The Texas/OU effect: SEC will move its football media days to Dallas in 2024

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Southeastern Conference won’t waste much time flexing its newfound muscle in Texas.

SEC officials confirmed Monday that next year’s SEC media days will be held at the Omni Hotel in downtown Dallas on July 15-18.

“The SEC colors will fly” over Dallas, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said in his opening remarks Monday at media days.

The move to Texas coincides with the official SEC arrival of Texas and Oklahoma, which will become members July 1. The SEC has never before hosted its media days outside of its traditional geographic footprint in the South. Birmingham, Ala., served as the host city from 1985 to 2017 before media days split time between Birmingham, Atlanta and Nashville over the past six years.

Dallas is just a three-hour drive from both the Texas and Oklahoma campuses.

The Big 12, the home conference for Texas and Oklahoma from 1996 to 2023, will host its annual media days in mid-July at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

— Thomas Jones

More: Best of the Big 12: Breaking down the defensive lines as we rank all 14 conference teams

Sankey: SEC won’t actively pursue more members

While the Big Ten continues to flirt with more expansion and the Pac-12 tries to avoid disintegration, Sankey said he’s just fine with the SEC’s status — especially with the growth to 16 schools when Texas and Oklahoma join.

“I think we are a super conference,” Sankey said. “We're very attentive to what's happening around us, (but) right now, we're focused on our growth to 16.

“My view is we know who we are. We're comfortable as a league. We've restored rivalries. We're geographically contiguous with the right kind of philosophical alignment, and we can stay at that level of super conference. When you go bigger, there are a whole other set of factors that have to be considered, and I'm not sure I've seen those teased out other than in my mind late at night. “

— Thomas Jones

More: Big 12 notebook: Kansas State will miss Deuce Vaughn but ready to defend football title

Play-callers plural?

Much was made of Jimbo Fisher hiring longtime head coach Bobby Petrino as Texas A&M’s offensive coordinator and play-caller, but he’s been a little mysterious about the process. That's left some to wonder if Fisher will completely relinquish those tasks.

“He and I have been friends for a long time,” Fisher said of the former Arkansas and Atlanta Falcons head coach, one of seven former head coaches on his staff. “We’re very comfortable about what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. We’re not going to sit here and get into schematics.

“So we’ve had great admiration for each other and what we’ve done and how we’ve done things. He’s a proven guy. The meetings have been tremendous, and he’s been a very good recruiter for us.”

— Kirk Bohls

Sankey tells Texas high school coaches SEC opposes Friday games

Considering that the two most prominent college football programs — based on revenue, ratings and fan interest — in the state of Texas will both soon be part of the SEC, it’s not surprising that Sankey attended the annual Texas High School Coaches Association convention Sunday in Houston.

Sankey drew plenty of approval from the high school coaches in attendance when he cautioned against college programs playing games on Fridays.

“I’ve expressed concern about the migration of colleges into Friday night,” Sankey told reporters. “We’ve got colleges playing on Friday night for TV windows. We had better think carefully about our impact on high school football. I encourage more attention to high school football.”

Sankey’s stance contrasts with Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark, who said at last week’s Big 12 media days that his conference is pursuing more games on Fridays. That drew criticism from local coaches such as Hank Carter of Lake Travis and Vandegrift’s Drew Sanders.

“I think it’s a shame,” Sanders said last week. “Fridays have always been protected days for the most part. They (college coaches) have taken care of high school football in the past. I hope our Big 12 coaches make the Friday night game the exception rather than the rule.”

— Thomas Jones

Kelly says LSU has highest of standards

When it comes to the expectations for LSU’s football team, head coach Brian Kelly can’t help but look back at a remarkable 2022-23 school year for the Tigers. The school won national titles in baseball and women’s basketball, and that’s the standard that Kelly expects this fall.

“All we can think about is championships after what (coaches) Jay Johnson did in baseball and Kim Mulkey in basketball,” Kelly said Monday. “I've got a big opportunity on my hands, as well, to continue the success of what was a very good first year.

“We have much to do. Progress needs to continue to be made in the best conference in all of college football. That will not be easy.”

Optimism abounds on the bayou after Kelly’s first season at LSU. The Tigers went 10-4 in 2022 and tied for the SEC West division title with Alabama. Quarterback Jayden Daniels and linebacker Harold Perkins Jr. lead a loaded lineup, and Kelly hopes his team can build on the momentum from last season and become a consistent threat for an SEC title.

“We're excited about what we've done in a very short period of time,” Kelly said. “The foundation of success is built on consistency. Alabama and Georgia continue to hold that mantle of consistency in terms of playing for championships, and that's what we'll be looking to be at LSU, is playing for championships consistently, year in and year out.”

— Thomas Jones

Mizzou coach open about need for offensive improvement

Moments after Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher dodged a question about whether he or new offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino would call plays, Missouri coach Eliah Drinkwitz openly admitted why he hired Kirby Moore in the offseason as his program’s new offensive coordinator and play-caller.

"I wasn't providing the benefit we needed on the offensive side of the ball," Drinkwitz said. “At end of (last) season, we were ineffective on the offensive side of ball. I wasn't giving us the best advantage. So (it was time to) turn over the play calling to someone else."

Missouri scored just 24.8 points a game last season, which ranked ninth in the SEC. Drinkwitz said an improved offensive punch will help the Tigers rebound from a 6-7 record, including a 3-5 mark in the SEC East.

— Thomas Jones

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: In first year with Texas and Oklahoma, SEC to move media days to DFW