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TAMPA, Fla. — Day 3 of SEC Media Days is a wrap and just like that we’re 75 percent of the way to the finish line. Today we heard from Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer, Florida’s Jon Sumrall, Ole Miss’ Pete Golding, and Texas A&M’s Mike Elko. There was no shortage of takes to be had on Wednesday. Here’s each of the OTF Staff’s biggest ones. Bobby Burton: In listening to Mike Elko and talking with Billy Liucci today, I’m convinced the Aggies believe they will be a better overall defense this season. The transfer DLs are legit and Elko thinks he has a very good secondary. I’m not as convinced about their OL as they seem to be. I think the Aggies will struggle to…

SEC Media Days Live Thread Day 3: Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Florida and Alabama Tampa, Fla. - The 2026 SEC Media Days enters day three with Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Florida and Alabama taking to the mic. OnTexasFootball is live from Tampa this week covering all things SEC Media Days. Schedule for Wednesday, July 22... Alabama – Kalen DeBoer | Zabien Brown, DB; Ryan Coleman-Williams, WR; Bray Hubbard, DB Florida – Jon Sumrall | Jadan Baugh, RB; Myles Graham, LB; Vernell Brown III, WR Ole Miss – Pete Golding | Trinidad Chambliss, QB; Will Echoles, DT; Kewan Lacy, RB Texas A&M – Mike Elko | Daymion Sanford, LB; Marcus Ratcliffe, S; Ma…

Texas Fall Roster Update **** The Texas fall roster updated this morning with the additions from the summer now represented. Additionally, heights and weights for several guys were updated as well. A couple of takeaways from the latest roster: – For those wondering, Cole Hutson was not listed on the roster. Still in the process of gaining clearance in his return to college football. – Additionally, QB Arch Manning is listed at 222 pounds on the current roster update. While at the Manning Passing Academy, Arch said he had clocked in at 235 pounds while recovering from his – Projected offensive line height & weights: LT Trevor Goos…

As we are at the halfway point of SEC Media days, I figured it would be a good time to check in on what some of the Texas team is doing two weeks before fall camp begins. ** Several players (approx. 8 or 9), including Arch Manning, Cam Coleman, Ryan Wingo and Rasheem Biles, spent much of last week in Phoenix working out together. ** Colin Simmons is an undisputed leader of the defense, but that is transferring to the entire team. Simmons, according to one source, is the one who is holding others “accountable”. ** On Sunday at the THSCA convention, Steve Sarkisian mentioned that incoming transfer Laurence Seymore has transformed his body …

For today’s OTF Sideline Debate, the OTF Staff gives our SEC champion, plus who we believe makes the College Football Playoff from the conference. Take a look! Bobby Burton “My freshman year in college, an advisor suggested not taking the 8am calculus class. But I did it anyway. The result? There’s nothing like a Gentlemen’s C. Something similar can be said for Texas. The schedule is daunting. But a Gentlemen C grade won’t cut it. The Horns have the team to win the SEC. This is the year Sark and the Horns break through. “Beyond the Longhorns making the playoff, I have Georgia, LSU, and Oklahoma in the 12-team field.” Gerry Hamilton “My pic…

TAMPA, Fla. — Four more teams took the podium on Tuesday from SEC Media Days, including South Carolina. The Gamecocks added former Texas running back Christian Clark to the roster this offseason after the Arizona native entered the transfer portal. Clark was used sparingly in 2025, coming off an Achilles tear ahead of his freshman season in 2024. Against Michigan in the Citrus Bowl, Clark shined as the lead back, carrying the ball 20 times for 105 yards and a touchdown. We asked each of the three Gamecocks players in attendance on Tuesday for their thoughts on Clark. It’s safe to say he’s made a positive impression on his teammates in Columbia so far. QB LaNor…

TAMPA, Fla. — Day 2 of SEC Media Days is in the books. Today, the OTF Staff on hand in Florida (Bobby Burton, Gerry Hamilton, CJ Vogel, Jeff Howe, and Hank South) give their biggest takeaway after Georgia, Auburn, Vanderbilt, and South Carolina took the podium. Bobby Burton — “I think there’s a better chance Clark Lea and Vanderbilt revert to mean than keep pushing forward. I like Lea and I like the players he brought to Nashville. But starting a true freshman QB with an underwhelming roster doesn’t make me a believer.” CJ Vogel — “Steve Sarkisian needs to become the catalyst of physicality for Texas the way Kirby Smart is for Georgia. Listening to …

