Texas was a hot topic during SEC Media Days on Monday. I compiled the questions and answers related to the Longhorns on day one.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey
Photo via SEC
Q. "Can you expand on why we're in Dallas today, and what makes the communities along the I-35 corridor from Austin to Norman a cultural fit for the SEC?"
SANKEY: "A few things. One, we actually made an effort to move here in 2018 with Media Days, thought that Dallas might be the right first place. We have an incredible alumni population in the Metroplex, and we did some research on that back to 2018. I didn't have to go back and conduct that research.
"Again, it's one of the most accessible cities in the country, the variety of ways you can travel here, allows you to run a 15K in Utica, New York, and be here for dinner at the end of a Sunday, like I did yesterday.
"Our move in 2018 was a recognition that we had moved west with Missouri and Texas A&M, with the border states, and Arkansas and Louisiana with LSU, made sense not just to be -- if we are going to be at more than one location, how do you touch the perimeters? We had a basketball tournament in St. Louis, Missouri, back in 2018 if I have my dates right. So we are used to that movement.
"We've had three years to prepare for expansion, which is, I think, a record long time, and as we went through the expansion, that made western events more and more important for us, and we pretty quickly decided to move Media Days. We looked at Houston, looked at Dallas were the two that were our biggest focus.
"Here the transition from Norman to Columbia, Missouri; Fayetteville, Arkansas; College Station, Texas, that movement is really easy. We are a big part of Texas. Texas is a big part of us now. I've always seen coaches traveling here during my own travel. We've had a bowl game affiliation here for a long, long time, and all of those relationships combined to make it the right move for us, and I encourage you to have fun fitting that into a small sound byte.
Q. "Greg, you clearly knew a lot about Oklahoma and Texas three years ago when they agreed to come into the league, learned a lot about them since then. What did you learn about them with your two visits to Norman and Austin in the last couple weeks?"
SANKEY: "So the Austin visit was June 30th. The first on my priority list is don't be the last speaker between a crowd of thousands and Pitbull's performance. So that was a non-advantageous position, and we won't let that happen again.
"In both places you saw the passion for their programs play out, and then in individual interactions while I walked around campus, even running on Sunday morning in Austin or Monday morning in Norman with a logo on and people doing a double take.
"It was fun to see in those communities displays of the SEC logo, at a leadership level to have deep conversation about what the decision means for each campus and me talking about what it means for the conference.
"I learned more about drone shows than I thought I would know, given the performances at both places, and I learned that both clearly meet what one of our athletics directors called the "it just means more" test.
"So that avid fan base that I spoke of earlier that is in backward looking surveys, both Oklahoma and Texas bring that same type of avid fan base to a set of peer universities and peer athletic programs.
"I also learned it's hot in a tuxedo in Norman, Oklahoma, on a football field late at night in July."
Q. "Texas liked to think it ran things in the Big 12. I was curious what you would state as far as your expectation of Texas's influence and impact on the playing fields and in the boardroom?"
SANKEY: "I actually think I just answered that, that both are now part of a conference with peer athletic programs and peer universities, so they'll fit, and we'll fit together, the 16."
LSU coach Brian Kelly
Photo via SEC
Q. "You talked about the success coming into the SEC, having a balanced offense and defense. Texas, when you look at them you won't play them this season. What you look at what Sarkisian has done with that team do they have that balance on offense and defense to be a top contender in the SEC and possibly take the championship this season?"
KELLY: "I only watched them against Alabama because that was really the only game that from a recruiting -- not recruiting -- from an analysis standpoint that we had an opponent that I needed to watch them. In watching that game they had both offense and defense, the capabilities of competing for a championship.
"Now, each year brings players coming and going. I don't know what their losses were. Haven't researched their roster, but certainly if they lost some players, I know they lost some big players on the defensive line.
"I think it's always about how you replace and so if you recruited well and you can step in, if they recruited well and they have guys to step in, Texas certainly has the ability to compete for an SEC championship."
