2023 SEC Media Days: Storylines to watch during the four-day circus in Nashville

For many, when SEC Media Days rolls around the calendar, it signals the official start of a new season. 

Well, welcome to 2023 then!

Games are still six weeks away, but ‘Talkin’ Season’ goes to Broadway this year, as hundreds of media members will ascend on Nashville’s Grand Hyatt Hotel and interview players and coaches from all 14 SEC teams over the next four days. 

Here are some 2023 SEC Media Days storylines to watch:

Who is picked to win the SEC West?

I’m on record picking Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers to topple Alabama for the division crown for the second-straight season, but will that be the consensus opinion coming out of Nashville by the end of the week?

Will enough other folks have the same idiotic thinking?

The Tide are flawed, but still loaded. If Nick Saban expresses enough optimism to convince people that Alabama’s quarterback situation — be it Jalen Milroe, Tyler Buchner or Ty Simpson — is fine, then perhaps they’ll be the top pick. 

Either way, I expect a close vote. 

How will Kirby Smart address Georgia’s speeding problems?

As back-to-back champs, the Bulldogs don’t have a ton of interesting questions to answer about their 2023 season. No team has won three straight titles since Minnesota in the late 1930s, but a litany off the field headlines have garnered more attention this offseason.

After a tragic death of a player and several other tickets, what will Kirby Smart say about the program’s speeding problem?

Smart will surely address the issue in his opening statement, but he’ll face some tough questions on how he plans to curtail the problem, as well as clarifying some statements he made recently (re: speeding and NIL). 

Which quarterbacks earn preseason All-SEC honors?

Last season, Bryce Young was coming off winning the Heisman Trophy and was the unanimous choice as the 1st Team All-SEC quarterback. There’s no such obvious pick in 2023. 

None of the league’s three All-SEC selections (Young, Hendon Hooker and Stetson Bennett) are back this fall. 

Some believe LSU’s Jayden Daniels is the top QB in the conference in 2023. Others prefer Arkansas’ KJ Jefferson or Tennessee’s Joe Milton. 

Just five SEC QBs will be in Nashville for media days. The aforementioned trio, as well as Mississippi State’s Will Rogers, the most accomplished QB in the league, and South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler. 

But Georgia’s Carson Beck could find his way on multiple ballots. Same for Kentucky’s Devin Leary, who if healthy is perhaps the best QB to change teams this offseason. 

Which teams slot into the 3-hole?

While there are legitimate questions about Tennessee’s staying power as an SEC contender in 2023, the Vols will likely be picked to finish No. 2 in the SEC East behind Georgia.

The West is Alabama vs. LSU. 

So who slides into that No. 3 spot in each division?

Is it Texas A&M? Or do enough people foresee a rebound season for Arkansas? What about Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss?

In the East, Kentucky, South Carolina, and if you squint hard enough, maybe even Florida could make a case to be the third-best team in the division. 

What will Greg Sankey say?

The SEC’s commissioner recently signed a contract extension through 2028, and while I fully expect his annual Bob Dylan reference and media jokes, what the veteran commish has to say about the league’s future schedule, NIL, college football’s crammed December calendar and realignment will be of more interest. 

Greg Sankey is the most powerful commissioner in college football, and what he says matters — and reverberates across the country. A year ago, he took to the podium armed with jabs at the Big Ten and the NCAA. 

He called the SEC “a super league already” and said there was no sense of urgency for further realignment. He made that notion clear again in June during the SEC Spring Meetings. 

Still, other administrative issues are less clear. What will the permanent schedule (1-7 vs. 3-6) be after a trial year of 1-7 with 16 teams in 2024 when Texas and Oklahoma join the league?

Have there been any headwinds (even ideas) on potential NIL regulation after the latest griping from coaches during the spring meetings? What are the league’s latest thoughts on gambling (something he addressed several times in Destin), and now, hazing?

Other storylines to follow in Nashville

Expect Jimbo Fisher to be peppered with questions about Texas A&M’s offense and his relationship with new OC Bobby Petrino. Who will be the primary play-caller?

This week marks the return of Huge Freeze to the SEC, with Auburn’s new coach sure to bust out his ‘aww shucks’ schtick and sell his plan to return the Tigers to relevancy. 

Elsewhere, what will folks think about Billy Napier in Year 2? Expectations are super low for the Gators this fall.