NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson and tailback Raheim Sanders spent a lot of time deflecting questions about whether they were the best at their positions in the SEC and the country during their time at SEC football media days.
The SEC Network’s Chris Doering made his feelings on the point known, saying of the Razorbacks: “They have the best QB-RB duo in the entire country.”
Sanders was asked specifically if Jefferson was the best quarterback in the SEC and that’s where he relented a little.
“I love it. I love it,” Sanders said. “But we ain’t going to say anything. We’re going to show ‘em.”
Punt, hold & pass
South Carolina senior Kai Kroeger is not only one of the best punters in the country, but he’s proven to be a dangerous passer.
Kroeger, who last season averaged 46.1 yards on 58 punts and pinned opponents inside their 20-yard line 29 times, is 6 for 6 on career passes for 173 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Last year Kroeger, the holder on place kicks, had a 23-yard touchdown pass on a fake field goal against Notre Dame in the Gator Bowl and a 48-yard touchdown pass on a fake punt against Florida.
In 2021, Kroeger threw a 44-yard touchdown pass against Tennessee on a fake punt.
Kroeger, a backup quarterback at Lake Forrest (Ill.) High School, said it’s been fun to put his passing skills to work and he’s ready whenever Coach Shane Beamer is ready to call a fake.
“I have a lot more in me hopefully,” Kroeger said. “But it just depends on the look the other team is giving us. Especially now, teams are going to be looking for [fakes]. They’re going to be expecting it. But hopefully we can come up with something unique.”
Beamer is a former special teams coordinator, and his father, Frank Beamer, was known for his standout special teams at Virginia Tech.
Beamer is going into his third season at South Carolina as Will Muschamp’s replacement.
“It’s not that special teams were pushed to the side under the previous staff, but we didn’t spend as much time on them as we do now,” Kroeger said. “We spend an extra five minutes in a meeting or an extra 10 minutes in practice each day, and it makes a difference. You’ve been able to see it in the games.
“It doesn’t seem like that much, but when you add it up for the week, you’ve had an extra hour of practice on special teams.”
Repping for RBs
The frustration over finances being felt by NFL running backs has certainly made its way into the college game.
Arkansas tailback Raheim Sanders and Ole Miss’ Quinshon Judkins are among the SEC backs who have been asked about the trend among NFL teams at devaluing the position with smaller salaries and shorter contracts.
“I’d say my thoughts are I’m worried about the college game right now,” Sanders said on Wednesday. “That money’s going to come but at the same time I’m worried about college right now. I’ve got some things in front of me that I’ve got to handle first.”
Sanders was asked a follow up on whether he had seen what the Tennessee Titans’ Derrick Henry and other NFL backs have written on social media about the issue.
“Yeah, I’ve seen that,” Sanders said. “I wouldn’t say I have thoughts on that because I’m playing college, but I think they should be paid more.”
Judkins was also asked about Saquon Barkley’s contract impasse with the New York Giants.
“I think at that position you’re starting to have to show your skill set and more that you can do,” Judkins said. “That’s why I’m in college producing and doing what I do now. Not only running the ball out of the backfield but being able to produce in the passing game, being able to showcase my pass blocking. That’s something that you really have to showcase to the scouts in the NFL that you can do.”
Judkins and Sanders were 1-2 in rushing yardage in the SEC last year, with Judkins at 1,565 yards and Sanders at 1,443 yards. Sanders was third in SEC all-purpose yards with 1,714 and Judkins was fourth with 1,697.
Second time around
First-year Auburn Coach Hugh Freeze became the latest coach to appear at SEC media days on his second stop in the conference.
Freeze, who previously coached at Ole Miss, is one of three current SEC coaches to lead two conference programs along with Alabama’s Nick Saban and Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin. Saban had coached at LSU and Kiffin at Tennessee.
Since 1989, when SEC media days first were held, 10 coaches have made appearances for two schools.
