Gentlemen, Start Your Mildly Interesting Quotes …
It’s mid-July. The players won’t be putting on the pads for another few weeks, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get excited. Hold onto your butts, here come the conference media days!
The annual gabfests start up this week in college football. The SEC goes first, while the remaining power conferences follow suit in the following two weeks. But before the jaw-sessions commence, we thought we’d preview what exactly will go down at the press conferences before they happen.
A massive waste of time? Probably, but if it helps college football season get here just a little faster, then we’re all for it.
Pac 10 Media Days
When/Where: July 30, Los Angeles
Among the players scheduled to speak: Cal’s Jahvid Best, USC’s Taylor Mays, Arizona State’s Mike Nixon
Players who should be there: Jacquizz Rodgers. Who wouldn’t want to talk to a pint-sized running back that single-handedly beat the Trojans last year? The three guys competing for the USC starting quarterback job would be a close second.
Question we want to ask: To Steve Sarkisian, new coach of Washington, “Is it tough taking over the Detroit Lions of college football?”
The coach most likely to rant: Rick Neuheisel, UCLA. He has a history of putting his foot in his mouth.
Who will get the most questions: Pete Carroll, for the sheer fact that his teams have won or shared the past six conference titles.
Who will get the worst questions: Anyone from Oregon. Because you know half of the questions will be about the uniforms, which are god-awful for the 20th straight year.
Great Moments in Pac-10 Media Day history: In 2008, first-year UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel says it’s only a matter of time before the Bruins catch the Trojans. UCLA lost to USC 28-7 only four months later.
Big Ten Media Days
When/Where: July 27-28, Chicago, Illinois
Among players scheduled to speak: Michigan’s Steven Brown, Illinois’ Juice Williams, Ohio State’s Jake Ballard, Penn State’s Daryll Clark
Players who should be there: Ohio State’s Terrelle Pryor, Michigan’s Tate Forcier and Nick Sheridan
Question we want to ask: To Rich Rodriguez of Michigan, “Have you seen the movie ‘Dead Man Walking’?”
The coach most likely to rant: Joe Paterno, for the sheer fact that he’ll be asked about his retirement plans about 20 times.
Who will get the most questions: Either Jim Tressel or Paterno, but that’s what you get for coaching the best teams in the conference.
Who will get the worst questions: Rich Rodriguez of Michigan. The guy must win at least seven games and make a bowl, or else he might be out of the job. And reporters will try to get him to admit this, but he probably won’t.
Great Moments in Big Ten Media Day history: Upon being asked if he’ll retire for the 4,028th time in his career during the 2008 Media Days, Penn State’s Joe Paterno said, “I don’t know. I don’t know. Let me spell it. I, D-O-N-T, and final – I don’t know. How many times can I say it?”
SEC Media Days
When/Where: July 22-24, Hoover, Alabama
Among players scheduled to speak: Ole Miss’ Jevan Snead, Florida’s Tim Tebow, LSU’s Citron Black, Alabama’s Rolando McClain, Georgia’s Joe Cox
Players who should be there: Every Florida player that was arrested this offseason (so, most of the roster)
Question we want to ask: To Gene Chizik, “What kind of crack was Auburn smoking to hire you after a 2-10 season at Iowa State?”
The coach most likely to rant: Steve Spurrier. That’s an easy one.
Who will get the most questions: Tim Tebow. Media days are about getting facetime with the stars, and you can bet that Tebow’s little podium will be surrounded by no less than 1,000 reporters.
Who will get the worst questions: Anyone who’s scheduled for Wednesday’s session. Even with Arkansas in the group, Wednesday’s lineup of Vanderbilt, Mississippi State and Kentucky doesn’t hold a candle to Thursday (Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss, Florida) or Friday (Auburn, South Carolina, LSU, Tennessee).
Great Moments in SEC Media Day history: Former Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer got served with a subpoena in 2008 after he arrived at Media Days. Fulmer was requested to testify in a case against an Alabama booster.
