Once again, Texas was a topic of conversation at SEC Media Days. Here is what players and coaches said on Tuesday:
Georgia football coach Kirby Smart
Q. "Coach, you mentioned wanting to play the best. You have Texas this year. Do you consider them to be one of the best, and what stands out to you about them?"
SMART: "Every team we play is the best that week. Please understand that. In the SEC humility is a week away. I have a ton of respect for Sark and the job he does.
"Got to watch them play last year against several common opponents, got to watch them play in the playoffs. They have a tremendous recruiting base. They do a tremendous job in recruiting, that includes NIL and everything included in that.
"They're a big, physical team. They are built like an SEC football team, so looking forward to an opportunity to come play them. What a tremendous matchup it will be."
Q. "In this new SEC, Georgia got a pretty tough road draw. Alabama on the road, Texas on the road, Ole Miss on the road, Kentucky on the road. Talk about your road schedule and how you are preparing your team for this tough 2024 schedule."
SMART: "Yeah, initially I was wondering how I got that draw, but we're not one to complain. We're one to be excited. I think when you step into the shoes of a University of Georgia football player, you accept that challenge is going to be there.
"I mean, we kind of embrace that and we love it. I mean, what you didn't get to mention is we open with Clemson, too, one of the top programs in the country. So we're really excited about that. I think that motivates our off-season so that we have the right kind of approach to the off-season.
"You know, our guys embrace that. As coaches we want to play the best. People forget that when you've spent time in the NFL, every week was like that. So when Texas and Oklahoma came into the conference, every schedule was going to get harder.
"We embrace that. We look forward to it. We are excited for the challenge to go to some really tough places."
Georgia quarterback Carson Beck
Q. "Texas is another team joining the SEC and they're on your schedule. How much are you looking forward to welcoming them to the league, and then in the past in the Big 12 it was a penalty for horns down. The SEC that's not the case. Is that kind of popular horns down gesture something you and your teammates would like to utilize?"
BECK: "I think Coach Smart would be upset if we did that. We'll stay away from that one. But no, obviously we do have them on the schedule. I'm very excited to play -- I've never been there before. I've never visited, never seen it. So very excited to play them. Obviously a very talented team and obviously have a tough schedule coming up, and we have some big road games against some really talented teams in cool environments. I'm always excited to go on the road and experience someone else's environment, and I know we have a good schedule coming up. I'm excited about it."
Oklahoma football coach Brent Venables
Photo via SEC
Q. "You and Texas are in lockstep going into the SEC, and I don't know if you and Sark will be sharing information as you all go in the conference together, but do you see --"
VENABLES: "Probably not."
Q. "-- your rivalry changing in any way?"
VENABLES: "I don't. I don't. It's as deep-seated and hate-filled and emotional of a rivalry as there is in all of college football. So I don't see how the conference affiliation will make a big difference. What I would say is that, you know, that's one of many games that you're going to have to find a way to grind it out. If you think that one is emotionally taxing, you're going to go into a lot of venues that the pageantry is going to be real, the stadiums are going to be completely full and a lot of people are going to hate your guts for three hours or so. So I don't see it diminishing that series and the emotion and the pageantry, the intensity of it whatsoever."
Q. "Coach, every coach that has stood on that stage so far has been asked about Texas or Oklahoma and what their impact is going to be on the league. What do you think that says about Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC?"
VENABLES: "Well, again, I think it's a partnership of elite with elite. And, again, two programs that in the history of college football take a back seat to nobody. The SEC doesn't take a back seat to anybody. From our leadership to the quality of the teams -- and, really, it's every single athletic team on those campuses; it's unmatched. And so we both have programs that have had elite-level success with all of our athletic programs, certainly football included. And I just think it fortifies what was already the strongest conference in all of college football."
Oklahoma linebacker Danny Stutsman
Q. "The OU-Texas rivalry being in the SEC is new. How would you explain that to just a normal SEC fan that kind of looks at it as just another game to a lot of people?"
STUTSMAN: "I have a Longhorn tattooed on my body. Like it means that much to me. You go to bed thinking about how big of a deal it is. You look at every single person in the state of Oklahoma, every single person in the state of Texas, and you know how much it means to them.
"That's one game in the season once a year that these two states can compete against each other in the biggest sport in the United States, and it's going to go on. It went on long before me. It's going to go on long after me. I get a little piece of that shine to prove myself and to prove my state."
Oklahoma DB Billy Bowman Jr.
Q. "You talked about some of the new teams and the things that you're going to face in the SEC, but do you like bringing along Texas with you and just keeping that rivalry within the conference as you guys both go to the SEC again?
BOWMAN JR.: "Most definitely. I think, if one has to go, the other has to go. It's Texas versus Oklahoma. It's been like that since it first started. It's a great thing, you know, two prestigious college universities, obviously football programs specifically, going into arguably the best conference. That's going to be a thing of beauty to watch."
