So here’s the question I keep chewing on like week-old gum: If the man is this good at selling the vision, why isn’t anybody buying the stock?

Vernell Brown III will have an important role for the Gators this fall (UAA Photo) A few thoughts to jump start your Friday afternoon: Here are a few things we learned from SEC Media Days this week starting with the general consensus among the throng of writers and broadcasters that descended on Tampa from all corners of the United States that this was a very good week for the Florida Gators. Sumrall owned Wednesday and looking back on the four-day event, it’s not a stretch t

TAMPA – Ever so quietly, Danny Wuerffel made the rounds at SEC Media Days, always smiling, always deflecting praise while giving thanks to God for a life that has far exceeded expectations both on and off the playing field. As a quarterback, he earned membership in college football’s most exclusive club when he won the Heisman Trophy while leading the Florida Gators to the 1996 national championship. In the life after football that evolved into one of constant giving and cons

“This is Gator country,” he announced right away, drawing battle lines.

People, places and things from Tampa and beyond: There was nothing in Jadan Baugh’s demeanor or tone to indicate even a hint of bitterness Wednesday afternoon as he politely answered one question after another from a host of writers and broadcasters curious to get the scoop on a young man who chose to return to Florida for year three rather than get caught up in a bidding war for his services. Shortly after Billy Napier was fired and the transfer portal opened, Baugh would ha

TAMPA – Experience has taught Jon Sumrall that the more things change, the more they really do stay the same. As Florida’s first year coach, this is the third time since 2022 that Sumrall has taken over a new program and while he is quick to tell you that every situation is different, there are similarities that cannot be discarded as mere chance. New places, new faces, new schools, new leagues, nothing is remotely close to the same and yet each stop along the journey finds

“We have it in our power to begin the world over again.” – from “Common Sense” which was written in 1776 by Thomas Paine The words of Thomas Paine helped to spark a revolution. Months after he wrote “Common Sense” delegates from 13 colonies met in Philadelphia to declare independence from England. A war was fought and won. The world changed forever. Some 250 years and 16 days following the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Southeastern Conference commissioner Gr

Ambition is one thing. Trying to be Nick Saban in two area codes at once is another. Did he?

TAMPA – It is the pinnacle event of the college football talking season. Four head coaches and some of their players were on full display on day one of SEC Media Days Monday at the J.W. Marriott. Here are a few excerpts of things said from Oklahoma, Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri. OKLAHOMA Brent Venables, Oklahoma head coach On the difference in this year’s team: “A year ago on offense, we had nine first-year starters. This year we've got several returning starters, give

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey addresses the media (SEC Photo) TAMPA – The college sports version of the most interesting man in the world took to the podium Monday morning to open Southeastern Conference Media Days at the J.W. Marriott Hotel with his annual state of the SEC address. Greg Sankey is without question the single most powerful man in all of college sports. He doesn’t speak with chest-thumping arrogance but rather with words that begin as a ripple in the water only

There’s a different hum in the air around Gainesville this summer, and it’s got nothing to do with the heat index. It’s the sound of a program waking up. Apparently some of the media outside the Orange & Blue hemisphere are waking up, too.

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey A few thoughts to jump start your Sunday morning: SEC Media Days can trace its roots to the days of the Sky Writers, where the best sports columnists and writers in the south flew to all 10 Southeastern Conference schools for the stories that would hype the upcoming football season. Along the way some genius came up with the idea of bringing coaches and a few players from each school to a central location. Instead of the 30 or so writers who went