Four days is a long time to sit through any event. By the last part of media days, the room has thinned out. Several members of the media have hit the road early. And depending on which coaches are scheduled for that last day, many are staying in the breakfast room a little longer. But day four of SEC Media Days had a standup comedy routine mixed in with football talk.
Thank You. Tip Your Server
Missouri’s Eliah Drinkwitz has always been known as glib. Many are amused by it. There are some coaches we know of who do not fit into that category. One thing Drinkwitz is never is boring.
As he took the stage and a recorded version of the Mizzou fight song played, he quipped that at least they got the right fight song. It was a jab at the production staff that accidentally played the Texas A&M song as Texas coach Steve Sarkisian was leaving the stage the other day.
As he talked about a vacation to Disneyworld, he read the media room and said, “You all remind me a little of Disneyworld. Tired. Ready to go home. Tired of coaches whining up here.” He added the reasons he got into coaching. “Free gear and vacations,” he joked.
As he ended his opening statement, he advised the media that there were topics he would not cover. “I know there’s a lot of burning questions in this room by the 14 of y’all that showed up. But just as a reminder, I’m not going to answer any questions about the Epstein files, the radiation belt, and whether or not it was possible for Lee Harvey Oswald to get three shots off in seven seconds.”
Coach Speak of the Day
It’s hard to follow the comedy stylings of “Coach Drink.” It’s impossible when you are soft spoken in public, like Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops. He is one of two elder statesmen in the conference, having been with the school for 13 years. He was asked how hard the job is, when in the midst of massive changes in the systems, you also have a bad season, as Kentucky did last year. “This sh*t’s hard,” he said. He wasn’t so much complaining as just commenting on the evolution of the job over his time. But he gets the Coach Speak of the day award.
The Bigger Picture
There is plenty of conversation brought on by certain reporters about the health of the backup center or the upside of the third-string tight end. Thankfully, some coaches took the opportunity to talk about the monumental changes of the last month in college sports.
Most schools will, over the years to come, cut walk-ons from their programs for roster management and cost-saving measures. Sam Pittman said that as long as he is the head coach at Arkansas, he will always leave roster spots for walk-ons.
He also said that being allowed to have a front-office staff that handles things like revenue-sharing and NIL money has saved his relationship with players and recruits. “If someone comes into me and says, ‘I need 16 kazillion thousand dollars,’ and I think he’s worth a dollar. So then I’m sitting here going, ‘Man, me and you is going to lose our relationship here. And when we do, (you’re) gone.’”
Drinkwitz’ Take
The Missouri coach also had thoughts on the bigger picture. He took a question about the options for changes in the playoffs in future years, as well as whether the SEC should move from eight conference games to nine.
“When I think about college football right now and what we need to do, I think it comes down to two things,” he said. “What’s best for our players and what’s best for our fans. The rest of us are only important because of the players and the fans.”
Elko’s Time
Texas A&M coach Mike Elko was the last to coach in the SEC Media Days marathon. And while he stuck to football questions and answers, with no significant news broken, it is worth noting that he said A&M is now providing financial literacy tutoring for players in light of NIL and revenue-sharing changes.
Closing the Circle
Just to be all-inclusive on the week-long topic of opening statements, Drinkwitz went 6:30, Stoops clocked in at just under eight minutes, Pittman was a crisp 5:23, and Elko stopped just shy of the 10-minute mark.
Last Word will continue media days coverage next week. We will have reporters at Big 10 Media Days in Las Vegas and ACC Media Days in Charlotte.
Main Image: Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images
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