Five things we learned Tuesday at SEC Media Days

DALLAS — Eight down, eight to go.

They’re at the halfway point of the 2024 SEC Football Media Days here at the Omni Hotel Downtown Dallas after four more teams took their turns Tuesday passing through the preseason football media gauntlet. Georgia coach Kirby Smart and players Carson Beck, Malaki Starks and Mykel Williams highlighted the day.

Players and coaches from Tennessee, Oklahoma and Missouri also talked Tuesday.

There is much anticipation over Wednesday’s lineup, as it will feature Nick Saban’s replacement at Alabama, Kalen DeBoer, and the SEC’s latest high-profile members, the Texas Longhorns.

Here are five things we learned from Tuesday’s sessions:

Roster adjustments for Bulldogs

Smart confirmed reports this summer that Georgia offensive lineman Kelton Smith has been medically disqualified from competing in football. Smart said the 6-foot-4, 330-pound redshirt freshman from Columbus would remain on scholarship and with the team in a sort of student-coaching capacity.

“He’s been battling some issues ever since he arrived,” Smart said. “He and his family came together and made that decision along with Ron (Courson) and the medical staff. He’s going to be medically disqualified, very similar to Pearce (Spurlin), but different issues. He’ll still be with the program and working with us.”

Spurlin, a sophomore tight end, announced in March he had to give up football because of a heart condition.

Also Tuesday, Smart announced that senior defensive back David Daniel-Sisavanh has been dismissed for a “violation of team rules.” It was only recently revealed that the Woodstock resident was charged with reckless driving following an February incident in which he was accused of eluding police.

“We wish David good luck on his next step,” Smart said.

Norton lands with Longhorns

Bill Norton won’t be in the Texas Longhorns’ contingent that comes to Media Days on Wednesday, but the Georgia Bulldogs will get to see him up close on when the teams face off in Austin on Oct. 19.

Norton, a 6-6, 325-pound defensive lineman from Memphis, signed with the Bulldogs as a 4-star prospect in 2019. After receiving only limited playing time at UGA, Norton transferred last year to Arizona, where he made a big impact. As a starter on the interior line for the Wildcats, Norton played 395 snaps and recorded 32 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, three pass deflections, five quarterback hurries and two forced fumbles.

Arizona’s co-defensive coordinator, Johnny Nance, joined the Texas staff during the offseason. Norton and fellow Arizona defensive lineman Tiaoalii Savea followed Nance to Austin. Norton has one season of eligibility remaining.

Kirby Smart teases Nick Saban

Smart had a good time teasing Nick Saban on Tuesday. Smart went after his former boss as soon as he stepped up to the dais in the main media room to make his opening remarks.

“I do want it to be duly noted that I got in here without a credential today,” Smart said.

That was a reference to Saban’s issues Monday. The recently retired coach was denied entry to SEC Media Day’s restricted area on the third floor of the Omni Hotel.

“I’ve never worn a credential in my life,” Saban would say later. “I had to go back to the room to get my credential to get in. That’s one of the biggest changes I see. It’s not like it used to be.”

Saban now is working as a college football analyst for ESPN. Part of his duties included interviewing Smart on Tuesday about the strength and weaknesses of his latest Georgia team. After competing so intensely with Saban the past eight years, that was an unsettling experience for Smart.

“I feel like I’m giving answers to Darth Vader,” Smart quipped.

Saban must’ve liked what he heard, or already knew. He is on record this week picking Georgia to win the SEC this season, much to the chagrin of the Bama faithful.

Smart worked for Saban for nine seasons at Alabama before being appointed Georgia’s coach before the 2016 season. Saban always will have the last laugh against his mentee. He retired with a 5-1 record against Smart.

Oklahoma connections

As evidenced Tuesday, there is a tremendous amount of mutual respect between Brent Venables and Josh Heupel. Venables is the current head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners. Heupel, head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers, remains one of the more revered Sooners players in that program’s history.

The two coaches were on the same sideline in 2000 when Heupel quarterbacked Oklahoma to its most recent national championship and Venables was the team’s co-defensive coordinator.

“He’s always been a winner,” Venables said of Heupel on Tuesday. “I’ve always looked back and said, ‘man, we couldn’t have done it without ‘Heup.’ His leadership, what he was able to do from a transformation standpoint to our locker room, the guts and the toughness that he played through that 2000 season, I’ve always held him up here on this pedestal when it comes to a player standpoint.”

Heupel returned to Oklahoma as co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2011. But he was fired after the 2014 season. He was offensive coordinator at Utah State and Missouri before becoming Central Florida’s head coach in 2018. Tennessee hired him in 2021. He’s 26-12 in three seasons with the Vols.

Tennessee plays at Oklahoma on Sept. 21.

“A lot of friends that are coaching on the opposing sideline, former teammates that will be coaching on that opposing sideline, too. So it’ll be unique to be back there, but excited,” Heupel said Tuesday.

Bulldogs’ new mantra

Every year, Smart comes up with a new mantra for his team to focus on during the coming season. The one for 2024 was revealed Tuesday: “Assume Nothing.”

Smart said they adopted the saying from Nike after doing an offseason study of the organization.

“Start from ground zero and build the team different than every other team,” Smart said. “Nike did that. Assume nothing. Where does a name come from? If you assume you know everybody’s name, you may not know what that name means.”

Smart said he had the players go through that exercise, standing in front of the team and sharing the meanings behind their first, middle and last names, where applicable.

“I encourage you if you’ve never done that exercise in an organization, do it,” Smart said. “You learn more about somebody when you know where they got their name from and what it stands for, what it means in their family and lineage. It’s very important and you get a lot of deep conversations to know somebody better.

“When you’re on the field with somebody and go to battle, you better be able to know what their reasoning is. I really enjoyed that and our study of Nike.”

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