It is a tradition as old as, well, as old as the shirt I’m wearing here on the final day of SEC Media Days. Each year when it is over, I rank the coaches based on their presentations. My criteria is pretty much whatever I want it to be. Were they informative? Were they entertaining? Were they boring? A joke never hurts.
It’s hard to believe it’s already over for another year.
1. Steve Spurrier: He belongs on the Mount Rushmore of SEC Media Days. He started with a bang when he announced the SEC coaches voted 14-0 to demand that Notre Dame join the ACC and kept going.
2. Les Miles: Miles was hilarious as always. His take on handling Australian punter Jamie Keehn: “You have to learn how to speak Australian.” Gotta love The Hat.
3. Bret Bielema: I’d never met him before but he was very good in the print room and seemed to give honest answers.
4. Nick Saban: Always has a couple of jokes about his love for the media and made compelling arguments on scheduling.
5. Will Muschamp: The Florida coach had some good lines and created news with his slam of Urban Meyer.
6. Butch Jones: The Tennessee coach came here with a lot of energy. Let’s see if a season in Rocky Top wears it out of him.
7. Dan Mullen: The former Gator coordinator is comfortable in this setting and his answers about Ole Miss momentum were fun.
8. Kevin Sumlin: The Texas A&M coach was honest about Johnny Manziel and delivered his message with eloquence.
9. James Franklin: Impressive guy who never really talked about any of his players until he was asked about his quarterbacks at the end of his talk. I found that odd.
10. Hugh Freeze: The Ole Miss coach was OK. Nothing special.
11. Mark Richt: Surprisingly bland, the Georgia coach didn’t have a lot to say. Maybe he’s tired of these things.
12. Gus Malzahn: Short, crisp answers. No nonsense. We like nonsense.
13. Mark Stoops: The only entertainment was that he sounds so much like his brother Bob.
14. Gary Pinkel: Not much to say and little entertainment value.
