2024 SEC Media Days: Storylines to watch during the four-day circus in Texas

The biggest event of ‘Talkin’ Season’ takes on a whole new frontier in 2024, as SEC Media Days moves to Texas as the league expands westward with the additions of the Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners this fall. 

The four-day event, which spans from Monday through Thursday, will feature all 16 head coaches, 11 quarterbacks (but no Nico Iamaleava, unfortunately) and star defensive standouts like Georgia safety Malaki Starks, LSU linebacker Harold Perkins Jr., and Oklahoma linebacker Danny Stutsman. 

While games are still six weeks away, players and coaches alike will look to set the narratives about their teams for the 2024 season. 

Here are some 2024 SEC Media Days storylines to watch:

Welcome, Texas and Oklahoma 

The two former Big 12 bluebloods will take center stage this week, and no doubt Steve Sarkisian and Brent Venables will be peppered with questions about their programs’ move to a new league and whether or not they can continue to replicate their previous success in a harder conference. 

The two co-founders of the Big 12 won a combined 18 of the league’s 25 titles — with the Longhorns exiting the league as its most recent champion. 

Sarkisian’s team is among the national title favorites this fall, and he was rewarded with a monster raise and contract extension this offseason after leading Texas to its best season in nearly 15 years. 

Texas’ move to the SEC means the renewal of the Lone Star Showdown with in-state rival Texas A&M, which certainly will be among the top storylines surrounding the Longhorns and Aggies this week.

Meanwhile, Venables aims for Oklahoma to build upon last season’s 10-3 finish, but the Sooners have a first-year starting quarterback (former 5-star Jackson Arnold), two new coordinators and an entirely different starting five along the offensive line. They also have one of the hardest schedules in the country this season, so they might struggle to be anything more than a playoff spoiler in Year 1 of the SEC.

Kalen DeBoer’s debut

Nick Saban’s absence was felt at the SEC Spring Meetings, but the GOAT will actually be in attendance in Dallas — just as a commentator on TV and not Alabama’s head coach. 

Kalen DeBoer will make his debut in front of the mass of media members, and he’ll get to set the tenor for his team as it transitions from a post-Saban program. 

Throughout the offseason, DeBoer has embraced a real enthusiasm about following in Saban’s footsteps, and that will be put on full display Wednesday.  

DeBoer is one of three first-year head coaches who will attend their first SEC Media Days, joining Mississippi State’s Jeff Lebby, who will also speak Wednesday, and Texas A&M’s Mike Elko, who will take the podium last on Thursday.

Who is picked to win the league?

Throughout the summer, Georgia has been seen as the frontrunner to win the SEC in 2024, with Texas and Alabama garnering near equal attention as the No. 2 team in the league. 

But is that how the media vote will ultimately shake out? There are no more divisions, so a host of teams could end up garnering votes. 

Will the Bulldogs be an overwhelming favorite or will it be a tight race with Texas?

It will also be interesting to see if Alabama is truly cemented as the No. 3 team in the conference — or will DeBoer’s program suffer from a post-Saban tax? In the era of the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff, whoever is voted No. 4 in the SEC will be viewed as a likely team to make the field — so will that be Ole Miss, Missouri, LSU or Tennessee?

How will Kirby Smart address Georgia’s continued speeding problems?

The Bulldogs are 42-2 over the last three years, with two national titles and zero regular-season losses in the SEC. The only thing that’s been a roadblock for Kirby Smart’s program has been Nick Saban (who dealt Smart both losses) and his team’s persistent problems with reckless driving. 

Even after the tragic death of a player and team staffer, the tickets and arrests — now up to 24 after two more players were booked for speeding and racing last week — have continued to pile up. 

Smart has previously addressed the issue several times, but he will pressed with questions since the problem has yet to be curtailed. 

Elephant in the room?

The SEC has a trio of head coaches who all sit on some sort of simmering hot seat entering 2024: Arkansas’ Sam Pittman, Florida’s Billy Napier and Vandy’s Clark Lea. 

Throughout the offseason, Napier has not walked or talked like a coach feeling any added pressure, but will he address his job security? Will he make any further comments about his pending litigation with former Florida signee and current UGA backup quarterback Jayden Rashada?

What will Pittman say when he’s asked over and over about the decision to hire former Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino as the Hogs’ new offensive coordinator?

Which quarterback earns preseason First-Team All-SEC honors?

In a year without a truly defined QB1 for all of college football, the SEC has 4-5 quarterbacks in the conversation to be the No. 1 signal-caller in the entire sport come the season’s end. 

So who earns the First-Team honors by the media this preseason?

Will it be Georgia’s Carson Beck, who is the highest-ranked quarterback in the new EA Sports College Football video game, or Texas’ Quinn Ewers, who is the cover athlete for said release?

Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart and LSU’s Garrett Nussemeier are all in the conversation as well. 

All five quarterbacks will be on preseason ballots but only three can earn pre-2024 honors — and just one will be named QB1 for the SEC in 2024. 

Who will it be?