Five Big Things ... with SEC Network's Jordan Rodgers

On becoming an SEC Network personality...

"I was under contract (a year ago). It was kind of hush-hush at that point. They hadn't announced it yet. It's an unbelievable blessing to be able to have the opportunity to grow in my role with ESPN, with the SEC Network – especially as a player, the more I can get back around the game environment, especially on a weekly basis. I did five games last year, but to have something every single week this year – to get to see the stadiums, the environments, the cultures and fanbases – that's what I love doing. For me it's like prepping for a game again as a player. I get to prep and go through rosters and watch film, and then the unknown on Saturday, which is what I'm passionate about."

On working with Tom Hart and Cole Cubelic...

"I got to work with Tom once. We did the Missouri spring tour. We took a cryo – we got in one of the cryo-chambers and stripped down to our skivvies and got in a hottub. So I got to know Tom real quick, real well. Cole is such a good analyst. He watches so much film. As a color analyst, to have somebody on the field with a different perspective, a different viewpoint, to be able to solidify and/or give a different perspective back up to the booth is huge. He's going to be fantastic at it. He works his butt off."

Five big things

On Texas A&M in 2017...

"For starters, I love Sumlin. Albeit he's on the 'hotseat' needing to win, so is every other SEC coach. There's just an immediacy to the landscape of college football with the need to win. They have pieces to fill. It's tough to fill the hole of Trevor Knight. You're not going to exactly fill that hole. You're going to rely more on the run game and getting the ball out to your receivers on the outside. Whoever ends up taking that spot needs to distribute the ball, and that's the end of it. They need to be a game manager, which is not a bad thing. Everyone always gets a bad rap for being a game manager. Oh, so you're doing your role, you're distributing the ball and you're keeping the game at the pace that you're dictating. Sounds good to me. They have the pieces. When you watch them in practice, they look good. The eye test passes at every single position. They're going to be athletic. The SEC West is tough. We'll see how it shakes out."

On Alabama...

"The challenger to Alabama every year is Alabama. If they can stay healthy, if they can not slip up, then I think it's really going to fall on who can fill the void or voids left on defense. They lost seven guys to the NFL. Minkah Fitzpatrick and Rodney Harrison are unbelievable players. They're going to have to bring pressure in different ways. They're going to have to blitz more, bring more pressure. They don't have the guys off the edge lining up four-down that can put pressure on the quarterback. It's going to look different. Can Hurts progress? Almost half of his balls were completed at or behind the line of scrimmage. You can't win many games down the stretch playing that, unless you're Alabama and you have that defense. In a tight game, they're going to need to see Hurts progress. But for right now, there's not a challenger. It's Alabama."

On a team that has a coach on the hot seat...

"Both have to have blinders. As a coach, you cannot listen to the outside rumblings of boosters, of fanbases. You know what? Fans are fickle to some degree. They have a short memory, and they want immediacy. Sometimes the roster or the development of players doesn't dictate the immediacy that fans want. That's just the landscape of college football. You have to have blinders and earmuffs on as coaches and players. You can only control what you can control. You have X number of games next year, and you have a role to do. You have to score points. You have to play defense. Outside of that, whatever happens happens. Every coach should not coach differently or have different expecations from being on the hotseat."

On the return of elite SEC quarterbacks...

"We're definitely seeing it on the precipice. Absolutely. With the young returners, like Bentley, Eason, Shea Patterson, Hurts – obviously. Then you've got guys like Austin Allen, who could possibly be one of the best quarterbacks in the SEC. Then you've got Nick Fitzgerald, who also to some degree – if you can fly under the radar as talented as he is – he has. But he's not under the radar anymore, so absolutely the landscape of the SEC is coming back to that quarterback relevancy, which I love, of course. Who needs defense, right? Let's get some quarterbacks out there. It definitely looks promising. There are a lot of young guys that will be playing well for a long time."

On the surprise team of the year...

"I think it's going to be Kentucky. I really do. I think the East is growing from the standpoint of Georgia and Florida are separating the gap from the other teams. Tennessee isn't going to be what it was last year, though what you call your season last year – I think it could have been better with the pieces that they had. Kentucky is going to be good. (They have) one of the better backs in the SEC. That defense, if they can reload up front, which they have to do. Jordan Jones is one of the better versatile, athletic, all-around tough players in the SEC, as well. That offense under Steven Johnson, I think, is more solidified in him going through reads and opperating the offense. Barkley was more of a outside the pocket, make things happen. The East is down. I think they have an opportunity to surprise some people this year."