Photo by Brandon Jones, TexAgs
Texas A&M Football
“We might as well (pick Alabama to win it all every year). Put it this way, if you had done that you would be right a lot more than the media has been right in the past 15 years. I am picking Alabama to win, because until somebody beats them with the talent they have coming back, they as few questions as anyone in the SEC, so I think that you have to go with them.”
“It has been an interesting couple of days. I thought Kirby Smart at Georgia really acquitted himself well. I think he impressed a lot of people with how comfortable he was in his own skin. I thought Butch Jones made it clear that they are trying their best to embrace the expectations, because the expectations are there. Tomorrow the media is going to pick Tennessee to win the SEC East because they have the best team. I think Gus Malzahn is trying to let everybody know that their team was absolutely in the ditch last year and this year is about getting it out and headed in the right direction by trying to regain their offensive identity. Nothing unusual that I didn’t expect, but we still have two days to go.”
“There is still a pretty good gap between the SEC West and the SEC East. When you look at the top three teams and when you look at LSU, Alabama and Ole Miss, I think those three teams are better than the top three teams in the SEC East. I think Tennessee may compete with those teams but top to bottom the West is better. I think the SEC East is starting to come back because in the 90s when Tennessee and Florida were top-five teams every year, the East was easily the better division. I think it goes in cycles. With Nick Saban coming on in the West, I think that has been a factor.”
“It will take several years for Kirby Smart to get Georgia to a national title contender. You look at Georgia and there are some real significant issues on this team. Not the least of which is their backup running back Sony Michel broke his arm in an ATV accident last week and now you have lost all of your margin for error in the run. Nick Chubb is going to come back but we don’t when or how good he is going to be. Georgia is very thin on the offensive and defensive lines. They are uncertain at quarterback, so I think Georgia has a chance to finish second or third on the East but they are not good enough to win a championship.”
“I have seen some things I really like about Texas A&M. I spent a day in College Station this past spring and talked to Coach Sumlin, Noel Mazzone, and John Chavis among others. I think they have figured out some things on the offensive side of the ball. The offensive side of the ball was pretty much a train wreck in many ways last year. I think that bringing in Mazzone and bringing Jim Turner back as the offensive line coach is absolutely huge. I just think that is a great move by them and I think they are going to better.
I think the key is are they going to be able to run the ball when they want to and will they be able to stop the run when they need to? When Coach Chavis and I sat down and talked he emphasized that they weren’t very good at linebacker last year. He told me that they will be better at defensive tackle. With Mack losing weight he has a chance to be a great player. Coach Chavis told me that they would be better against the run with confidence. That is the key in this league, and this is something Coach Sumlin told me, you have to be able to run the ball when you want to and stop the run when the game is on the line. If you can’t do those things, you are not going to win.”
“I’m still more confident that A&M will be able to run the ball. I think they will be better on the offensive line than they were a year ago. The transfer running back from Oklahoma, Keith Ford, I think has a chance to really help. Stopping the run is something that is good to talk about, but you have to do it. When you look at last year for A&M, they couldn’t do it.”
“This league is about defensive lineman, since I started covering the SEC 35 years ago. Pat Dye told me when he was at Auburn that the defensive linemen were the reason this league was so good. That’s it. He said they have 6-2, 300 pound defensive lineman that can run. Nobody else has that. Or at least other leagues don’t have as many as the SEC does. Alabama last season, for instance, had the deepest, most talented defensive line that I have ever seen. The most talented 1-9 that I had ever seen. All it means now after losing a few of those players, instead of having nine high school All-Americans, they have seven. They have two more high school All-Americans coming in. So that brings them back to nine. Their ability to play and rotate defensive linemen gives them the ability to kill people. They are beating on you in the fourth quarter.”
“Alabama is vulnerable. These are the two reservations that I have about Alabama. Can they pull a rabbit out of a hat at quarterback for the third consecutive year? Number two: They have one of the toughest SEC road schedules that I have ever seen. They have to go to Tennessee, Ole Miss, Arkansas and LSU. Can they go 3-1 or 4-0 in those games? That will be tough.”
“I talked to some people yesterday and if Texas A&M can do the things we talked about, they absolutely can beat a team like Ole Miss and finish third in the West.”
“You can’t expect Ole Miss to be as good in the offensive line because all five guys who started the Sugar Bowl are gone. They are going to play an 18 year-old high school All-American at tackle in this league in Greg Little. That may be an issue. With the kind of offense that they run where the ball comes out quickly from the quarterback, it may not be as big of a deal. Quincy Adeboyejo is a very good receiver, but they will miss Laquon Treadwell. It just depends on how they compensate for that offensive line. They are replacing three first round draft choices, two of them on defense.”
“I think that Chad Kelly or Nick Chubb would win the Heisman from the SEC if Fournette didn’t do it. Jalen Hurd is another possibility or Joshua Dobbs. I don’t think Dobbs will put up quite the numbers, but in terms of leadership he has what they need.”
