Live From The SEC Meetings In Destin, Fla.
posted by Scott Hood, Tuesday, May 26, 2009
9:05 a.m. - We're in the Central Time Zone, so we're an hour behind. Thus, it's still pretty early here (8:05). I walked the beach near the hotel last night and the Gulf of Mexico is beautiful. Most of the attendees for the meeting should have arrived by last night. I spoke with SID Steve Fink and they arrived on Sunday. We're heading over now to the hotel to check things out. Most of the major reporters covering the SEC should be here such as Tony Barnhart of the AJC. We'll report as soon as something breaks.
10:00 a.m. - I've arrived at the Hilton and basically waiting for everyone to arrive. I spoke with Tony Barnhart of the AJC and he was cordial as usual. Most of the action will take place between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. That's when a bunch of the FB ooaches are supposed to meet with the media. Urban Meyer is scheduled for 11 a.m. and Lane Kiffin at 11:30 a.m. That should be interesting. Right now, Steve Spurrier is not scheduled to meet with the media at a predetermined time. Hopefully, we'll be able to catch up with him at some point.
12:00 - The meetings are about to begin. It's a fairly informal atmosphere. I just spoke with Lane Kiffin for a minute. He's meeting with the media soon. Spurrier just walked by with sunglasses and his hat on backwards. This should be an interesting few days in Destin. The AD's have been meeting since 9 a.m. I spoke with Eric Hyman briefly when they took a break. Hopefully, we'll get some good contest from the coaches.
1:15 - Well, Lane Kiffin has finally met the media. I asked him during a press conference about the status of Mark Smith and his responded, "Nothing has been done there." In short, he said Smith has NOT been fired but that, like all the coaches, he is being reviewed. So, as of right now, it appears Smith is still with UT. Of course, Kiffin fielded a lot of questions about his off-season statements he's made about other coaches. He made no apologies. In fact, he said he's still looking for an apology from Steve Spurrier about the NCAA test. He said UT needed a spark immediately after he arrived and that the plan was going "extremely well." In short, most of what has occurred in the off-season has been calculated, though he admitted he "didn't love everything I do." The SEC coaches will meet at 3 p.m. ET today and he hopes all the coaches will be "professional." He said he spoke briefly with Spurrier this morning. He did say something interesting about recruiting - he compared recruits in the South v. those in the West. He said players from the South tend to have more people around them making suggestions or even calling the shots in recruiting. The Florida contingent with Meyer and Donovan just arrived. I just walked past them as they came through.
3:45 - The last three hours have been a whirlwind of activity with a bunch of coaches talking with the media. So far, I have material from Lane Kiffin, Gene Chizik, Bobby Petrino, Nick Saban and Mark Richt on the football side, as well as new UK head coach John Calipari on the hoops side. Calipari loves to talk to the media. He held court on a couch for at least an hour. Unfortunately, Steve Spurrier has not spoken with the media at all. He's been avoiding the media all day. I have talked with a bunch of reporters and NO ONE has seen him. I spoke with Darrin Horn for a few minutes too. Hopefully, I should be able to talk with him as well. I asked Petrino about Lorenzo Ward since he coached on the Razorbacks staff last season. He smiled and said he "hated to lose him." Richt said something interesting. He was offered the Pitt job years ago when he was still at Florida State but turned it down. History might be different if he had taken the job with the Panthers. Petrino was asked a lot of questions about QB Ryan Mallett. I asked Saban if he had coached against Spurrier before. USC is scheduled to go to Tuscaloosa in Oct. He said he faced SOS once when he was at LSU and also coached under him for the East-Shrine Bowl game. The FB, MBK and WBK coaches are meeting until 7 p.m. today. Hopefully, I will be able to talk with all the coaches at that point.
7:45 - We've reached the end of Day 1 of the SEC Meetings in Destin. After a slow start this morning waiting for everybody to arrive, the pace was fast and furious in the afternoon. All the coaches met until 7:15 or so. I've posted the Day 1 notebook. The funniest moment of Day 1 came late when SOS was asked about Lane Kiffen's comment to the effect that he was still waiting for an apology from SOS re: that NCAA recruiting test. SOS turned away with that classic look he gets on his face and turned towards Kiffin, who standing nearby. Spurrier pointed to Kiffin and said "I never accused you of cheating. I just asked if it was permissible to contact recruits before you took the test." Kiffin was rendered speechless, and just smiled. Kiffin and SOS got on the elevator together and rode up to the second level. As soon as the doors closed, we started cracking up. SOS said the investigations surroiunding C.C. Whitlock and Ben Axon were ongoing and that an announcement might be forthcoming in a day or two regarding their status. There is a big reception tonight on the beach deck at the hotel and the media is invited!! I will have an article up shortly re: Spurrier.
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Every year, the SEC athletic directors and other administrative personnel get together in Destin, Fla. to meet and talk about issues affecting the conference. The meetinsg are being held at the Hilton at Sandestin Beach.
