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SCOTT HOOD's



SEC Media Days - Day 1

posted by Scott Hood, Wednesday, July 23, 2008

We're live from the main ballroom at the Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Ala. The start of SEC Media Days is just over 2 hours away. The first item on the itinerary is Commissioner Mike Slive's annual "State of the SEC" speech at 1:45 p.m.

7:05 - Vanderbilt head coach Bobby Johnson has finished up with his presentation here in Hoover. The first day of SEC Media Days is officially over. It was a very good opening session. Johnson said he has raised expectations for this season, but VU has lost an awful lot in terms of personnel. The game between USC and Vanderbilt in Nashville on Sept. 4 will be a war. But I expect USC should win that game by 7 to 10 points, at least. In short, I don't expect a repeat of last year's fiasco when Vandy won, 17-6, at W-B Stadium. Hopefully, USC has learned its lesson. One of Vandy's best players is D.J. Moore from Spartanburg. This kid can play, as the Gamecocks found out last season. In fact, if you had to point to one play that reversed USC's fortunes in 2007, it was Moore's interception of a Chris Smelley pass in the end zone that denied USC a solid scoring opportunity. I'm sure if Spurrier and his staff had to do it over, they would recruit Moore a little harder. He's become quite a player.

4:45 - LSU head coach Les Miles has taken the podium here in Hoover. The first words out of his mouth is that he's moving on from the 2007 national title and would prefer to look ahead to 2008. LSU lost 5 players to early NFL departures. Looking at their road schedule, the Tigers must play at Auburn (9/20) and Florida (10/11) before arriving in Columbia to play USC on 10/18. Miles just said the road schedule will be "challenging." Miles also said LSU will utilize a RB by committee approach again in 2008. LSU lost DC Bo Pellini to Nebraska, so the Tigers will have a new guy calling the shots in 2008. LSU has one of the best DL's in the country despite losing Glenn Dorsey. Tyson Jackson and Kirston Pitton are both seniors and two of the best DE's in the country. But one question overshadows everything else in Baton Rouge: who will play QB. It's a two-man race between Jarrett Lee and Andrew Hatch.

3:40 - Miss. State coach Sylvester Croom has taken the podium here in Hoover. MSU is coming off its best season in years. The Bulldogs went 8-5 and posted a bowl victory over UCF in the Liberty Bowl. Croom is very high on So. QB Wesley Carroll, who started several games in 2007 as a true freshmen. MSU posted some impressive victories last season, including road wins over Auburn and Kentucky and a 17-12 win over Alabama in Starkville. However, reaching the 8-win mark will be difficult again. After facing La. Tech and SE Louisiana, MSU must play Auburn, Ga. Tech, LSU and Tennessee in a five-game stretch starting Sept. 13.

3:35 - Wow. Tim Tebow just finished speaking in front of a packed ballroom here at the Wynfrey Hotel. He might be the most mature 21-year old I've ever heard speak. Very impressive. He also has his priorities in order, You can tell that football doesn't dominate his life. It's an important part, no question, but he has dedicated himself to making people's lives better. He considers that much more important than playing football. Since the end of last season, Tebow has visited the Phillipines and Thailand on missionary trips. Obviously, USC is going to have to figure out a way to stop Tebow before the November meeting in Gainesville or the result couldbe the same as last season. I think USC will do that, or at least contain him. But, at the same time, the Gamecocks must find a way to stop Percy Harvin and Chris Rainey as well. It's a tough chore, no doubt. If Lee Corso is correct, the USC/UF game in The Swamp will be for the SEC East title.

2:50 - Urban Meyer just finished meeting with reporters in the main ballroom. Of course, he fielded a lot of questions about Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow, the Gators QB. Meyer didn't say anything controversial, though he said the leadership of LB Brandon Spikes was just as important as Tebow's. Meyer added that in today's world of college football, leadership must come from younger players since many of the best players leave after junior seasons. Besides Tebow, the top offensive weapons for UF will be a pair of RB: Percy Harvin and Chris Rainey. Both of them are extremely fast. Defensively, Spikes is the guy you'll be hearing about the most. Most experts would probably put UF behind Georgia in the SEC East race. The Cocktail Party game in Jacksonville could determine who gets to go to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game. Frankly, I must say this is the most relaxed I've seen Meyer at SEC Media Days. I think he realizes he'll be overshadowed a bit this year by Tebow.