Tony Barnhart discusses SEC storylines heading into 2016
Key quotes from Tony Barnhart interview
“This is my 30th SEC Media Days. What is interesting about Alabama day is that it doesn’t matter whether Nick Saban or Mike Shula is the head coach. It is like this, the Alabama coach is a rock star no matter who it is.”“We might as well (pick Alabama to win it all every year). Put it this way, if you had done that you would be right a lot more than the media has been right in the past 15 years. I am picking Alabama to win, because until somebody beats them with the talent they have coming back, they as few questions as anyone in the SEC, so I think that you have to go with them.”
“It has been an interesting couple of days. I thought Kirby Smart at Georgia really acquitted himself well. I think he impressed a lot of people with how comfortable he was in his own skin. I thought Butch Jones made it clear that they are trying their best to embrace the expectations, because the expectations are there. Tomorrow the media is going to pick Tennessee to win the SEC East because they have the best team. I think Gus Malzahn is trying to let everybody know that their team was absolutely in the ditch last year and this year is about getting it out and headed in the right direction by trying to regain their offensive identity. Nothing unusual that I didn’t expect, but we still have two days to go.”
“There is still a pretty good gap between the SEC West and the SEC East. When you look at the top three teams and when you look at LSU, Alabama and Ole Miss, I think those three teams are better than the top three teams in the SEC East. I think Tennessee may compete with those teams but top to bottom the West is better. I think the SEC East is starting to come back because in the 90s when Tennessee and Florida were top-five teams every year, the East was easily the better division. I think it goes in cycles. With Nick Saban coming on in the West, I think that has been a factor.”
“It will take several years for Kirby Smart to get Georgia to a national title contender. You look at Georgia and there are some real significant issues on this team. Not the least of which is their backup running back Sony Michel broke his arm in an ATV accident last week and now you have lost all of your margin for error in the run. Nick Chubb is going to come back but we don’t when or how good he is going to be. Georgia is very thin on the offensive and defensive lines. They are uncertain at quarterback, so I think Georgia has a chance to finish second or third on the East but they are not good enough to win a championship.”
“I have seen some things I really like about Texas A&M. I spent a day in College Station this past spring and talked to Coach Sumlin, Noel Mazzone, and John Chavis among others. I think they have figured out some things on the offensive side of the ball. The offensive side of the ball was pretty much a train wreck in many ways last year. I think that bringing in Mazzone and bringing Jim Turner back as the offensive line coach is absolutely huge. I just think that is a great move by them and I think they are going to better.
I think the key is are they going to be able to run the ball when they want to and will they be able to stop the run when they need to? When Coach Chavis and I sat down and talked he emphasized that they weren’t very good at linebacker last year. He told me that they will be better at defensive tackle. With Mack losing weight he has a chance to be a great player. Coach Chavis told me that they would be better against the run with confidence. That is the key in this league, and this is something Coach Sumlin told me, you have to be able to run the ball when you want to and stop the run when the game is on the line. If you can’t do those things, you are not going to win.”
“I’m still more confident that A&M will be able to run the ball. I think they will be better on the offensive line than they were a year ago. The transfer running back from Oklahoma, Keith Ford, I think has a chance to really help. Stopping the run is something that is good to talk about, but you have to do it. When you look at last year for A&M, they couldn’t do it.”
“This league is about defensive lineman, since I started covering the SEC 35 years ago. Pat Dye told me when he was at Auburn that the defensive linemen were the reason this league was so good. That’s it. He said they have 6-2, 300 pound defensive lineman that can run. Nobody else has that. Or at least other leagues don’t have as many as the SEC does. Alabama last season, for instance, had the deepest, most talented defensive line that I have ever seen. The most talented 1-9 that I had ever seen. All it means now after losing a few of those players, instead of having nine high school All-Americans, they have seven. They have two more high school All-Americans coming in. So that brings them back to nine. Their ability to play and rotate defensive linemen gives them the ability to kill people. They are beating on you in the fourth quarter.”
“Alabama is vulnerable. These are the two reservations that I have about Alabama. Can they pull a rabbit out of a hat at quarterback for the third consecutive year? Number two: They have one of the toughest SEC road schedules that I have ever seen. They have to go to Tennessee, Ole Miss, Arkansas and LSU. Can they go 3-1 or 4-0 in those games? That will be tough.”
“I talked to some people yesterday and if Texas A&M can do the things we talked about, they absolutely can beat a team like Ole Miss and finish third in the West.”
“You can’t expect Ole Miss to be as good in the offensive line because all five guys who started the Sugar Bowl are gone. They are going to play an 18 year-old high school All-American at tackle in this league in Greg Little. That may be an issue. With the kind of offense that they run where the ball comes out quickly from the quarterback, it may not be as big of a deal. Quincy Adeboyejo is a very good receiver, but they will miss Laquon Treadwell. It just depends on how they compensate for that offensive line. They are replacing three first round draft choices, two of them on defense.”
“I think that Chad Kelly or Nick Chubb would win the Heisman from the SEC if Fournette didn’t do it. Jalen Hurd is another possibility or Joshua Dobbs. I don’t think Dobbs will put up quite the numbers, but in terms of leadership he has what they need.”
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