Q. "What of the sale pitch to Bo Davis? What does he bring as an on-field coach, and as a recruiter?"
KELLY: "The sales pitch was certainly his opportunity to rebuild the pride and tradition of LSU's defensive line. There is a great and rich tradition of LSU football, and I think that that had something to do with it.
"He wanted to be the architect of bringing that back. His ability to motivate, his ability to teach technique, he's demanding, never demeaning. He has an incredible experience with success. He's won national championships within the SEC, so players immediately identify with his success because it's real. That carries onto the recruiting trail. Somebody that has done it, been there. I think we're seeing that come to fruition early on in his tenure here at LSU."
South Carolina coach Shane Beamer
Photo via SEC
Q. "You're at a program that's trying to build and reach the Alabamas and the Georgias. Then they add in an Oklahoma and Texas, two more programs from my perspective you got to leap over. How does that make your job tougher? And as a coach do you say, what the heck are you doing here?"
BEAMER: "No, I think it's great. It's a testament to Commissioner Sankey and our league that Oklahoma and Texas want to be a part of this conference, for one. Competition is a core value of your program and we're all about competing.
"You want to compete against the best. You want to coach against the best. That's what you get to do in the SEC. I can't spend a ton of time worrying about the other teams in this league. For me, and I know it's cliche, it's doing the very best job I can every day for our program and trying to continue to move it forward.
"Recruiting, player development, our staff, you name it. How do we get better each and every day. That's all I'm focused on. I'll say this, too: We ain't far off. We've had some fantastic wins over the last three seasons over teams that when you talk about -- when you guys do your predictions or the media and people nationwide do predictions of, okay, here is what we think the 12-team playoff is going to look like this year, there are teams that are considered to be in the mix for that playoff that are teams that we have beaten in our three years here as well.
"So that's the one thing we got to do, build and compete and get better each and every day and continue to put yourself in the mix for that -- for a spot in that playoff. And we're in a conference, too, the depth of this league is unmatched. If you're one of the better teams in this conference, you're going to be in the playoff. We've shown that we have the potential to be that over the last few years.
Q. "You're probably in the best spot to answer this having coached at Oklahoma and now in the SEC. What it's biggest adjustment do you think faces Oklahoma jumping to this league?
BEAMER: "I think it's a couple things. One, on the field and another one off the field. From being in other conferences -- and I've coached in multiple leagues in my career -- it's the size and the depth and the athleticism you see on the line of scrimmage every single week in this conference.
"I can remember being at Oklahoma, coaching tight ends, and you would be getting ready to play most Saturdays and there may be one or two guys on the opposing defensive line that you really got to be cognizant of. Like this guy can completely wreck your game if you don't have a plan for him.
"But then you come into this league, it's not one or two, it's like six or seven every single Saturday on the line of scrimmage. That's one thing.
"The other part off the field, and it's awesome, is just the venues that you go into this in league. Being able -- like every single Saturday it's an event in that town. There is 80, 90, or 100,000 people every single Saturday in this league.
"There is nothing like it. Just the competition, pageantry, it's special. It's something I missed when I was not in this conference and coaching in other conferences, and excited that I'm still part of the SEC.
"And don't get me wrong, Oklahoma and Texas have played a lot of big time football games and are two big time programs. But to answer your question, just the difference and what to expect, those are two things that stand out to me that I think are a little bit different than other conferences."
Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin
Photo via SEC
Q. "You and Coach Sarkisian share a similar past. You were quarterbacks, coached at USC; coached under Nick Saban at Alabama. As Texas comes into the SEC, what challenges do they face? Like everyone is talking about are they real contenders, but from a coaching perspective so they have a real serious chance to go pretty high this season?"
KIFFIN: "Yeah, I mean, they were in the Final Four last year and a lot of players coming back and added -- continued to add great high school players and portal players.
"So I think they're one the elite rosters in America. You know, Sark would know well the challenges, so it's not like he's coming with the team in the SEC with the coach that hasn't been, so I think he understands that.
