Zac Selmon excited to be part of the 'gold standard' in the SEC

Mississippi State tapped Oklahoma‘s deputy athletics director as its new athletics director, replacing the departed John Cohen. And Zac Selmon, the new appointee, is under no illusions about the gold standard in the SEC he must meet.

It’s a challenging task, walking into what many consider the toughest football conference in the country.

“You always look at the SEC and it’s the standard,” Selmon said at an introductory press conference. “The facts don’t lie of it. So I think we’ve been, (at the) previous institution we’d been looking at a transition plan, so I’ve always been studying the SEC intimately for the last couple of years now, and that’s one of the things I think really excites me, of being able to be the gold standard.”

Oklahoma is certainly no football slouch itself, though the Sooners probably don’t face quite the gauntlet that the SEC West is year in and year out.

Selmon seemed to be pretty well aware of the challenges and hurdles that stand in front of him trying to elevate Mississippi State beyond its historic place in the conference. Selmon wants the Bulldogs to be better than ever.

“I think the perception of it is it’s the SEC, and how do you raise your bar here?” he asked. “So I think we’re going to look at it the same way, how can we get better every day for Mississippi State? Because I know once we get better we’re going to help everybody else get better, too, in the SEC. And that’s OK.”

‘Gold standard’ of the SEC requires a ton of hard work

The SEC consistently produces the most NFL Draft picks and is a constant presence in the College Football Playoffs. Mississippi State hasn’t been part of the latter, but that’s not to say the Bulldogs haven’t threatened at times.

Back in 2014 Dan Mullen had Mississippi State ranked No. 1 in the CFP standings briefly.

Can Selmon’s leadership help push the Bulldogs back to that level?

“Again, this is the gold standard in college athletics, but we’re really excited to be a part of it,” he said. “And what commissioner Greg Sankey has done is just unbelievable. It takes great leadership. Some of the stuff that Dr. (Mark) Keenum‘s doing nationally for the game of football is unbelievable, and you can do that at a place like this.”

In any case, Selmon can at least expect some friendly battles with his former boss at Oklahoma.

The Sooners are headed to the SEC in the near future.

“I was joking with (Oklahoma athletics director) Joe (Castiglione) two days ago and it’s going to be fun to go head-to-head with him,” Selmon said. “And we love each other but we’re going to try to beat each other too, and we’re going to have fun doing it.”