SEC Media Days, Day One: Pimpin’ ain’t easy

SEC Media Days. The three days of fun and games in the Wynfrey Hotel at the Galleria in Birmingham (or specifically, the white-flight haven of Hoover). Usually when it’s the day that Alabama is on the slate, the lobbies fill with fans, old and young, waiting to meet and get memorabilia signed by the head coach and the three payers chosen to appear. With the Tide slated for the opening spot on Wednesday — the national champion Tide — the atmosphere was bananas. The Chick-fil-A ran out of chicken. This was REAL, son.

And if you don’t think the horde of beat writers (and more than a few national writers, and the TV and radio types) showing up were on edge enough with a rabid, human crimson tide waiting for them, the SEC dropped the ball on the Internet. All day long, there were lamentations about the lack of wifi, and when it came, it was spotty. There was much gnashing of teeth and hitting of refresh.

But, when the time came, Tide coach Nick Saban stepped to the podium. He pretty much kept it straight, but began getting a little wound up when talking about agents and college football. Mind you, the Bama program has been pretty open with allowing scouts look at film and practices, but Saban seems to be getting ready to shut the door on all NFL types. Then, pimps.

As for the rest, it went pretty much as usual.

The next crew up was Mississippi State. Coach Dan Mullen seems to sincerely believe that his Bulldogs are going to be competitive in the SEC West this year, which simply seems bizarre. To the best of our knowledge, the last time MSU was good was when former coach Jackie Sherrill was breaking all sorts of rules. Mullen also defended the spread option, which Saban previously said was not good prep for a quarterback going to the next level.

Third up was SEC East champion Florida. We would say the SEC blew its stash on the first day, but that would be an understatement. Of the first four teams, two are the best in the conference with the best two, most intimidating coaches in the conference. Good job with scheduling. Anyway, Gators coach Urban Meyer addressed agents as well, saying that they keep tight security to keep agent types out, and the only place you’d find one on campus is behind a bush. And he seemed to be indulging in a little schadenfreude when asked about Southern Cal getting nailed with probation shortly after Lane Kiffin taking over.

Last up was Kentucky and its fearsome twosome, coach Joker Phillips and athlete Randall Cobb. See, Cobb is probably the only player on the Wildcats’ roster that you can name, for the reason that he’s on the field damn near every play in yet another position. For any team playing Kentucky, it pretty much boils down to containing Cobb. Phillips said it himself that Cobb will be all over the field again this season. He also said assistant Tee Martin knows Facebook and former coach Rich Brooks tweets his daily golf score. Riveting.