Texas, Oklahoma don't join until 2024 but the Big 12 bluebloods had dominating presence at SEC Media Days
NASHVILLE — Texas and Oklahoma won’t join the SEC until 2024, but the two Big 12 bluebloods were a dominate presence during last week’s SEC Media Days.
From reporters who cover both schools wandering the hallways of the Grand Hyatt Hotel, to the news that the SEC will hold next year’s event in Dallas, to the league’s SEC coordinator of officials John McDaid commenting on how the league will handle a “Horns Down” celebration, it felt as if the Longhorns and Sooners were already in the league.
Both programs were in constant conversations in Nashville, and while there’s a 2023 season to be played first, the new-look SEC will be here before we know it, and Texas and OU will have a seismic impact on the conference’s future. By my count, every SEC coach not named Kirby Smart (***and I might’ve missed it if he did in another breakout session) was asked their thoughts on the SEC’s impending realignment or brought up the Sooners and Longhorns on their own volition during the four-day event. Many of the coaches were almost drooling over the additions of the two storied programs.
“Texas, Oklahoma coming in is amazing,” Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin said.
“I already looked at our schedule, the one they put out to 2024, and I joked to Steve Sarkisian yesterday, and I said, well, I don’t know any coach that would want to go to the NFL. We are in it now. Our schedule is like playing in the NFL in the SEC now, especially adding those two. So hats off to the commissioner for getting that done and making it the super conference of all time.”
MORE COMPETITION WITH THE ADDITIONS OF TEXAS AND OU
Since inviting OU and Texas to join the SEC, commissioner Greg Sankey has dubbed the conference “a super league,” and last week many coaches remarked at how even more competitive the 16-team conference will be. The SEC isn’t going to a nine-game schedule in 2024, but even the 1-7 slate looks particularly daunting for lots of schools next fall. Jimbo Fisher also commented how renewed rivalries like Texas A&M-Texas is great for fans, something Nick Saban mentioned as well.
“I think it’s a great addition to the SEC. You have two great programs that have great traditions, that have great fan support. I think it just continues to sort of — the map of the SEC — it is stronger than ever,” Saban said.
“I think the competition is going to be, it’s always been difficult, It’s going to be even more challenging because you’ve got two really, really good programs who have consistently, if you look at the past, have been, you know, Top-10 programs for a lot of years, won national championships. So they are going to add a lot to the competition.
“I think with the new scheduling that we’ll have in the future, it’s more good games for fans, more diversity in who you play. So there’s a lot of positives about it. From a coaching standpoint, it’s going to be much more challenging to be able to compete week-in and week-out. I think when you look at the SEC, the thing that separates it is not the top, but the depth, how many good teams there are.”
Added Vandy head coach Clark Lea: “I’m excited about the way the league is expanding. I think obviously to add Texas and Oklahoma is a statement, and as a competitor, no matter where you are, if you’re a real competitor, you’re looking to measure yourself against the very best. That’s what our league allows us to do.”
Texas is the favorite to win the Big 12 in its final season in the league, and next season potentially stands as the introduction to Arch Manning — the latest namesake to play in the SEC. Meanwhile, Oklahoma is looking to rebound from its first losing season in 25 years. South Carolina’s Shane Beamer, a former OU assistant under Lincoln Riley, crystalized the pressure second-year Sooners’ head coach Brent Venables is under this season while fielding a question about former Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler.
“You are not supposed to lose two conference games at Oklahoma. That doesn’t happen,” Beamer said speaking about the resiliency of Rattler in 2020.
Well, Venables lost six Big 12 games in 2022, and with the impending move to the SEC, is under as much pressure of any head coach at a high-profile job this fall.
SEC COACHES WITH STRONG CONNECTIONS TO OKLAHOMA
Beamer is one of many SEC coaches with strong ties to Texas or Oklahoma. Kiffin noted how he remains close friends with former USC assistant and Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, who replaced him as Alabama’s OC in 2016.
The Week 2 matchup between the Tide and Longhorns projects to be one of the best non-conference games of the season, too.
Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman was born in the Sooner State and coached at OU in the mid-90s, while Mark Stoops is the little brother to the Sooners’ beloved son Bob Stoops.
Pittman gleefully rattled off memories of famed OU figures like Brian Bosworth, Billy Simms, Barry Switzer and Bob Stoops, saying, “I’m from Oklahoma. Grew up a Sooner fan until I moved out to eastern Oklahoma and became a Razorback fan. Storied football program. I think it will be a big deal for the SEC and specifically Texas because of the old Southwest Conference rivalry.”
Then there’s Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel, who despite his objections otherwise, has a thorny relationship with his alma mater. Heupel led the Sooners to the national championship in 2000, where he was the Heisman Trophy runner-up. He later returned to his alma mater as Stoops’ quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator, but following the Sooners’ 8-5 season in 2015, he was unceremoniously fired.
“The relationship with Oklahoma really isn’t complicated. I have got nothing but great memories of the people and my time there. I certainly do,” Heupel said, notably avoiding the name Bob Stoops.
“I got a chance to talk about Mike Leach a few minutes ago backstage in an interview. And, you know, everybody there helped shape who I am and where I’m at today, and still got a lot of great friends and teammates that live back there. So the opportunity to go back to Oklahoma, yeah, I wish they were coming to Knoxville first. I say that jokingly, but looking forward to that opportunity. That’s a long ways down the road, man. Focused on ’23, but that will be a unique day in my career, obviously to go back there.”
Heupel did slip in a dig at Texas during his time on the mic, making Vol Nation proud by saying, “There’s only one real UT. One right shade of orange.”
Come next year, another shade of orange will be in the SEC though. Same for another dash of crimson. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think the two programs were already in the league.