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Georgia football coach Kirby Smart
Q. "Coach, you mentioned wanting to play the best. You have Texas this year. Do you consider them to be one of the best, and what stands out to you about them?"
SMART: "Every team we play is the best that week. Please understand that. In the SEC humility is a week away. I have a ton of respect for Sark and the job he does.
"Got to watch them play last year against several common opponents, got to watch them play in the playoffs. They have a tremendous recruiting base. They do a tremendous job in recruiting, that includes NIL and everything included in that.
"They're a big, physical team. They are built like an SEC football team, so looking forward to an opportunity to come play them. What a tremendous matchup it will be."
Q. "In this new SEC, Georgia got a pretty tough road draw. Alabama on the road, Texas on the road, Ole Miss on the road, Kentucky on the road. Talk about your road schedule and how you are preparing your team for this tough 2024 schedule."
SMART: "Yeah, initially I was wondering how I got that draw, but we're not one to complain. We're one to be excited. I think when you step into the shoes of a University of Georgia football player, you accept that challenge is going to be there.
"I mean, we kind of embrace that and we love it. I mean, what you didn't get to mention is we open with Clemson, too, one of the top programs in the country. So we're really excited about that. I think that motivates our off-season so that we have the right kind of approach to the off-season.
"You know, our guys embrace that. As coaches we want to play the best. People forget that when you've spent time in the NFL, every week was like that. So when Texas and Oklahoma came into the conference, every schedule was going to get harder.
"We embrace that. We look forward to it. We are excited for the challenge to go to some really tough places."
Georgia quarterback Carson Beck
Q. "Texas is another team joining the SEC and they're on your schedule. How much are you looking forward to welcoming them to the league, and then in the past in the Big 12 it was a penalty for horns down. The SEC that's not the case. Is that kind of popular horns down gesture something you and your teammates would like to utilize?"
BECK: "I think Coach Smart would be upset if we did that. We'll stay away from that one. But no, obviously we do have them on the schedule. I'm very excited to play -- I've never been there before. I've never visited, never seen it. So very excited to play them. Obviously a very talented team and obviously have a tough schedule coming up, and we have some big road games against some really talented teams in cool environments. I'm always excited to go on the road and experience someone else's environment, and I know we have a good schedule coming up. I'm excited about it."
Oklahoma football coach Brent Venables
Photo via SEC
Q. "You and Texas are in lockstep going into the SEC, and I don't know if you and Sark will be sharing information as you all go in the conference together, but do you see --"
VENABLES: "Probably not."
Q. "-- your rivalry changing in any way?"
VENABLES: "I don't. I don't. It's as deep-seated and hate-filled and emotional of a rivalry as there is in all of college football. So I don't see how the conference affiliation will make a big difference. What I would say is that, you know, that's one of many games that you're going to have to find a way to grind it out. If you think that one is emotionally taxing, you're going to go into a lot of venues that the pageantry is going to be real, the stadiums are going to be completely full and a lot of people are going to hate your guts for three hours or so. So I don't see it diminishing that series and the emotion and the pageantry, the intensity of it whatsoever."
Q. "Coach, every coach that has stood on that stage so far has been asked about Texas or Oklahoma and what their impact is going to be on the league. What do you think that says about Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC?"
VENABLES: "Well, again, I think it's a partnership of elite with elite. And, again, two programs that in the history of college football take a back seat to nobody. The SEC doesn't take a back seat to anybody. From our leadership to the quality of the teams -- and, really, it's every single athletic team on those campuses; it's unmatched. And so we both have programs that have had elite-level success with all of our athletic programs, certainly football included. And I just think it fortifies what was already the strongest conference in all of college football."
Oklahoma linebacker Danny Stutsman
Q. "The OU-Texas rivalry being in the SEC is new. How would you explain that to just a normal SEC fan that kind of looks at it as just another game to a lot of people?"
STUTSMAN: "I have a Longhorn tattooed on my body. Like it means that much to me. You go to bed thinking about how big of a deal it is. You look at every single person in the state of Oklahoma, every single person in the state of Texas, and you know how much it means to them.
"That's one game in the season once a year that these two states can compete against each other in the biggest sport in the United States, and it's going to go on. It went on long before me. It's going to go on long after me. I get a little piece of that shine to prove myself and to prove my state."
Oklahoma DB Billy Bowman Jr.
Q. "You talked about some of the new teams and the things that you're going to face in the SEC, but do you like bringing along Texas with you and just keeping that rivalry within the conference as you guys both go to the SEC again?
BOWMAN JR.: "Most definitely. I think, if one has to go, the other has to go. It's Texas versus Oklahoma. It's been like that since it first started. It's a great thing, you know, two prestigious college universities, obviously football programs specifically, going into arguably the best conference. That's going to be a thing of beauty to watch."
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