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SEC rolls out four-day summer media day schedule

By Kevin McGuireFeb 14, 2019, 6:17 PM EST
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Once again, the SEC will be masters of media day coverage in the middle of the summer with a four-day media day extravaganza. This year, the SEC is returning to Birmingham, Alabama. The SEC distributed updated details about this year’s media day event including what schools and coaches will be speaking on what day.

The SEC will open up the 2019 media day fun on Monday, July 15 from the Hyatt Regency Birmingham – Wynfrey Hotel. Television coverage of the event will be available through the SEC Network as well as ESPN over the course of the four days.

The exact order of what coaches will be speaking at what times will be hashed out later on, but Florida’s Dan Mullen, LSU’s Ed Orgeron, and Missouri’s Barry Odom will be featured on Day 1 on Monday, July 15. Day 2 will feature Kirby Smart of Georgia, Matt Luke of Ole Miss, Jeremy Pruitt of Tennessee, and Jimbo Fisher of Texas A&M. Alabama’s Nick Saban will highlight the festivities on Day 3, with Chad Morris of Arkansas, Joe Moorhead of Mississippi State and Will Muschamp of South Carolina also getting their time in front of the microphone. Day 4 will wrap things up with Gus Malzahn of Auburn, Mark Stoops of Kentucky, and Derek Mason of Vanderbilt.

Here is the full SEC Media Day schedule, for those planning ahead.

2019 SEC FOOTBALL MEDIA DAYS SCHEDULE

MONDAY, July 15
Florida – Dan Mullen
LSU – Ed Orgeron
Missouri – Barry Odom

TUESDAY, July 16
Georgia – Kirby Smart
Ole Miss – Matt Luke
Tennessee – Jeremy Pruitt
Texas A&M – Jimbo Fisher

WEDNESDAY, July 17
Alabama – Nick Saban
Arkansas – Chad Morris
Mississippi State – Joe Moorhead
South Carolina – Will Muschamp

THURSDAY, July 18
Auburn – Gus Malzahn
Kentucky – Mark Stoops
Vanderbilt – Derek Mason

While the SEC media days are going on, the ACC will also be holding their media day event in Charlotte, North Carolina. The ACC media day runs from July 16 through July 18.

Oklahoma State loses OL coach to Texas A&M, but a replacement has been found

By Kevin McGuireFeb 9, 2019, 6:29 PM EST
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It has been a busy couple of days for Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy. After losing one offensive line coach to Texas A&M, Gundy has already announced a replacement has been named. A day after reports surfaced saying Texas A&M had hired away Josh Henson to fill their own vacancy at the offensive line coach position in College Station, Gundy has announced the hiring of Charlie Dickey, previously of Kansas State.

And this wasn’t the first time Gundy tried hiring Dickey. The head coach of the Cowboys said he was unable to hire Dickey before because the offensive line coach was dedicated to his boss at Kansas State, Bill Snyder.

Making sure to point out the loyalty Dickey had to his former boss is certainly not just a throwaway line. It can be used to suggest Dickey will be as committed as they come to the Oklahoma State program, which is a nice sales pitch on the recruiting trail.

Like Gundy did at Oklahoma State, Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher wasted little time in filling a vacancy at the offensive line coach position on his staff this week. The Aggies lost Jim Turner to a job in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday. By Friday, reports of A&M hiring Henson were already filed. And now, the next domino in the assistant coaching carousel fell in Stillwater.

Texas A&M loses LB Anthony Hines to season-ending injury

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By Kevin McGuireSep 12, 2018, 6:00 PM EST
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Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher announced to reporters today that linebacker Anthony Hines will be out for the remainder of the season.

The details of the injury to Hines were shielded by the head coach of the Aggies on the weekly SEC conference call, but Fisher did confirm it was a lower-body injury that will put the sophomore on the sideline for the rest of the year.

Hines played in just one game this season, this past weekend in the home loss to Clemson. The good news is Hines will be able to burn a redshirt season to preserve three remaining years of eligibility with Texas A&M. The new NCAA rule for redshirting players allows a player to appear in up to four games before counting as a year of eligibility used by a player. Situations like this are why that is a rule that benefits the players and the programs they play for.

