The Georgia Bulldogs and Florida Gators will headline the four teams represented on Tuesday’s session of 2017 SEC Football Media Days from Hoover, Alabama.
College football’s wildest annual offseason event got underway on Monday afternoon with the beginning of 2017 SEC Football Media Days at the Hyatt Regency -Wynfrey Hotel in Birmingham.
The four-day excursion gives media and fans alike to interact with players and coaches from every team in the SEC just three weeks ahead of the start of fall camp around the country. Following a conference by commissioner Greg Sankey and three teams on Monday, day two action will continue with representatives from the Florida Gators, Georgia Bulldogs, Vanderbilt Commodores and Mississippi State Bulldogs on Tuesday morning.
Day two should be one of the most intriguing sessions of the week with SEC East favorites Georgia and Florida set to answer questions, plus a pair of teams in Vanderbilt and Mississippi State who have a few promising pieces. The full list of each school’s representatives on Tuesday is indicated below.
Florida Gators
- Head coach Jim McElwain
- Defensive back Duke Dawson, senior
- Defensive back Marcell Harris, senior
- Offensive lineman Martez Ivey, junior
Georgia Bulldogs
- Head coach Kirby Smart
- Running back Nick Chubb, senior
- Running back Sony Michel, senior
- Linebacker Roquan Smith, junior
Vanderbilt Commodores
- Head coach Derek Mason
- Linebacker Oren Burks, senior
- Quarterback Kyle Shurmer, junior
- Running back Ralph Webb, senior
Mississippi State Bulldogs
- Head coach Dan Mullen
- Wide receiver Donald Gray, senior
- Linebacker Dez Harris, senior
- Offensive lineman Martinas Rankins, senior
McElwain will likely be prepared to answer a number of questions about Notre Dame transfer Malik Zaire, who has the potential to be a massive upgrade under center should he land the starting job. The Gators will also feature their top returning defender in Harris, who will lead what figures to be another terrific unit.
Smart could be in for a round of intense questioning, as the second-year head coach is already feeling some pressure to take home an SEC East crown and more. Helping Georgia in that quest will be the outstanding running back duo of Chubb and Michel, both of whom will speak on Tuesday.
Vanderbilt made a significant leap last year to a bowl appearance and will now look to take the next step under Mason in his fourth season. Key returning starters Shurmur and Webb will be in Hoover to answer questions about a sluggish offense that ranks well behind a solid Commodores defense.
The afternoon will close out with Mississippi State, which will hope to improve upon a 6-7 campaign, its worst since the first year of the Mullen era. Promising junior quarterback Nick Fitzgerald will be relying heavily on Gray and Rankins, two of the top returning Bulldogs on the offensive side of the ball.
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Television coverage begins on Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. Eastern on the SEC Network, with the first press conference set to start just after 10:00 a.m. As McElwain and Mullen are two of then more entertaining coaches in the conference, day two should be filled with sound bites.