2:20 - Urban Meyer has taken the podium. He started off by saying Florida "has a very good team coming back."

2:15 - Mike Slive has finished his speech. He spoke about a number of topics. One of the most important for fans is, of course, the status of the conference's TV deals. There has been talk of a SEC Network similar to the ones set up by the Big 10 and MWC. Slive said the new deals will be announced this fall. Slive noted the SEC almost met his goal of not having a single SEC program on probation. Right now, the only SEC team in the NCAA penalty box is the Arkansas track team.

1:45 - Mike Slive is about to take the podium to start SEC Media Days.

1:30 - My final post before we get started is the USC defensive depth chart as set out in the media guide:

Defensive End
Jordin Lindsey
Clifton Geathers
Byron McKnight

Defensive Tackle
Nathan Pepper
Jonathan Williams
Donte'e Nicholls

Defensive Tackle
Ladi Ajiboye
Marque Hall

Defensive End
Cliff Matthews
Travian Robertson (Will he be redshirted?)

Strongside Linebacker
Gerrod Sinclair
Antonio Allen
Alonzo Winfield

Middle Linebacker
Jasper Brinkley
Rodney Paulk
Marvin Sapp
Melvin Ingram (moving to FB?)
Vandaral Shackleford (transferring)
Damien Wright

Weakside Linebacker
Eric Norwood
Dustin Lindsey
Shaq Wilson

Cornerback
Carlos Thomas
Akeem Auguste
Jamire Williams
Jay Spearman

Free Safety
Darian Stewart
Chris Culliver

Strong Safety
Emanuel Cook
Mark Barnes
Chris Hail

Cornerback
Captain Munnerlyn
Addison Williams
Stoney Woodson

The biggest surprise for me was seeing Antonio Allen No. 2 at SLB. I know the coaches were considering moving him to LB in the spring. Also, if the coaches redshirt Robertson, as they plan to do, who will back up Matthews at DE?

1:20 - We're about 25 minutes away from getting started here in Hoover. SEC Commissioner Mike Slive. Here is the SEC schedule for the opening weekend of the season (8/28-9/1):

Vanderbilt at Miami (OH)(Thur. 8/28)(ESPNU) - 7 p.m.
N.C. State at USC (Thur. 8/28)(ESPN) - 8 p.m.
Hawaii at Florida (Sat. 8/30)(Raycom) - 12:30 p.m.
Appalachian State at LSU (Sat. 8/30)(ESPN) - 5 p.m.
Miss. State at La. Tech (Sat. 8/30)(ESPN2) - 6:45 p.m.
Alabama v. Clemson (at Atlanta)(Sat. 8/30)(ABC) - 8 p.m.
Western Ill. at Arkansas (Sat. 8/30)
La. Monroe at Auburn (Sat. 8/30)
Ga. Southern at Georgia (Sat. 8/30)
Memphis at Ole Miss (Sat. 8/30)
Kentucky at Louisville (Sun. 8/31)(ESPN) - 3:30 p.m.
Tennessee at UCLA (Mon. 9/1)(ESPN) - 8 p.m.

If you're keeping score at home, that's 8 games involving SEC teams that will be on TV during the opening weekend. The following weekend, five games involving SEC teams will be on TV.

11:55 - Here is the offensive depth chart for USC as set out in the brand new 2008 media guide:

Quarterback:
Tommy Beecher
Chris Smelley

Running Back:
Mike Davis
Brian Maddox
Taylor Rank
Bobby Wallace
Eric Baker

Fullback
Patrick DiMarco
Bryan Kingrey
Yvan Banag

Wide Receiver
Kenny McKinley
Larry Freeman (Moving to LB?)
Matt Clements
C.C. Whitlock

Wide Receiver:
Dion Lecorn
Jason Barnes

Wide Receiver:
Moe Brown
Joe Hills
Freddie Brown

Left Tackle
Jamon Meredith OR Hutch Eckerson
Quintin Richardson
Gurminder Thind (Medical Hardship)

Left Guard
Lemuel Jeanpierre
Pierre Andrews

Center
Seaver Brown
Garrett Anderson
Ryan Broadhead

Right Guard
Heath Batchelor
Terrence Campbell
Kevin Young

Right Tackle
Justin Sorensen
Kyle Nunn

Tight End
Jared Cook
Weslye Saunders
Nick Prochak
Clark Gaston

11:35 - Here are a couple of interesting things I discovered while surfing the web just now:

-- The Sporting News' NFL Draft Expert Russ Lande lists USC OT Jamon Meredith as the No. 23 NFL Prospect for next April's Draft. Here's what Lande said: "In a year with a ton of well-known offensive tackle prospects, Meredith is the exception. He has size, strength, athleticism and good pass-blocking experience."