Big 12 Media Days
When/Where: July 27-29, Irving, Texas
Among players scheduled to speak: List not released yet
Players who should be there, but aren’t: The names aren’t out yet, but we’re guessing Texas Tech won’t be bringing its quarterback. That’s too bad, because odds are that Taylor Potts will be lighting up the stat sheets, just like the 10 Tech QBs that came before him.
Question we want to ask: Mike Leach, Texas Tech, “Mike, can you tell us what you obsessed over this summer. Roller Derby? The Apollo Missions? Brazilian Dance Fighting?“
The coach most likely to rant: Mark Mangino, Kansas. The Jayhawks also have a solid team returning, but no one is talking about KU being a contender. Expect Mangino to play the “we get no respect” card.
Who will get the most questions: Split, between Colt McCoy and Sam Bradford. Those two will be neck and neck all season, and you can bet that more than one reporter will bring up the Red River Rivalry game.
Who will get the worst questions: Tie, Kansas State’s Bill Snyder and Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops. The Sooners lost yet another national title game (let alone a BCS game). That means even seven months later, Stoops will be getting the requisite “how are you shaking off the bowl loss” question. Bill Snyder, meanwhile, will get the “how does it feel to be back” line of questioning all day long.
Great Moments in Big 12 Media Day history: Despite having two legitimate Heisman candidates on his roster, Mike Leach brings a backup receiver and two no-name defensive players to the 2008 proceedings. Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree finished fourth and fifth respectively in the Heisman voting five months later. Who knows if a Media Day appearance would have helped with that.
ACC Media Days
When/Where: July 26-27, Greensboro, NC
Among players scheduled to speak: Clemson’s C.J. Spiller, Florida State’s Christian Ponder, Virginia Tech’s Greg Boone, Wake Forrest’s Riley Skinner
Question we want to ask: To Bobby Bowden, Florida State, “When do ya’ll expect to be good again?”
The coach most likely to rant: Bobby Bowden. Not that he’s always the ranting type, but all the cheating allegations mean he’ll get a lot of questions about forgoing losses. And expect it to get awkward if anyone asks if he’ll catch Joe Paterno.
Who will get the most questions (besides Bobby Bowden): Miami’s Randy Shannon. The mighty U is in shambles. The past two years they’ve gone 5-7 and then 7-6 with an Emerald Bowl loss to Cal That’ll have the sharks swimming around this coach, seeing how his butt is firmly planted on the hot seat.
Who will get the worst questions: NC State’s Tom O’Brien. Come on, what are you supposed to ask about NC State football?
Great Moments in ACC Media Day history: At the Media Days in 2006, former Miami coach Larry Coker said he wanted his players to stop carrying guns on campus. This came several days after one of his players was shot in the buttocks. Brandon Meriweather reportedly returned fire during the incident.
Big East Media Days
When/Where: August 3-4, Newport, Rhode Island
Among players scheduled to speak: Cincinnati’s Tony Pike, Pittsburgh’s Nate Byham, South Florida’s Matt Grothe
Question we want to ask: To West Virginia’s Bill Stewart, “Hey, where’s Pat White?”
The coach most likely to rant: Rutgers’ Greg Schiano. His team was on the rise three years ago. But they’ve since had two mediocre 8-5 years. He’s not on the hot seat, but you can imagine he’ll be quick to play the “no respect” card.
Who will get the most questions: Syracuse coach Doug Marrone. But it will likely center around one player on the Orange. It’s that guy who played for Duke the past four years. You know, the occasionally-decent point guard turned quarterback? Oh screw it, it’s Greg Paulus, and Syracuse might just have a crappy enough team to put him at quarterback.
Who will get the worst questions: Randy Edsall, UConn. Even people who cover the Big East every year are still kind of surprised that UConn has a football team.
Great Moments in Big East Media Day history: Last year, West Virginia QB Pat White said he didn’t want to play for the school’s baseball team because “there haven’t been many players of my race on [the] team.” White also admitted that he can’t hit a curveball.
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Photos courtesy of Flickr
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