With no shortage of storylines heading into the season, SEC Media Days seems to be the perfect way to kick off the football timeline next week in Dallas, TX.
Need a story for the season? Take your pick.
Texas and Oklahoma are officially in the SEC and are gearing up for their first run in the conference football slate. Alabama, meanwhile, is entering out of the Nick Saban era and into the Kalen Deboer era in a move that still has unforeseen ripples on the horizon.
A handful of new coaches such as Mississippi State’s Jeff Lebby entered the league while other coaches such as Arkansas’s Sam Pittman are looking to not get forced out with a bad season.
Don’t forget the will-he-won’t-he conversations between Mark Stoops and Texas A&M after Jimbo Fisher’s firing that ultimately ended in Stoops staying in Lexington and the Aggies bringing in Duke’s Mike Elko.
Aside from their head coach celebrating a college baseball national championship alongside Morgan Wallen and Rick Barnes, Tennessee really hasn’t had a newsworthy offseason in a drama-filled time period. That’s not a bad thing, either. The Vols got through spring camp without any major portal departures or injuries and took care of business during those four weeks earlier in the year. The Vols’ new quarterback Nico Iamaleava is a big storyline heading into the season but wasn’t a coveted portal pickup during the offseason.
Instead, Tennessee just sat back and handled business while movement and change happened around them.
Each of the 16 programs will bring a trio of student-athletes along with them to SEC Media Days next week in Dallas.
More from RTI: Tennessee Making Progress For Top Ranked Two-Way Player in 2026 Class Lamar Brown
Here’s a look at the schedule and the student-athlete participants next week:
Monday, July 15
LSU
- HC: Brian Kelly
- QB Garrett Nussmeier
- TE Mason Taylor
- LB Harold Perkins
Ole Miss
- HC: Lane Kiffin
- QB Jaxson Dart
- WR Tre Harris
- DE Jared Ivy
South Carolina
- HC: Shane Beamer
- DT Alex Huntley
- ATH Luke Doty
- LB Debo Williams
Vanderbilt
- HC: Clark Lea
- OL Gunnar Hansen
- LB Langston Patterson
- S CJ Taylor
Tuesday, July 16
Georgia
- HC: Kirby Smart
- QB Carson Beck
- DL Kykel Williams
- S Malachi Starks
Missouri
- HC: Eliah Drinkwitz
- WR Luther Burden III
- QB Brady Cook
- DL Kristian Williams
Oklahoma
- HC: Brent Venables
- QB Jackson Arnold
- LB Danny Stutsman
- DB Billy Bowman Jr.
Tennessee
- HC: Josh Heupel
- OL Cooper Mays
- LB Keenan Pili
- DL Omari Thomas
Wednesday, July 17
Alabama
- HC: Kalen Deboer
- QB Jalen Milroe
- OL Tyler Booker
- DB Malachi Moore
Florida
- HC: Billy Napier
- QB Graham Mertz
- ILB Shemar James
- RB Montrell Johnson Jr.
Mississippi State
- HC: Jeff Lebby
- QB Blake Shapen
- OL Albert Reese IV
- LB John Lewis
Texas
- HC: Steve Sarkisian
- QB Quinn Ewers
- OL Kelvin Banks Jr.
- DB Jahdae Barron
Thursday, July 18
Arkansas
- HC: Sam Pittman
- WR Andrew Armstrong
- QB Taylen Green
- DE Landon Jackson
Auburn
- HC: Hugh Freeze
- QB Payton Thomas
- LB Eugene Asante
- DE Keldric Faulk
Kentucky
- HC: Mark Stoops
- OL Marques Cox
- LB D’Eryk Jackson
- DL Deone Walker
Texas A&M
- HC: Mike Elko
- DL Shemar Turner
- LB Taurean York
- OL Trey Zuhn III