SEC Media Days Live Thread Day 2: Kirby Smart takes center stage Tampa, Fla. - The 2026 SEC Media Days is in day two with Kirby Smart taking center stage. OnTexasFootball is live from Tampa this week covering all things SEC Media Days. Schedule for Tuesday... Tuesday, July 21 Auburn — Alex Golesh | Champ Anthony, DB; Byrum Brown, QB; Alex McPherson, K Georgia – Kirby Smart | Drew Bobo, OL; Gunner Stockton, QB; Raylen Wilson, LB South Carolina – Shane Beamer | Nyck Harbor, WR; LaNorris Sellers, QB; Peyton Williams, DB Vanderbilt – Clark Lea | Sedrick Alexander, RB; Issa Ouattara, DL; Junior Sherrill, WR Schedule for Wednesday…

Georgia LB Raylen Wilson Speaks on Will Muschamp's Impact *** The beginning of day two at SEC Media Days belonged to the Dawgs. The 2x defending SEC Champions were on the podium, obviously headlined by Kirby Smart. My focus went to linebacker Raylen Wilson during the player breakouts. The 6-foot-1 linebacker totaled 74 total tackles for the Dawgs a year ago, including 2.5 sacks in 550 snaps in 2025. While Kirby Smart is the genius behind the Georgia defense, with DC Glenn Schumann sharing responsibilities as well. But there are other factors that have gone into making that side of the ball such a dominant force on the field over the last decade. O…

Quick update on Cole Hutson lawsuit against the NCAA. Hutson and his representation are awaiting a conference with the NCAA and a date to be heard in court. Obviously, the hope is for a quick court date given the time sensitive nature of the request. View full news story

This is my third preseason SEC Media Days. And thus far, it is the most subdued by a long shot. No one has talked much trash. The closest we came to that yesterday was Josh Heupel, who more closely resembles an altar boy, asking Tennessee fans to get ready for the return of Lane Kiffin with golf balls and mustard. In other news: - Eli Drinkwitz of Missouri announced Ahmard Hardy, his star running back, is expected to be ready for the season after being shot just a couple of months ago. - Brent Venables is rightfully proud of his defense and, perhaps most importantly, genuinely feels like he’s improved the pieces around his quarterback on offense. …

Tennessee Quarterback Race Still Looking for a Leader *** Texas opens its 2026 SEC campaign against Tennessee in Knoxville September 26th. It is the Longhorns' first ever trip to Neyland Stadium, with the three previous meetings all coming in Dallas, Texas with the most recent matchup between the two coming January 1, 1969. Of all of the Texas-Tennessee storylines to fixate on, the Manning family connection will be one beat to death by talking heads across the sport. But I wanted to focus more on the Tennessee quarterbacking situation for this article. As of today, the ongoing battle between redshirt freshman George MacIntyre and true freshman Fai…

What happened over the weekend? Well, Sark told us that true freshman Jermaine Bishop worked at corner the entire summer. And he compared Bishop to his previous experiences with three first-round picks - John Ross of Washington, Devonta Smith of Alabama and Adoree Jackson of USC. Sark said he'll push Bishop back over to offense at the start of fall camp. But the mere fact that he thinks so much of the true freshman that he is even attempting to try him at both spots should be a telling sign to all. Bishop isn't your typical freshman. He's going to find his way on the field even in a scenario where Texas has three very strong upper-class receivers. ** …

Former Texas offensive lineman Cole Hutson has filed a lawsuit against the NCAA to become eligible in 2026. The lawsuit is similar to the ones that Texas basketball players Chendall Weaver and Jordan Pope have pursued, and in Weaver's case, already received an injunction. It relates to high school players in the class of 2022 gaining a fifth year of eligibility based on both the preceding and subsequent classes also receiving five full years of eligibility. If Hutson wins the case and/or receives the injunction, he will be available for fall camp for the Longhorns and be expected to compete for the starting left guard spot along with Laurence Seymore and Jaydon …

Earlier this month, OTF laid out why Lancaster’s James Foster III is and will continue to be such an important target for the Texas Longhorns in the 2028 cycle. On Monday, OTF caught up with five-star from the Southern Sector of Dallas to hear the latest on his recruitment and what he’s working on going into a big junior campaign. After exploding onto the recruiting scene as a freshman and sophomore starting on varsity in the highly competitive district of doom that featured Duncanville, DeSoto, and plenty other powerhouse programs, Foster has put in a lot of offseason work as he preps for a special junior season. “First of all, I just wanna thank God that…

Texas Hoops Report: Spears Jr.'s first workout with the team The Texas Longhorns finished up their best week of summer workouts to date. And quite frankly, that is how it should be with a new team building on court chemistry and confidence . OTF relays some notes from the week. Marcus Spears Jr. went through his first team workout on Thursday. He didn’t waste much time, as he was aggressive attacking offensively on day one. His ability in transition showed up early on, including a couple of finishes at the rim over bigs. He looked like he absolutely belonged on day one. Cleaning up shot selection at times is key for any young player, and that comes with m…