"That conference was competitive too, so he had tough games there and tough places to play on the road there. This is just -- it's just different. The SEC is really challenging. Study road records and study road records at night in the SEC and why do those percentages change.
"They're really good players, but they're really hard places to play with electric atmospheres that are challenging to play in. So you just come in this conference you get that more."
Q. "You and Texas excited to be here. Conference seems excited to have them. As the coach of a program that's really built up and gotten near the top, does this make your job that much tougher?
KIFFIN: "Yeah, I think that's fair. You know, it does make it more challenging if you bring in two, you know, national, traditional powers of Heismans and stadium size in tradition. Yeah, it makes our job more challenging, but I'm not a money, numbers guy. I'm sure there obviously was an impact there that makes all our programs better off financially.
"So I say to our players all the time, no matter what it is in life, good or bad, there is an opposite to it. There is a cost and a benefit. There is a benefit and it's going to come with a cost. That is an example of that.
"It's awesome in a lot of areas and harder to win when you add those two teams, so probably in the end it just makes us all better.
Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea
Q. "With Texas and Oklahoma joining the league, the University of Texas has a winning record against every SEC program except South Carolina and Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt has an 8-3-1 record against the University of Texas. Haven't played since 1928, but hey...
LEA: "I don't think it's important."
Q. "8-3-1 is 8-3-1, and coming to Nashville in October. What are your thoughts?"
CLARK LEA: "Well, independent of the football that was played in the '20s, listen I'm excited to -- I've got a ton of respect for Coach Sarkisian. In 2020 we competed here in Dallas at the Rose Bowl. It was the pandemic year and I was at Notre Dame at the time and he was running the offense at Alabama and it was one the most challenging offenses I have ever had to plan for.
"Got a ton of respect for him and the program he's building. It's taken time for him and he's taken time with the foundation. Yeah, I think in year one here where Texas and Oklahoma are now a part of the SEC, to have a piece of that and a game with them is really exciting.
"The fact it's in Nashville, you know, I'm proud of that and looking forward to competing with them, and I think it'll be a great celebration of where the SEC is and a celebration of where our game is headed."
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey
Photo via SEC
Q. "Can you expand on why we're in Dallas today, and what makes the communities along the I-35 corridor from Austin to Norman a cultural fit for the SEC?"
SANKEY: "A few things. One, we actually made an effort to move here in 2018 with Media Days, thought that Dallas might be the right first place. We have an incredible alumni population in the Metroplex, and we did some research on that back to 2018. I didn't have to go back and conduct that research.
"Again, it's one of the most accessible cities in the country, the variety of ways you can travel here, allows you to run a 15K in Utica, New York, and be here for dinner at the end of a Sunday, like I did yesterday.
"Our move in 2018 was a recognition that we had moved west with Missouri and Texas A&M, with the border states, and Arkansas and Louisiana with LSU, made sense not just to be -- if we are going to be at more than one location, how do you touch the perimeters? We had a basketball tournament in St. Louis, Missouri, back in 2018 if I have my dates right. So we are used to that movement.
"We've had three years to prepare for expansion, which is, I think, a record long time, and as we went through the expansion, that made western events more and more important for us, and we pretty quickly decided to move Media Days. We looked at Houston, looked at Dallas were the two that were our biggest focus.
"Here the transition from Norman to Columbia, Missouri; Fayetteville, Arkansas; College Station, Texas, that movement is really easy. We are a big part of Texas. Texas is a big part of us now. I've always seen coaches traveling here during my own travel. We've had a bowl game affiliation here for a long, long time, and all of those relationships combined to make it the right move for us, and I encourage you to have fun fitting that into a small sound byte.
Q. "Greg, you clearly knew a lot about Oklahoma and Texas three years ago when they agreed to come into the league, learned a lot about them since then. What did you learn about them with your two visits to Norman and Austin in the last couple weeks?"
SANKEY: "So the Austin visit was June 30th. The first on my priority list is don't be the last speaker between a crowd of thousands and Pitbull's performance. So that was a non-advantageous position, and we won't let that happen again.
