By Robbie Neiswanger
Arkansas News Bureau • rneiswanger@arkansasnews.com
FAYETTEVILLE — It’s that time of year again.
Hundreds of media members will pack the Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Ala., fresh off vacations and loaded with questions. Football coaches and players will all be dressed in nice-looking suits ready to answer them. Meanwhile, eager fans will be waiting in the hotel lobby for autographs, pictures, or simply a glimpse of their heroes.
Southeastern Conference Media Days begins today, giving SEC fans, media, coaches and players alike the first extended chance to talk about the long summer and preview the upcoming season. It has become an anticipated annual event lauded as the official kickoff to the 2010 season and serves as a sign that preseason practice really is just a couple of weeks away for football fanatics.
Alabama, Mississippi State, Florida and Kentucky will take center stage this afternoon. Arkansas, which will be represented by coach Bobby Petrino, quarterback Ryan Mallett, tight end D.J. Williams and defensive ends Jake Bequette, will be one of four teams available Thursday.
So as three-day tour begins, here’s a look at five questions that may just dominate conversation this week.
1. How will SEC programs react to the agent problems?
News broke Monday that former Florida lineman Maurkice Pouncey reportedly received $100,000 from an agent before the Gators’ Sugar Bowl win last season, placing an unwanted NCAA spotlight on one of the league’s most high-profile programs just before SEC Media Days begins.
But Florida isn’t alone. The Pouncey report came just days after South Carolina announced the NCAA was looking into whether tight end Weslye Saunders received extra benefits from an agent by attending a party in Miami. And on Tuesday came news that Alabama was looking into defensive lineman Marcel Dareus, who may have been at the party as well. So there’s no doubt the agent-player relationships will be a hot topic during the three-day event during a summer that also has included the heavy NCAA sanctions handed down to Southern California because of former Trojan Reggie Bush’s dealings with an agent.
2. Is Georgia coach Mark Richt really on the hot seat?
It has been a tumultuous summer for the Bulldogs thanks largely to athletic director Damon Evans’ extracurricular activities, which led to his highly-publicized departure from his alma mater. But there also are offseason questions looming about coach Mark Richt’s job security even though he is 90-27 in nine seasons with the Bulldogs.
Pressure is nothing new to SEC coaches, but how will Richt handle the questions that will be asked when Georgia takes its turn at the podium Thursday? The Bulldogs — who will play Arkansas in an enormous early-season game on Sept. 18 — were a disappointing 8-5 last season and made a plethora of changes in the offseason in hopes of snapping back.
3. Once again, how healthy is Ryan Mallett’s left foot?
Mallett and Arkansas tried to push past the topic with a media teleconference last week, but you better believe the preseason All-SEC quarterback’s foot will be a big topic of conversation. And his mobility will be watched closely as he walks around the Wynfrey Hotel on Thursday morning.
The quarterback has been limited all summer because of two surgeries on his left foot (the latest one to replace a screw) and said last week he hadn’t yet started running in conditioning drills. It’s definitely not the best-case-scenario two weeks before preseason practice begins, but Mallett and the Razorbacks insist they aren’t concerned.
“Everybody’s worried, but we kind of laugh at everybody because they don’t think we’re going to be ready,” Mallett said during last week’s teleconference.
4. What is Vanderbilt to do without Bobby Johnson?
One of the biggest stories of the summer — and, perhaps the most surprising — came with Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson’s resignation less than a month before preseason practice began. Johnson was regarded as a solid coach who did a remarkable job for eight seasons at a program that has long been the SEC’s doormat. But he abruptly called it quits, saying he was retiring from coaching and added that it had nothing to do with his health or his family.
So now Vanderbilt, which was likely in for more struggles this season even before Johnson’s resignation, will provide one of the stranger scenes at SEC Media Days when interim coach Robbie Caldwell speaks for the team on Thursday.
5. Are the champs ready to defend their title?
There should be quite a scene in the Wynfrey Hotel today as Alabama fans pack the hotel to catch a glimpse of Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban and the three players in attendance. Alabama has been riding high since winning the 2009 national title and appear to have the pieces in place to make another run at it this fall.
At the very least, Alabama should be the favorite to win the SEC championship for the second straight season. But we all know the recent history. The SEC has had three different champions — and three different national champions — in the past three seasons. So what will Alabama say about its quest to become the first team to win back-to-back SEC titles since Tennessee in 1997-98?
Get frequent updates from Robbie Neiswanger throughout the day from SEC Media Days by following him on Twitter (@NWARobbie)
