Whoever knocks off Alabama will have to do it with different approach than Crimson Tide use year after year.
SEC MEDIA DAYS 2021: Marty Smith, ESPN and SEC Network
Giving Tye tips on where to watch first NASCAR race, looking at ’21 football season on The Morning Rush.
SEC MEDIA DAYS 2021: Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea
Outlines his goals, plans to get Commodores back on a successful path he’s seen work there before.
SEC MEDIA DAYS 2021: Vanderbilt defensive lineman Daevion Davis
Role stays the same on the defensive front for Davis, which is to be as disruptive as possible.
SEC MEDIA DAYS 2021: Vanderbilt offensive lineman Bradley Ashmore
Likes new coach Clark Lea’s system that “has been awesome” in the lockerroom for the Commodores.
SEC MEDIA DAYS 2021: Doug Amos, ESPN 107.5, Montgomery
The gap between Auburn and Alabama may be as wide as ever in Brian Harsin’s first season on the job.
SEC MEDIA DAYS 2021: John McDaid, SEC Director of Officials
Talking with Tye Richards and Tommy Craft on The Morning Rush on changes in the rules for the 2021 season.
BUD LIGHT SELTZER MORNING RUSH PODCAST: Day 3 of SEC Media Days
Tye Richardson and Tommy Craft are live from Day 3 of SEC Media Days! They are joined by John McDaid, Marty Smith, Roman Harper and Doug Amos.
Nick owns Media Days before arrival, even stumping Kiffin
On the second day of the annual SEC Media Daze, Nick Saban rolled all the conversation to Alabama … and he wasn’t even in the state.
He even surprised Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin.
According to reports, Saban told the Texas High School Coaches Association’s convention on Tuesday that Young, a sophomore, is due to make “ungodly numbers.”
All of this comes, of course, the day before Saban makes an entrance into the gaggle of media people interviewing each other and breaking down each press conference like a playoff game.
The exact total of Young’s endorsements (or who’s paying the money) hasn’t been released but said the total compensation is “almost seven figures.”
And you thought my speculation about Arch Manning getting massive numbers a couple of years from now was off base.
“The guy hasn’t even played yet,” Saban said, according to The Athletic. “But that’s because of our brand.”
He’s honest about that. Winning championships and lots of games increases a school’s brand more than anything else. It also is tied in direct proportion to the overall enrollment at a school, but that’s another topic for a different day.
The news even caught Kiffin completely off-guard, who found out in a question-and-answer session on the main stage of questions.
“That number just blew me away,” Kiffin said after being stumped for a brief few seconds. “He’s made $1 million, and he hasn’t started a game yet. Wow.”
Really, that may be a low estimate. We’re still a few weeks away from starting to play games and that’s plenty of time to put together bigger numbers because we’re supposed to be just a couple of weeks into this whole NIL deal.
Young signed a deal to be represented by Creative Artists Agency on July 2, the day after the NCAA allowed athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness.
With no rules or enforcement really in place, it’s going to be the wild, wild west in the world of college athletics and the Young deal may be the first big headline.
And if you think Nick let that accidentally slip out you’d probably be wrong. Things like that don’t happen with the Crimson Tide. It was likely a planned announcement that will have things spinning on Wednesday morning when Saban comes in. He was probably smiling when Deion Sanders popped off wanting to be treated like Saban at the SWAC Media Day that was primarily done online.
All of that drives the brand which gets the interest of recruits and usually the team with the best players wins the most games.
Programs that get good at this will probably win the most games. It’s been that way for the last 60 years or so.
Nothing that has happened in recent history disputes that.
Which means Bama will own the entire SEC-ESPN event, which is exactly the result that was planned by the best marketing school in college athletics.
And Nick wouldn’t have it any other way.
Deion not ready for prime time as coach after walkout
When Deion Sanders walked away from a Zoom interview at the SWAC Media Day in Birmingham on Tuesday it wasn’t his first overly dramatic performance but may be the most head-shaking.
Mostly it was because he made up his own set of facts to justify a performance befitting a spoiled brat more than a head football coach.
“You don’t call Nick Saban, ‘Nick.’ Don’t call me Deion,” Sanders told Nick Suss from the Jackson Clarion Ledger. “If you call Nick (Saban), Nick, you’ll get cussed out on the spot, so don’t do that to me,” Sanders later added. “Treat me like Nick.”
Well, Deion, that means we call you by your name. Saban has never “cussed out” a media member to anybody’s knowledge that’s come to my attention.
Either he was flat lying or (much more likely) has done zero research and is mouthing off again based on what he’s seen online in a soundbite.
In over 45 years working full-time in the media business the only two coaches I have ever called “coach” in interviews or just conversations are John Wooden and Paul “Bear” Bryant. That includes at least 20 other Hall of Fame coaches in various sports over the years.
Even Saban. He’s just a football coach. Probably the best in the history of the game, but he’s still just a coach … with a name.
Apparently I’m not in any particularly special club.
I don’t think that I’ve called him anything other than “Nick.” He hasn’t cussed me out.
— Barrett Sallee (@BarrettSallee) July 20, 2021
JSU coach Deion Sanders walks out of SWAC media day after being addressed as Deion.
“If you call Nick (Saban), Nick, you’ll get cussed out on the spot, so don’t do that to me”
I covered Saban for 6 years. He was called Nick many times. He never said a wordhttps://t.co/nwrRIoRzTx— Chase Goodbread (@ChaseGoodbread) July 20, 2021
“When I interview people, I call them by their first name,” Suss said to the Clarion Ledger. “Whether it’s someone I’ve been working with for years or someone I’m talking to for the first time. This is true of the coaches and players on the Ole Miss beat, the coaches and players at Mississippi State and Southern Miss when I help out covering their teams and, as recently as January, even Sanders, too.”
Deion tried to clean up the mess with a social media post about the whole incident with a video and tried to say the other party was lying.
This is how all of this started, I really Pray for all of us because this was something so minimal that was hilarious to me that you allowed a FOOLISH media outlet and person to play on your Preconceived notions. I’m all about Peace,Love,Work,Commitment,Sacrifice & Forgiveness. pic.twitter.com/ZjZPMVJVfj
— COACH PRIME (@DeionSanders) July 21, 2021
It’s interesting to see what most folks find more hilarious: Deion wanting the same perceived respect as Saban (who has more than two championships) or who folks believe are lying.
SEC MEDIA DAYS 2021: Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin
Name, image, likeness playing role now in recruiting and will increase with Bama quarterback getting million-dollar deal Tuesday.