What Is the Expected Jump for Oklahoma's Offensive Line in 2026? *** An article based around Oklahoma? Yes. You betcha! Sun Tzu said it better than I ever could: “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” With that said, the biggest unknown for the 2026 Oklahoma Sooners team isn't the quarterback, and it sure isn't the defense. But it is the offensive line, something that under Lincoln Riley was never questioned. The Sooners w…

TAMPA, Fla. — Day 1 of SEC Media Days is a wrap. In all we heard from four different head coaches: Oklahoma’s Brent Venables, Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz, Kentucky’s Will Stein, and Tennessee’s Josh Heupel, plus SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey to open the event. Here’s 10 notable takeaways from Day 1. Reminder: Texas is the last team set to take the stage on Thursday 1.) SEC commissioner Greg Sankey still appears dissatisfied with how SOS will be accounted for by the CFP committee despite the SEC playing a 9-game conference schedule. “We had what I'll call an unsatisfactory conversation with members of the College Football Playoff staff and some of their …

SEC Media Days Live Thread Day 1: Brent Venables, Eli Drinkwitz & Josh Heupel speak Tampa, Fla. - The 2026 SEC Media Days begin today with head coaches of three teams on the Texas Longhorns 2026 schedule. OnTexasFootball is live from Tampa the next four days covering all things SEC Media Days. Speaking today: Kentucky's Will Stein Missouri's Eli Drinkwitz Oklahoma's Brent Venables Tennessee's Josh Heupel Each team brings three players for media availability, and that group includes Oklahoma QB John Mateer. View full news story

The Texas Longhorns have had boatloads of recruiting success since Steve Sarkisian arrived in Austin in January of 2021. So much so that of the 25 highest-rated all-time commits per 247Sports Composite (modern era goes back to c/o 1999), seven are players Sarkisian recruited. 14 were Mack Brown recruits. Three were Tom Herman’s (really two since Bru McCoy technically counts as a signee), and one was Charlie Strong’s. Sarkisian has almost doubled the amount of top-25 rated talents as the Strong/Herman eras that lasted seven seasons despite Sarkisian entering year six in Austin. Though recruiting is now an entirely different world than when the modern era be…

TAMPA, Fla. — Texas will open SEC play this September against Tennessee from Neyland Stadium. It’s the first time the Longhorns will have faced the Vols since 1969. Name your storyline ahead of the battle of UTs, but leading the Vols is head coach Josh Heupel, who starred at Oklahoma, helping the Sooners to their last national championship in 2000, before spending the early parts of his coaching career in Norman. OTF asked Heupel whether there’s any extra eagerness about this matchup given his history. “First game of the conference season,” Heupel said. “It’s important. You want to get off on the right foot. Ton of respect for the University of Texas. Yo…

TAMPA, Fla. — Oklahoma QB John Mateer spoke to the media on Monday at 2026 SEC Media Days. Here's what he said as it pertains to Texas. How much was the hand a factor in the game against Texas and excitement for this year’s Red River Shootout? “Looking forward to another opportunity. I mean, I'm not gonna sit here and make an excuse. We lost, I lost, but even you can imagine, 17 days (to recover). I mean, there's a couple other quarterbacks that have done it. It's a little different, you know, Jared Goff was a little higher on his thumb. Drew Brees tore a ligament. He was out for a little bit. You can imagine, you know, it was difficult.” The decision to …

TAMPA, Fla. — Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz provided an update on injured running back Ahmad Hardy on Monday at SEC Media Days. Hardy, the nation’s second-leading rusher from 2025, suffered an offseason gunshot wound in May. “Ahmad has been medically cleared from the bullet that struck him, and he is on the road to recovery,” Drinkwitz told reporters. “The bullet did strike a bone in his body, and that has been fully healed and cleared, and today was his first day back towards a full recovery. We anticipate that he will make a recovery. What that recovery will look like after having a bullet strike you is still to be determined. We do not know exactly what the r…

First question from THSCA: What is the core message you want to share about the impact off the field these coaches have on kids and the communities? “I think first and foremost as coaches, we bear a major responsibility when it comes to the development of young people in our society. And how we how do we develop them? We develop them a lot of them through sport, but it's not just through sport, whether it's on the field, on the court, or in the pool, it's through sport in in the discipline, the commitment that it takes to be successful in that sport. But the life lessons that are learned through sport, I think, are what ultimately carry our young people into society…

While the general public thinks the college football season doesn’t come until Labor Day or so, the kickoff for the 2026 football season actually starts this week, at least for those that cover the sport. For years on end, the Texas High School Coaches Association would mark the start of the season for me. Now, it’s the THSCA convention and the SEC Media Days. Both are this week and OTF will be on site. I’ll be in Tampa for the SEC Media, along with Gerry, Hank, Jeff, CJ and Matt. Blake, Jeff and Jordan will be in Houston for THSCA. In the next few days we’ll hear from coaches across the region and state, some of them multiple times, including Steve Sarkisi…