"In both places you saw the passion for their programs play out, and then in individual interactions while I walked around campus, even running on Sunday morning in Austin or Monday morning in Norman with a logo on and people doing a double take.
"It was fun to see in those communities displays of the SEC logo, at a leadership level to have deep conversation about what the decision means for each campus and me talking about what it means for the conference.
"I learned more about drone shows than I thought I would know, given the performances at both places, and I learned that both clearly meet what one of our athletics directors called the "it just means more" test.
"So that avid fan base that I spoke of earlier that is in backward looking surveys, both Oklahoma and Texas bring that same type of avid fan base to a set of peer universities and peer athletic programs.
"I also learned it's hot in a tuxedo in Norman, Oklahoma, on a football field late at night in July."
Q. "Texas liked to think it ran things in the Big 12. I was curious what you would state as far as your expectation of Texas's influence and impact on the playing fields and in the boardroom?"
SANKEY: "I actually think I just answered that, that both are now part of a conference with peer athletic programs and peer universities, so they'll fit, and we'll fit together, the 16."
LSU coach Brian Kelly
Photo via SEC
Q. "You talked about the success coming into the SEC, having a balanced offense and defense. Texas, when you look at them you won't play them this season. What you look at what Sarkisian has done with that team do they have that balance on offense and defense to be a top contender in the SEC and possibly take the championship this season?"
KELLY: "I only watched them against Alabama because that was really the only game that from a recruiting -- not recruiting -- from an analysis standpoint that we had an opponent that I needed to watch them. In watching that game they had both offense and defense, the capabilities of competing for a championship.
"Now, each year brings players coming and going. I don't know what their losses were. Haven't researched their roster, but certainly if they lost some players, I know they lost some big players on the defensive line.
"I think it's always about how you replace and so if you recruited well and you can step in, if they recruited well and they have guys to step in, Texas certainly has the ability to compete for an SEC championship."
Q. "What of the sale pitch to Bo Davis? What does he bring as an on-field coach, and as a recruiter?"
KELLY: "The sales pitch was certainly his opportunity to rebuild the pride and tradition of LSU's defensive line. There is a great and rich tradition of LSU football, and I think that that had something to do with it.
"He wanted to be the architect of bringing that back. His ability to motivate, his ability to teach technique, he's demanding, never demeaning. He has an incredible experience with success. He's won national championships within the SEC, so players immediately identify with his success because it's real. That carries onto the recruiting trail. Somebody that has done it, been there. I think we're seeing that come to fruition early on in his tenure here at LSU."
South Carolina coach Shane Beamer
Photo via SEC
Q. "You're at a program that's trying to build and reach the Alabamas and the Georgias. Then they add in an Oklahoma and Texas, two more programs from my perspective you got to leap over. How does that make your job tougher? And as a coach do you say, what the heck are you doing here?"
BEAMER: "No, I think it's great. It's a testament to Commissioner Sankey and our league that Oklahoma and Texas want to be a part of this conference, for one. Competition is a core value of your program and we're all about competing.
"You want to compete against the best. You want to coach against the best. That's what you get to do in the SEC. I can't spend a ton of time worrying about the other teams in this league. For me, and I know it's cliche, it's doing the very best job I can every day for our program and trying to continue to move it forward.
"Recruiting, player development, our staff, you name it. How do we get better each and every day. That's all I'm focused on. I'll say this, too: We ain't far off. We've had some fantastic wins over the last three seasons over teams that when you talk about -- when you guys do your predictions or the media and people nationwide do predictions of, okay, here is what we think the 12-team playoff is going to look like this year, there are teams that are considered to be in the mix for that playoff that are teams that we have beaten in our three years here as well.
"So that's the one thing we got to do, build and compete and get better each and every day and continue to put yourself in the mix for that -- for a spot in that playoff. And we're in a conference, too, the depth of this league is unmatched. If you're one of the better teams in this conference, you're going to be in the playoff. We've shown that we have the potential to be that over the last few years.
