The Florida, Vanderbilt, Auburn coaches were at the podium first in the opening day of the Southeastern Conference media days on Monday.
Florida coach Jim McElwain didn’t shed much light on who the Gators’ starting quarterback will be when he spoke. Fourth-year junior Luke Del Rio — son of Oakland Raiders’ coach Jack Del Rio — appears to be the frontrunner, however.
“I got to say, all four guys we have in that quarterback room I’m really excited about,” McElwain said.
Del Rio will compete with Purdue transfer Austin Appleby and true freshmen Kyle Trask and Feleipe Franks.
Del Rio drew praise from teammate and senior linebacker Jarrad Davis, “He goes out there and knows what he needs to do, knows how to get things done,” Davis said. “He’s somebody who doesn’t step down from any challenge.”
While questions remain about the offense, the Gators, who won 10 games last season, are anticipating having another dominant year on the defensive end — building off last year’s unit that ranked fourth in the conference in total yards allowed.
“The defense last year set a standard,” Davis said. “This year, everything is going to be centered around taking it to the next level. You never want to stay the same. You want to get better.”
McElwain offered minimal updates on wide receiver Antonio Callaway and former quarterback Treon Harris, saying they are both on campus and working out.
Harris isn’t expected to step under center this season, despite filling in for Will Grier after his suspension last year. He will likely be transitioned to a slot receiver, per multiple reports.
While his teammates were answering questions in Alabama, Florida junior defensive back Jaylen Tabor took questions from fans on social media.
Tabor said he would have “eight to 10” interceptions this year, named Dez Bryant and Joe Haden as his favorite NFL players, and called Alabama wide receiver Calvin Ridley the toughest wide out to defend in the SEC.
“I’m cool with it. Jalen’s being Jalen,” Gators redshirt senior Marcus Maye said about Tabor’s personal media day. “On the field he’s Jalen and off the field he’s Jalen, he’s Jalen all the time.”
Vanderbilt, meanwhile, hopes to keep progressing after last year’s 4-8 mark — one more win than the 3-9 record in coach Derek Mason’s first season.
Before Mason arrived, the Commodores enjoyed back-to-back 9-4 years under coach James Franklin, who left to take the head job at Penn State.
“We had the great fortune to win one more game,” Mason said. “For some in here, that’s not monumental enough. That’s OK. For us, we saw how we let some games slide. We missed some opportunities, OK, and that has not gone unnoticed by this football team.”
Redshirt junior linebacker Zach Cunningham said he is looking forward to putting Vanderbilt’s improved chemistry on display when the Commodores open the season against South Carolina on Sept. 1.
“I don’t think it’s a measuring stick game,” he said, “but it’s definitely a game that’s going to prove not only to the fans but to everyone else what we can do.
Auburn coach Gus Malzahn, the first SEC head coach available Monday, said the four Auburn players arrested in the offseason — Carlton Davis, Byron Cowart, Ryan Davis and Jeremiah Dinson — served punishment and will not be suspended. His prevailing theme in 2015 was how to handle the offseason arrest of then-quarterback Nick Marshall.
“Our theme this year is ‘earn it,’” Malzahn said. “Our players came up with that. Earn your teammates’ respect, your coaches’ respect. Earn it every day on and off the field and our guys have done that in the offseason.
“Real excited about our players. They’ve had a very good offseason, very good spring. Our team unity is very strong, and our leadership is very strong. They are really stepping up and being accountable to each other and not just the coaches.”
Malzahn was asked about the disappointing 7-6 season in 2015, including 2-6 in the SEC.
“You take a look back and you evaluate things, what can you do better from a head coach’s standpoint, what can you do better from an administrative standpoint,” Malzahn said.
“So it was good for me to sit back and look and evaluate everything. You know, when I look at last year, really the thing that stands out to me is we lost close games. In this league, you’re going to have a lot of close games. The two previous years, we were one of the best in the country at winning close games. And we had opportunities. And usually it comes down in this league to two or three plays in these close games, and you got to find a way to make them and you got to have your guys prepared and you got to be able to execute.
“And from an offensive standpoint, really was the first time since I’ve been coaching college that we didn’t execute at, what I say, a high level consistently. And that goes back on me. I do feel good about where we’re at. I do feel good about some of the valuations and some of the changes we made going into this year.”