Talking football with ESPN play-by-play extraordinaire Tom Hart

Key notes from Tom Hart interview

• What I've loved about ‘The Last Dance’ is the behind the scenes looks. Think about the foresight that the NBA had to let this happen. This was before those shows like ‘Hard Knocks.’ It is the first behind-the-scenes look. Every night has been amazing, and every scene is fantastic. I watched the NBA a lot in the 90s because of Michael Jordan. That's the fun part for those of us who are sports fans but aren't NBA power knowledge-brokers. There is always still stuff to learn.
   
• It's incredible that every slight, real or perceived, is used for motivation. The LaBradford Smith quote, where he said, “Good game, Mike,” was made up. That's incredible. George Karl walking by him in a restaurant fueling him to drop 60 in him the next night is just so impressive. We see the BJ Armstrong thing in retrospect. What you miss behind all of that is Armstrong, Smith, Anderson, those guys are all in the top one percent of basketball players in the world. There is a certain level of confidence that these professionals have too. It just leaks out to the wrong guy at the wrong time, and he uses it against you.
   
• I tell people every time this question is asked to consider the source. I will answer from a perspective that is important to me, and I will acknowledge that I am a glass-half-full kind of guy: Understanding that there is no consensus in this country, I could see a scenario where Greg Sankey and the other commissioners will get together and set a date to start. The SEC will be at the forefront of this, likely in lockstep with the Big Ten and the ACC. They'll set dates to have people on campus, in camp and when games start. I think they'll be understanding if certain schools can't join them.
   
• The schedule could be a hodgepodge. There could be a mad scramble here if teams aren't able to play or aren't even to travel to their road games. It'll be interesting.
   
• There are a lot of hurdles that will need to be crossed when schools and presidents decide we can play football. There will be schools that determine that they can't. What do you do with players and coaches? Are they free to leave? If they go to another school, will they count against the scholarship limits? There could be 30 teams that can't play because of travel restrictions relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. I'm not saying that you're not going to have 80 players transferring, but there could be 20 or so. The coaching staffs that I've talked to are preparing for a contingency plan similar to this. Everybody has a weakness. Everybody has a position group that they could bolster.
   
• I love the idea of teams scheduling more big-name games, even if it’s just for this season. If you crack open a media guide from the late 90s, every Power 5 team had their schedules filled with Power 5 schools. If you had a homecoming game, they might schedule an easier opponent. Could it happen this year where schools replace games with more prominent names? Maybe. There's also a chance for SEC schools to only play SEC schools. If we have most of the bowl season and just a playoff, load up the schedule. Make it tough.
   
• As far as the growth of the game, we've added ten teams to the Division 1 ranks recently. I'm not sure right now if the schools in the bottom third can afford football without mega TV deals. What are their budgets going to look like if students aren't paying fees to help them financially? It could be a mega change.
   
• The ratings we get for a given SEC game on ESPN, CBS or even on SEC Network won't be significantly affected. If you take 100,000 people outside of Kyle Field and make them watch, that's a drop in the bucket percentage-wise. If people can't go out to games across the country, they will still be looking for entertainment. Ratings could go through the roof.
   
• With the XFL broadcasts, we mic'd up everyone. It gave us a new appreciation for the communication within the game. We can provide people with a better understanding of what to look for. If we can have that kind of access, it would be cool to do a few times in the college football ranks. I was hoping to do some of that during the SEC basketball tournament.
   
• I'm fascinated with what Florida is going to look at offensively this year. I think they will be neck-and-neck with Georgia. What is Georgia going to do with Jamie Newman? Most of his numbers came in the final three games. He was not good in conference last year. It will be interesting to see what they can do. Then, Tennessee has it rolling right now. Pruitt is proving that he deserves to be the coach there.
   
• The SEC West is going to be interesting. I don't think you'd take a quarterback over Kellen Mond in the SEC West. Jimbo Fisher and this program finally have a chance to show what they can do. I'm not sure what Alabama and LSU are going to do at quarterback this year, so I see it as a three-team race in the West this year.
   
• A lot of people are jumping on the Auburn bandwagon right now. I'm not so sure about that. They lost way too much in the trenches.