-- The chances of the SEC forming its own TV network appear to be diminishing. A story in TSN quotes Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson as saying he has spoken with SEC Commissioner Mike Slive.

-- Alabama fans are in an uproar over a verbal shot Les Miles took at the Crimson Tide during a recent booster club meeting in La. Obviously, there is a lot of anticipation for Nick Saban returning to Baton Touge this fall. Miles said the game will be no big deal because "it seems a lot of teams from Louisiana beat that team." Miles, of course, was referring to Alabama's shocking loss to Louisiana-Monroe last season.

- The Sun Belt conference has signed bowl deals with the Papajohns.com bowl and the PetroSun Independence Bowl. The opponent in both bowl games will be a SEC team. How many USC fans would travel to Shreveport to watch the Gamecocks play Florida Atlantic or Middle Tennessee State, or another team like that?

11:05 - In case you missed it last week when I broke the story about the 2009 USC football schedule, here it is:

Sept. 3 – at N.C. State (Thur.)
Sept. 12 – at Georgia
Sept. 19 – FLORIDA ATLANTIC
Sept. 26 – OLE MISS
Oct. 3 – THE CITADEL
Oct. 10 – KENTUCKY
Oct. 17 – at Alabama
Oct. 24 – VANDERBILT
Oct. 31 – at Tennessee
Nov. 7 – at Arkansas
Nov. 14 – FLORIDA
Nov. 21 – Off
Nov. 28 - CLEMSON

Obviously, opening with a pair of road games will be a huge test for the Gamecocks. N.C. State should be improved nexts eason, while we all know about Sanford Stadium in Athens, though USC won there in 2007 and should have won in 2005. The opening game at Raleigh will be the Thursday night CF season opener on ESPN.

10:50 - I have the brand new South Carolina media guide in my hands. Steve Spurrier, Kenny McKinley and Jasper Brinkley are on the cover. All three of them will be in Hoover on Friday. Here are the uniform numbers for the new freshmen players:

Reggie Bowens - 43
Jarrett Burns - 33
Ronald Byrd - 93
Tori Childers - 83
Kenny Davis - 94
Ryan Doerr - 39
Aramis Hillary - 3
T.J. Johnson - 55
Jarriel King - 76
Reid McCollum - 14
Kenny Miles - 24
D.L. Moore - 12
Darrell Simmons - 8
Chaz Sutton - 51
Devin Taylor - 98
Mike Triglia - 89
Elliot Williams - 67

Of course, a few of those guys are still trying to qualify. SOS said last week that Williams may grayshirt and enroll at USC in January. One thing I note from the full roster is there are three, count'em three, players with No. 12: Whitlock, Moore, Wilson.

10:30 - We're live from the main ballroom at the Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Ala. The start of SEC Media Days is just over 2 hours away. The first item on the itinerary is Commissioner Mike Slive's annual "State of the SEC" speech at 1:45 p.m. After that, we'll hear from four coaches. Here is the order:

Urban Meyer (UF) - 2:10 p.m.
Sylvester Croom (MSU) - 3:10 p.m.
Les Miles (LSU) - 4:10 p.m.
Bobby Johnson (VU) - 5:10 p.m.

So, right out of the gate you have the head coaches from the last 2 national champions. Also, considering USC faces Vanderbilt in Week 2, I'll be interested in hearing what Bobby Johnson has to say. Florida "slumped" to a Capital One Bowl loss to Michigan last season after winning it all in 2006. Meyer is a good recruiter, but there are questions about his game-day coaching skills. It's the same thing with Miles, who essentially won the MNC with a lot of older players recruited by Nick Saban. LSU doesn't have a QB right now. The Tigers were also very fortunate in several games. They have plenty of skill, obviously, especially on the D-Line.




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