What started as Texas and Oklahoma leaving the Big 12 for the SEC has become a full-scale conference realignment with a new domino falling every couple of months. While some schools may be reaping the benefits of leaving their conference, others will be on the outside looking into the new college football hierarchy. With many questions surrounding the game and the sport’s overall health, there was much more intrigue surrounding this year’s Big 12 media days.
Neal Brown Gives His Thoughts on NIL and Realignment
While many Mountaineers fans are optimistic about this upcoming season, head coach Neal Brown took the podium last week to address the overarching issues of college football. One area where Brown thought some change would be necessary is with NIL.
“I think that we live in an era now where there’s a lot of pulls on our players’ times and the ability to manage time not only for the student-athletes, for staff or myself, it gets harder and harder. You know, and I’m for name, image, and likeness. I think I said this in this exact same chair here a year ago. We’ve got to figure out some guardrails on it where we can still help student-athletes, but it’s not necessarily used as an inducement,” Brown said.
On the other hand, the Mountaineer head coach expressed confidence in the Big 12 even with realignment affecting the conference directly.
“I’m really excited about the direction of the Big 12 conference. From a West Virginia perspective, we’ve played in multiple leagues over the last 50 to 75 years; we’ve even had been an independent the one constant is that West Virginia football has always been successful and always figured out a way to make it work,” said Brown.
Steve Sarkisian Address Realignment and Talks QB Battle
Since Texas is at the forefront of college football realignment, it was only natural for Sarkisian to address where the sport is today in his opening statement.
“I know we like to talk about the things that are wrong with our game right now, but there are a lot of things right with our game. The game of college football, the sport of college football, is amazing,” Sarkisian said.
Sarkisian also addressed the quarterback competition between the number one overall recruit in 2021, Quinn Ewers, and junior Hudson Card.
“I’ve been really impressed with both these guys in Hudson and Quinn and the work they’ve done to prepare themselves.”
Although the Texas head coach declined to say who had the advantage, he did give a timeline of when Texas would announce a starter.
“No, we haven’t made a decision yet, but I don’t think it will take quite as long as last fall took us.”
Brent Venables Mentions the Standard at Oklahoma and Dillon Gabriel
The other team that set in motion conference realignment, Oklahoma; has a new head coach this season in Brent Venables. The former Clemson defensive coordinator mentioned the standard of winning in Norman.
“I wanted an opportunity to coach at a place like Oklahoma. It’s a special place. Being consistently at the top of your game is even harder. Oklahoma has exemplified that both on the field and probably for me and my peace in making the decision off the field from a leadership standpoint, from an alignment standpoint,” Venables said.
However, the head coach is not the only position in the program that has changed. With quarterbacks, Spencer Rattler transferring to South Carolina and Caleb Williams following Lincoln Riley to Southern California, Dillion Gabriel, a UCF transfer, is set to lead the Sooner this upcoming season. Venables talked about the importance of having an experienced starter in that position.
“Dillon Gabriel is a winner. You can’t say it any better than that. He’s thrown for 8,000 yards, completed over 60 percent of his passes, incredible touchdown-to-interception ratio, just a great leader. He’s our quarterback.”
Mike Gundy Jokes about Texas and Oklahoma in Big 12 Meetings and Talks Bedlam
Although Oklahoma State had a phenomenal 12-2 season, coming just inches away from winning the Big 12, much of the attention at media day revolved around the departure of Texas and Oklahoma.
“We go to conference meetings, and OU and Texas are in there. They’re still in the conference. But I’m guessing when they leave, they’re scratching down things that can help them when they’re in the SEC. The new commissioner, I mean, honestly, if I was him, I wouldn’t let OU and Texas in any meetings.”
However, on a much more serious note, Gundy gave his thoughts on the future of Bedlam.
“Well, the future in Bedlam is a year or two left. That’s the future of Bedlam, based on somebody else’s decision.”
Dave Aranda Gives Insight Into the Bears Goal Line Stand and The Culture He Brought to Waco
The Baylor Bears are still riding high from their Big 12 title last season. However, that championship was in doubt when Oklahoma State snapped the ball on 4th down as there was confusion on the Baylor sideline.
“I thought there was a timeout and we didn’t have a timeout. We thought it was this personnel and it was a different personnel,” said Aranda.
Much of Baylor’s success last year was due to the culture Aranda implemented in Baylor’s abysmal 2020 season. The head coach talked about how areas of improvement off the field can make a difference.
“I think it starts with the focus, with more focus on things that are outside of the sport, more focus on academics. Hey, we had this GPA this semester, right, and that was a record; let’s do better the next semester. You had your personal best this semester; let’s get a new personal best this coming semester. The focus on spiritual growth.”
Photo by Ben Queen