9:05 a.m. - We're in the Central Time Zone, so we're an hour behind. Thus, it's still pretty early here (8:05). I walked the beach near the hotel last night and the Gulf of Mexico is beautiful. Most of the attendees for the meeting should have arrived by last night. I spoke with SID Steve Fink and they arrived on Sunday. We're heading over now to the hotel to check things out. Most of the major reporters covering the SEC should be here such as Tony Barnhart of the AJC. We'll report as soon as something breaks.
10:00 a.m. - I've arrived at the Hilton and basically waiting for everyone to arrive. I spoke with Tony Barnhart of the AJC and he was cordial as usual. Most of the action will take place between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. That's when a bunch of the FB ooaches are supposed to meet with the media. Urban Meyer is scheduled for 11 a.m. and Lane Kiffin at 11:30 a.m. That should be interesting. Right now, Steve Spurrier is not scheduled to meet with the media at a predetermined time. Hopefully, we'll be able to catch up with him at some point.
12:00 - The meetings are about to begin. It's a fairly informal atmosphere. I just spoke with Lane Kiffin for a minute. He's meeting with the media soon. Spurrier just walked by with sunglasses and his hat on backwards. This should be an interesting few days in Destin. The AD's have been meeting since 9 a.m. I spoke with Eric Hyman briefly when they took a break. Hopefully, we'll get some good contest from the coaches.
1:15 - Well, Lane Kiffin has finally met the media. I asked him during a press conference about the status of Mark Smith and his responded, "Nothing has been done there." In short, he said Smith has NOT been fired but that, like all the coaches, he is being reviewed. So, as of right now, it appears Smith is still with UT. Of course, Kiffin fielded a lot of questions about his off-season statements he's made about other coaches. He made no apologies. In fact, he said he's still looking for an apology from Steve Spurrier about the NCAA test. He said UT needed a spark immediately after he arrived and that the plan was going "extremely well." In short, most of what has occurred in the off-season has been calculated, though he admitted he "didn't love everything I do." The SEC coaches will meet at 3 p.m. ET today and he hopes all the coaches will be "professional." He said he spoke briefly with Spurrier this morning. He did say something interesting about recruiting - he compared recruits in the South v. those in the West. He said players from the South tend to have more people around them making suggestions or even calling the shots in recruiting. The Florida contingent with Meyer and Donovan just arrived. I just walked past them as they came through.
3:45 - The last three hours have been a whirlwind of activity with a bunch of coaches talking with the media. So far, I have material from Lane Kiffin, Gene Chizik, Bobby Petrino, Nick Saban and Mark Richt on the football side, as well as new UK head coach John Calipari on the hoops side. Calipari loves to talk to the media. He held court on a couch for at least an hour. Unfortunately, Steve Spurrier has not spoken with the media at all. He's been avoiding the media all day. I have talked with a bunch of reporters and NO ONE has seen him. I spoke with Darrin Horn for a few minutes too. Hopefully, I should be able to talk with him as well. I asked Petrino about Lorenzo Ward since he coached on the Razorbacks staff last season. He smiled and said he "hated to lose him." Richt said something interesting. He was offered the Pitt job years ago when he was still at Florida State but turned it down. History might be different if he had taken the job with the Panthers. Petrino was asked a lot of questions about QB Ryan Mallett. I asked Saban if he had coached against Spurrier before. USC is scheduled to go to Tuscaloosa in Oct. He said he faced SOS once when he was at LSU and also coached under him for the East-Shrine Bowl game. The FB, MBK and WBK coaches are meeting until 7 p.m. today. Hopefully, I will be able to talk with all the coaches at that point.
7:45 - We've reached the end of Day 1 of the SEC Meetings in Destin. After a slow start this morning waiting for everybody to arrive, the pace was fast and furious in the afternoon. All the coaches met until 7:15 or so. I've posted the Day 1 notebook. The funniest moment of Day 1 came late when SOS was asked about Lane Kiffen's comment to the effect that he was still waiting for an apology from SOS re: that NCAA recruiting test. SOS turned away with that classic look he gets on his face and turned towards Kiffin, who standing nearby. Spurrier pointed to Kiffin and said "I never accused you of cheating. I just asked if it was permissible to contact recruits before you took the test." Kiffin was rendered speechless, and just smiled. Kiffin and SOS got on the elevator together and rode up to the second level. As soon as the doors closed, we started cracking up. SOS said the investigations surroiunding C.C. Whitlock and Ben Axon were ongoing and that an announcement might be forthcoming in a day or two regarding their status. There is a big reception tonight on the beach deck at the hotel and the media is invited!! I will have an article up shortly re: Spurrier.
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Scott Hood. Since February of 2005, Scott has covered the South Carolina football, men's basketball and baseball programs for GamecockCentral. He may be reached by email at scottblog(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.