Greg McElroy breaks down Nick Saban’s comments on Texas in SEC

A question was asked to Greg Sankey at SEC Media Days about Texas joining and potentially “running” the conference, maybe something the Longhorns did in the Big 12. Sankey gave a measured answer, saying the SEC pie is equal for all 16 teams. Nick Saban was a little more direct and pushed back against the idea.

“They’re not gonna run the SEC,” Saban said. “There’s a whole lot of arrogant people in a lot of places in the SEC. Forget all about that. They’ll be a good team and a great program and Sark will do a great job, but that’s not gonna be a problem.”

ESPN’s Greg McElroy, a now coworker of Saban, broke down his former head coach’s comments and agreed with the sentiment. This is nothing new in the SEC, though. Sankey has made sure every single member, no matter the conference’s size, has had an equal say when making decisions. Nobody has ever been treated like a bigger deal than another member.

“One thing that has made the SEC unique is that that pie in the Southeastern Conference office there in Birmingham, Alabama has always been split 12 teams for a long time,” McElroy said. “Then it became 14 teams. Now, it’s become 16 teams. But every single piece in that pie is equal in size.

“It’s no secret when you look at the SEC logo, every single banner of those schools is the exact same size and none are prominently that they’re in. They’re in alphabetical order, right?”

It’s no secret who the big dogs in the Big 12 were. Texas and Oklahoma seemed to be a cut above the rest, by far the biggest brands. Television revenue money was given to the Big 12 to show the Longhorns and Sooners on Saturdays, thus leading to them having some pull.

Whether or not the narrative was true, everything will continue to be equal in the SEC. McElroy knows nothing will change after having a successful model since Sankey took over, building into the most powerful conference in college athletics. Saban’s comments were more than true in his opinion.

“I think he’s 100 right in saying that Texas is going to come in, throw their weight around, and start making demands,” McElroy said. “That ain’t going to happen because you got 15 other people that feel just as good where they’re at in the SEC landscape as the Texas Longhorns.”