
“Yeah, they’re very different,” Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said. “I mean, if you look at how they throw right-hand, left-hand, that would basically be about everything about them, like everything is that different. That’s okay. Austin has to make sure he doesn’t have to try to be Jaxson…he’ll be fine. He’s got elite talent. Does a great job. He’s maturing. Did a great job when he came in in the Georgia game. We’re excited about it.”
On Tuesday, Georgia, Auburn, Tennessee and Texas will talk about their seasons.
According to ESPN Analytics, Texas (34%) and Georgia (27%), who met in last year’s SEC title game, have the best chance to win the SEC. Alabama is next at 17%.
Quarterback DJ Lagway, offensive lineman Jake Slaughter, an AP First-Team All-American, and defensive lineman Caleb Banks will represent the Gators on Wednesday, along with head coach Billy Napier.
Florida, which finished 8-4 last season (4-4 SEC) with a win against Tulane in the Gasparilla Bowl, has just a 1% chance to win the conference according to ESPN Analytics.
SEC Football Media Days will conclude with Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas and Texas A&M on Thursday.
All four days will air live on the SEC Network.
2025 SEC Football Media Days schedule
Monday, July 14
LSU
Coach Brian Kelly
Chris Hilton Jr., WR, Senior
Garrett Nussmeier, QB, Senior
Whit Weeks, LB, Junior
South Carolina
Coach Shane Beamer
LaNorris Sellers, QB, Sophomore
DQ Smith, DB, Senior
Nick Barrett, DT, Senior
Ole Miss
Coach Lane Kiffin
TJ Dottery, LB, Junior
Cayden Lee, WR, Junior
Austin Simmons, QB, Sophomore
Vanderbilt
Coach Clark Lea
Randon Fontenette, S/OLB, Junior
Martel Hight, DB, Junior
Diego Pavia, QB, Graduate
Tuesday, July 15
10:25 a.m. – Georgia
Coach Kirby Smart
CJ Allen, LB, Junior
Daylen Everette, DB, Senior
Gunner Stockton, QB, Junior
12:15 p.m. – Auburn
Coach Hugh Freeze
Jackson Arnold, QB, Junior
Keldric Faulk, DL, Junior
Connor Lew, OL, Junior
1:30 p.m. – Tennessee
Coach Josh Heupel
Arion Carter, LB, Junior
Miles Kitselman, TE, Senior
Bryson Eason, DT, Senior
3:15 p.m. – Texas
Coach Steve Sarkisian
Anthony Hill Jr, LB, Junior
Arch Manning, QB, Sophomore
Michael Taaffe, DB, Senior
Wednesday, July 16
9:05 a.m. – Alabama
Coach Kalen DeBoer
Tim Keenan III, DL, Senior
Deontae Lawson, LB, Senior
Kadyn Proctor, OL, Junior
10:50 a.m. – Mississippi State
Coach Jeff Lebby
Blake Shapen, QB, Graduate
Isaac Smith, S, Junior
Brenen Thompson, WR, Senior
1 p.m. – Florida
Coach Billy Napier
Caleb Banks, DL, Senior
Jake Slaughter, OL, Senior
DJ Lagway, QB, Sophomore
2:45 p.m. – Oklahoma
Coach Brent Venables
John Mateer, QB, Junior
Robert Spears-Jennings, DB, Senior
R Mason Thomas, DL, Senior
Thursday, July 17
9:05 a.m. – Missouri
Coach Eli Drinkwitz
Daylan Carnell, S, Graduate
Connor Tollison, C, Graduate
Zion Young, DE, Senior
10:50 a.m. – Kentucky
Coach Mark Stoops
Alex Afari Jr., LB, Senior
Jordan Lovett, DB, Senior
Josh Kattus, TE, Senior
1 p.m. – Arkansas
Coach Sam Pittman
Cam Ball, DL, Senior
Taylen Green, QB, Senior
Xavian Sorey Jr., LB, Senior
2:45 p.m. – Texas A&M
Coach Mike Elko
Will Lee III, DB, Senior
Ar’maj Reed-Adams, OL, Graduate
Taurean York, LB, Junior