Talkin’ Season Has Arrived as SEC Football Media Days Begin in Tampa Bay

Neither the brief interruption of rain nor lightning — that’s real lightning, by the way, not the Tampa Bay Lightning — could quell the enthusiasm of several hundred hard-bitten college-football fans Sunday. Wearing the jerseys and colors of a dozen different teams, they gathered for the free-to-the-public SEC Kickoff FanFest along the Ford Thunder Alley outside the Benchmark International Arena.

 

They carried messages on T-shirts and posters.

 

Work Em Silly, Gators.

 

Dawgs, Ya’ll.

 

Roll Tide.

 

#GBO (Go Big Orange).

 

#WDE (War Damn Eagle).

 

Geaux Tigers.

 

“This is like an SEC family reunion, seeing all these fans supporting the different schools,’’ said Tanya Adam, secretary of Alabama’s Tampa Bay Crimson Tide Alumni chapter. “I think we’re ready for some football."

 

Downtown Tampa will be the epicenter of college football’s universe this week when the SEC Football Kickoff Media Days begins its four-day run Monday morning at the Tampa Marriott Water Street.

 

Sunday night was the “soft opening’’ with the FanFest and SEC Nation Live’s special-edition broadcast, which included Lightning mascot ThunderBug jumping on the set and carrying a sign, “Why Am I Here?’’

 

We’re not sure, but we do know that nearly 1,200 media members are expected to attend the week’s festivities. That includes the talent and production crews from ESPN/SEC Network, which is planning 50 hours of gavel-to-gavel coverage. Head coaches from all 16 SEC schools, plus four players from each team, will take part in interviews, photos, videos and podcasts.

 

Whew!

 

The walking, talking soap opera of Ole Miss-turned-LSU coach Lane Kiffin? New Florida Gators coach Jon Sumrall? Coach Alex Golesh and quarterback Byrum Brown, the USF ex-pats, now with the Auburn Tigers? Nick Saban and Tim Tebow (as SEC Network commentators)? Paul Finebaum and his can’t-miss lightning-rod call-in show? Arch Manning, the Texas quarterback from football’s First Family who’s on everyone’s Heisman Trophy short list? More than a dozen players who have been named to the national preseason first-team All-American lists?

 

Yep, they are all coming to Tampa.

 

A Prestigious Event

 

The Tampa Bay Sports Commission secured the prestigious event — which has visited Atlanta, Dallas and Nashville in recent years after a decades-long foundation in the SEC headquarters hamlets of Birmingham and Hoover, Ala. — with an impressive package of hotel space, hospitality, transportation, security, entertainment and a FanFest element.

“We love being part of this,’’ TBSC executive director Lanness Robinson said. “Everybody knows about the passion of SEC fans, and it’s great to help stage the start of what’s going to be a great season.’’

 

The TBSC is working in accord with the ReliaQuest Bowl, the Gasparilla Bowl, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Tampa Bay Lightning to host various ancillary events for fans and media.

SEC Media Days, which began in 1985 with fewer than 100 journalists descending upon Birmingham for low-key and traditional interviews with the league’s head coaches and top players, has become a nationally televised traveling road show. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey will set the tone with a State-of-the-Union-style address, which is bound to make headlines. Subplots will be flying everywhere as coaches and players provide content fodder for their rabid fan bases.

 

“When you think about it, it’s a lot of listening to players and coaches — in mid-July, no less — but we hear from so many people who love it and watch it from start to finish,’’ said Herb Vincent, the SEC’s Associate Commissioner for Communications, who oversees the event. “Our conference has never been more popular, and fans can’t get enough of following what’s going on with each team. It’s content that they really want to consume and I guess it has sort of become the unofficial kickoff for the SEC football season.

 

“We think it has been very beneficial to move the event around to different places (outside of Alabama). When we go to places such as Nashville, Dallas and Tampa, more of the media in Tennessee, Texas and Florida are able to take part. So over the course of time, the entire SEC region gets exposed to the event in bigger ways than ever before.’’

 

The SEC region has also gotten bigger.

 

Back in 1985, there were 10 SEC members. Arkansas and South Carolina were added in 1992. Texas A&M and Missouri came aboard in 2012. Then there were the seismic additions of Oklahoma and Texas in 2024, bringing the league to 16 teams.

 

The conference’s growth has led to larger SEC Media Days presentations. Once, it was a two-day event. It expanded to three days. Now it’s Monday through Thursday — four schools per day, some of them jetting in and out of Tampa, some lingering to participate in area alumni functions.

There are more coaches, more players … and more media.