The list includes Little Rock native Houston Nutt (Arkansas and Ole Miss), Camden native Tommy Tuberville (Ole Miss and Auburn), former Arkansas graduate assistant Ed Oregon (Ole Miss and LSU), Steve Spurrier (Florida and South Carolina), Dan Mullen (Mississippi State and Florida), Will Muschamp (Florida and South Carolina), Gerry DiNardo (Vanderbilt and LSU) and Bill Curry (Alabama and Kentucky).
No fanfare
SEC coaches are accustomed to hearing load applause when they stride to a podium to speak during the offseason at booster clubs or other functions.
SEC media days is always different. After an introduction from SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey there is typically several seconds of semi-awkward silence as Sankey shakes hands with the coach on the stage and he finishes his approach to the dais.
As a way to lessen that awkward silence this year the SEC played fight songs for the team at a low volume as the coach came from the wings and reached the lectern.
Alabama Coach Nick Saban recognized those quiet moments in his appearance on Wednesday.
“Well, that was quite the fanfare,” Saban said to open his remarks. “Thanks for that.”
Are they ready?
South Carolina Coach Shane Beamer, a former associate head coach at Oklahoma, was asked if the Sooners will be ready for the SEC when they enter in 2024 along with Texas.
“I think they’re certainly ready,” Beamer said. “This is a team that prior to last season had won five straight conference championships going into 2021. Certainly this league is different. The line of scrimmages are different. Beyond the field, the stadiums you get to go into every single Saturday.”
Beamer said OU has great traditions and he’s excited about the Gamecocks playing in Norman, Okla., in 2024.
Smith back
Texas A&M receiver Ainias Smith is back as a fifth-year senior after suffering a broken right leg in the Aggies’ 23-21 victory over Arkansas last year.
It was a season-ending injury for Smith, who has 127 career catches for 1,612 yards and 17 receiving touchdowns, 384 rushing yards and 4 rushing touchdowns, and 13 kickoff returns for 257 yards.
“It’s feeling a whole lot better right now,” Smith said. “I definitely feel a lot more explosive.”
Smith said it was frustrating to watch the final eight games last season as the Aggies struggled to a 5-7 record.
“Man, being on the sideline was tough,” he said. “If you’re a guy that’s a leader, you’re going to want to say something if things aren’t going the way you want them to. But I felt like me, personally, I wasn’t able to say some of the things I wanted to because I wasn’t out there enduring the same things.
“It put me in a very dark place for a very long time. I was not able to walk or do anything for six months being in a cast.”
Playing for Lane
Ole Miss players Cedric Johnson and Deantre Prince said playing for Coach Lane Kiffin was fun because he doesn’t fit the mold of a college coach.
“It’s fun,” said the defensive end Johnson. “I know y’all think he’s crazy going for it on fourth down all the time. But that just shows his trust in us. And we’ve got trust in him.”
Asked if he thinks Kiffin is crazy, Johnson replied, “Maybe a little.”
The cornerback Prince added, “It’s very fun. He’s a very real coach and a very confident coach.
“He’s not always as serious. Like those plays that have been made where he throws a clipboard in the air or does things like that. I’ve never played for a coach who does things like that.”
Johnson said someone who only knew Kiffin’s online persona might be surprised if they got to know him.
“If you just followed him on Twitter too much you would thing he’s a completely different person if you met him in person,” he said. “He’s pretty low key and laid back.”
Hydrate
Center Sedrick Van Pran, who represented Georgia at media days for the second consecutive year, was asked what advice he gave teammates Brock Bowers and Kamari Lassiter, who made their first appearance on Tuesday.
“I told them to drink as much water as possible,” Van Pran said. “You’ll be talking all day.”
No shades
University of Alabama media relations guy Josh Maxson, who formerly worked in the Arkansas athletic department, had a message for the three players representing the Crimson Tide in Nashville.
“No sunglasses,” Maxson told the trio of lineman JC Latham, cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry and linebacker Dallas Turner.
The mandate was perhaps school policy for interviews and also in contrast to the Texas A&M players who all wore dark sunglasses during their interviews in the main media room on Monday.