Q. "You're probably in the best spot to answer this having coached at Oklahoma and now in the SEC. What it's biggest adjustment do you think faces Oklahoma jumping to this league?
BEAMER: "I think it's a couple things. One, on the field and another one off the field. From being in other conferences -- and I've coached in multiple leagues in my career -- it's the size and the depth and the athleticism you see on the line of scrimmage every single week in this conference.
"I can remember being at Oklahoma, coaching tight ends, and you would be getting ready to play most Saturdays and there may be one or two guys on the opposing defensive line that you really got to be cognizant of. Like this guy can completely wreck your game if you don't have a plan for him.
"But then you come into this league, it's not one or two, it's like six or seven every single Saturday on the line of scrimmage. That's one thing.
"The other part off the field, and it's awesome, is just the venues that you go into this in league. Being able -- like every single Saturday it's an event in that town. There is 80, 90, or 100,000 people every single Saturday in this league.
"There is nothing like it. Just the competition, pageantry, it's special. It's something I missed when I was not in this conference and coaching in other conferences, and excited that I'm still part of the SEC.
"And don't get me wrong, Oklahoma and Texas have played a lot of big time football games and are two big time programs. But to answer your question, just the difference and what to expect, those are two things that stand out to me that I think are a little bit different than other conferences."
Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin
Photo via SEC
Q. "You and Coach Sarkisian share a similar past. You were quarterbacks, coached at USC; coached under Nick Saban at Alabama. As Texas comes into the SEC, what challenges do they face? Like everyone is talking about are they real contenders, but from a coaching perspective so they have a real serious chance to go pretty high this season?"
KIFFIN: "Yeah, I mean, they were in the Final Four last year and a lot of players coming back and added -- continued to add great high school players and portal players.
"So I think they're one the elite rosters in America. You know, Sark would know well the challenges, so it's not like he's coming with the team in the SEC with the coach that hasn't been, so I think he understands that.
"That conference was competitive too, so he had tough games there and tough places to play on the road there. This is just -- it's just different. The SEC is really challenging. Study road records and study road records at night in the SEC and why do those percentages change.
"They're really good players, but they're really hard places to play with electric atmospheres that are challenging to play in. So you just come in this conference you get that more."
Q. "You and Texas excited to be here. Conference seems excited to have them. As the coach of a program that's really built up and gotten near the top, does this make your job that much tougher?
KIFFIN: "Yeah, I think that's fair. You know, it does make it more challenging if you bring in two, you know, national, traditional powers of Heismans and stadium size in tradition. Yeah, it makes our job more challenging, but I'm not a money, numbers guy. I'm sure there obviously was an impact there that makes all our programs better off financially.
"So I say to our players all the time, no matter what it is in life, good or bad, there is an opposite to it. There is a cost and a benefit. There is a benefit and it's going to come with a cost. That is an example of that.
"It's awesome in a lot of areas and harder to win when you add those two teams, so probably in the end it just makes us all better.
Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea
Q. "With Texas and Oklahoma joining the league, the University of Texas has a winning record against every SEC program except South Carolina and Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt has an 8-3-1 record against the University of Texas. Haven't played since 1928, but hey...
LEA: "I don't think it's important."
Q. "8-3-1 is 8-3-1, and coming to Nashville in October. What are your thoughts?"
CLARK LEA: "Well, independent of the football that was played in the '20s, listen I'm excited to -- I've got a ton of respect for Coach Sarkisian. In 2020 we competed here in Dallas at the Rose Bowl. It was the pandemic year and I was at Notre Dame at the time and he was running the offense at Alabama and it was one the most challenging offenses I have ever had to plan for.
"Got a ton of respect for him and the program he's building. It's taken time for him and he's taken time with the foundation. Yeah, I think in year one here where Texas and Oklahoma are now a part of the SEC, to have a piece of that and a game with them is really exciting.
"The fact it's in Nashville, you know, I'm proud of that and looking forward to competing with them, and I think it'll be a great celebration of where the SEC is and a celebration of where our game is headed."