 

Radio Row has become “Digital Drive’’ — a jam-packed, ubiquitous place where traditional radio call-in programs from around the South now co-exist with Internet sites, podcasters and folks representing the media platform of the moment.

 

And, of course, the SEC Network is the biggest attention-driver of them all.

 

“Our team will be seeking to capture the high points of the Tampa community — and there’s so much to capture,’’ said SEC Network vice president Pete Watters, who oversees the production. “The people here are so welcoming. When you look out the window of your hotel, Tampa is so vibrant and so energetic. We’re going to be mostly inside with our interviews and shows, but there will be lots of scenery and city sights to show when we can. It’s a great backdrop.’’

 

Behind The Scenes

 

Watters said SEC Network’s biggest challenge is ensuring the coaches and players get from point A to point B, given the sheer number of people involved in the event.

 

“Keeping all the trains on the track,’’ Watters said. “We don’t want multiple people doing multiple things simultaneously when we’d like to show both of them. Making sure everybody is where they need to be.’’

 

Watters is comforted that it mostly comes under the watchful eye of Tammy Wilson, the SEC’s Director of Communications, who Vincent described as “probably the most highly organized person I know.’’

 

Vincent and Wilson made three site visits to Tampa so questions could be answered, logistics could be planned, and nerves could be soothed.

 

“The first and most important thing is having a great partner like the Tampa Bay Sports Commission,’’ Wilson said. “They have been absolutely fantastic to work with, and they’ve really helped Herb and me — and everyone in the SEC — to make sure everything runs so smoothly. We are super excited to have this event in Tampa.’’

 

Regardless of the SEC Media Days location, Wilson’s biggest job never changes.

 

She coordinates the schedule for players and coaches, doing it all by hand, “a giant puzzle that I have to put together every year,’’ making sure no one has a huge break of inactivity. It begins and ends with Wilson’s “grid.’

 

It’s all hands on deck. Wilson employs a team of what she calls “rotational specialists.’’

 

“Really, it’s a fancy name for the people who just drag everybody around, making sure the players and coaches know where they’re going and making sure nobody gets lost,’’ Wilson said. “We know the layout. Maps are great. But we know exactly how long it takes to walk from one point to another because we have been here to measure it. It’s all about making this the most efficient event possible, with a tight schedule and a format that fits everyone’s needs.

 

“We obviously have a budget we must work with. Most people don’t think the SEC has a budget — we do — and I try to stick to it. Everything is more expensive across the board — from food to hotel rooms and airline tickets. We have a bigger and better event for everyone, but we always are looking to make it more efficient and (cost-effective).’’

What used to be a relatively simple series of preseason interviews has become a driver for economic impact.

 

“We’re live on SEC Network all four days, so that’s a lot of exposure for Tampa,’’ Wilson said. “Obviously, when the media and other visitors come, they need places to eat and places to stay. So there is an economic bump. People know that Tampa is a great place to be. But when you come here or see it shown on the SEC Network, it probably puts an idea in your head that this is a great place to visit with the downtown, Busch Gardens, the Florida Aquarium, the beaches, the Riverwalk, all of it.’’

 

“We know we have SEC fans who will watch all 50 hours of our coverage and we are grateful for them,’’ Watters said. “The thing about SEC fans is you’re never going to put anything over on them. If this weren’t being covered by the SEC Network and were being held at a smaller hotel somewhere, there would still be interest and a desire to get this content. That’s what makes the SEC so special — the enormous interest. That’s what’s driving the whole thing. People want to watch. They are ready for college football season. It may be July 20 and the middle of summer in Tampa, but this is a clear signal that the fall is coming. That’s why everyone is so interested and excited.’’

 

It’s a long way from the old days and what was called the SEC “Skywriters Tour.’’ Journalists from around the SEC would congregate in a central location, then a small chartered aircraft transported them from campus to campus, where they met with the likes of Alabama’s Bear Bryant, Georgia’s Vince Dooley, Auburn’s Shug Jordan, Ole Miss’ Johnny Vaught, LSU’s Charley McClendon and Florida’s Ray Graves.

 

Vincent was an LSU student, working in athletic communications, during the final years of the Skywriters Tour. His most important responsibility was setting up the hospitality room. According to unconfirmed rumors, some old-school journalists placed greater priority on attending the hospitality room than on practices and interviews.

 

“We’ve come a long way since the Skywriters Tour days,’’ Vincent said.

 

The modern SEC Media Days might as well be a rocket ship. Blast-off occurred Sunday night. It will pick up speed each day until the last celebrity head coach and All-American player has spoken.

 

As they like to say around the SEC … It Just Means More.