Hines was listed as a starter for Texas A&M on the team’s depth chart for the Clemson game last week, so his loss is not insignificant for the Aggies by any stretch of the imagination. Sophomore Buddy Johnson and junior Larry Pryor were listed behind Hines on the Week 2 depth chart.

Jimbo Fisher, Dabo Swinney look to break tie in coaching rivalry

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By Kevin McGuireSep 7, 2018, 7:02 PM EST
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Texas A&M is looking to capitalize on an opportunity to make a statement against a heavily-favored Clemson in College Station this weekend. The Aggies lead the all-time series with the ACC heavyweight program, 3-1, but Texas A&M and Jimbo Fisher are each looking to snap losing streaks against the Tigers, and Dabo Swinney.

Fisher and Swinney are certainly no strangers meeting for the first time this weekend. The two former ACC Atlantic Division foes are meeting for the ninth time in their careers, and the records are even at four wins each. But the swing of the coaching matchup has favored Swinney of late with three straight wins against the former Florida State head coach. The national perception of each program has swung in favor of the winning coach throughout this little coaching rivalry as well.

After splitting their first two meetings at a time when both coaches were getting settled in with their programs, Fisher then went on a three-game winning streak. During that run, Fisher had a Heisman Trophy winner in Jameis Winston and won one BCS national championship and coached the Seminoles to a berth in the inaugural College Football Playoff.

Then Swinney took charge with Clemson rising in national prominence. Swinney and the Tigers went on a three-game winning streak against Fisher’s Noles, claiming three consecutive ACC conference crowns, back-to-back appearances in the College Football Playoff national championship game, winning one, and making a third appearance representing the ACC in the College Football Playoff last season. Also last season, Fisher was going through a down year in Tallahassee that ultimately ended with Fisher accepting a job offer at Texas A&M.

Now, this weekend, the two coaches have reunited once again as Texas A&M hosts Clemson in the first game of a home-and-home series (the two play in Clemson next September). Somebody is going to take the lead in their coaching rivalry, and the win will carry some significance moving forward. A win for Swinney keeps Clemson firmly in place as a playoff contender. A loss may not be the end of the world, of course. If Texas A&M wins, Fisher will finally knock Swinney back into the loss column and give Texas A&M a charge moving forward into SEC play as a team not to take lightly this fall.

May the best coach win.

Florida, Texas A&M settle on starting QBs

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By Kevin McGuireAug 27, 2018, 1:45 PM EST
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The first true Monday of the college football season is a busy one for starting quarterback announcements. The news continues to flood in with decisions made by a pair of new SEC coaches. At Florida, Dan Mullen has tabbed Feleipe Franks as his starting quarterback this weekend, while Jimbo Fisher has named Kellen Mond as Texas A&M’s starter for this weekend.

Franks was a likely favorite to win the starting nod in Gainesville after playing 11 games for the Gators last season and passing for 1,438 yards and nine touchdowns. Some inconsistency issues and eight interceptions by Franks as a freshman held Florida back at times, but Franks seemed like the best fit for the beginning of the Mullen era of Gators football in 2018. Franks also started eight games for Florida last season, giving him a bit of a leg up on the competition.

Franks won a close competition against redshirt sophomore Kyle Trask and freshman Emory Jones, according to a release from Florida on Monday. It might not be a shock if all three find some playing time this weekend as Florida opens up the 2018 season at home against FCS opponent Charleston Southern.

At Texas A&M, Mond ended up winning a battle with Nick Starkel for the starting job in Week 1, reversing the outcome of the close quarterback competition a year ago under former head coach Kevin Sumlin. Both players are now sophomores and had fairly even stats in 2017, although Starkel was a little more efficient and productive in the stat sheet with nearly 400 more passing yards and six more touchdowns in 22 fewer pass attempts (and the same number of interceptions thrown, but in three fewer games) than Mond.

Both Mond and Starkel are expected to play in the season opener for Texas A&M against FCS opponent Northwestern State. The big test will come the following week, when Texas A&M hosts ACC favorite Clemson. In fact, the quarterbacks who end that game for both teams may be more interesting to see than who starts that Week 2 matchup. Clemson named Kelly Bryant as its starting quarterback on Monday as well.