DALLAS - New SEC member Texas debuted at the conference’s Media Days on Wednesday.

When head coach Steve Sarkisian spoke to the media, the former Alabama offensive coordinator talked about the spectacle of SEC Media Days.

"So we flew in this morning, we landed, and we get off the plane, we get in the sprinter van and we got a police escort to media days,” Sarkisian said. “It just means more? It just means more right there. The fact that we had a sprinter van with a police escort to come to this was tremendous."

During Sarkisian’s time as offensive coordinator at Alabama, the Crimson Tide won the National Championship in the COVID-impacted 2020 season. While he had success with Nick Saban, Sarkisian knows about the grind of the SEC.

“It's the having the mental fortitude to refocus again because there aren't any off weeks,” Sarkisian said. “You're going against the elite coaches in America, you're going against the elite players in America. How do you put forth the same level of preparation, the same practice habits, not thinking ‘I'm good now,’ you always have to strive to improve and try to get better, that's the task, right? That kind of falls solely on me.” 

Over at Florida, former Louisiana coach Billy Napier finds himself on the hot seat after finishing 5-7 last year.

The third-year Gator coach looks to exceed expectations against a really tough schedule. 

“All the things that we've been trying to build over time, I see some of that working, I see that mentality starting to emerge,” said Napier. “We live in a society that wants it now. Okay, doesn't happen that way in anything, much less football. So when you've got hundreds of people to coordinate and get all going in the same direction, in today's climate, it's even more difficult to establish trust. I think we're over the hump, the kids that are on our team now, they picked the University of Florida and our staff, and we picked them, and the make of our team is different, and it will be very obvious when we start playing this fall.”

Florida plays at Tennessee, at Texas, and at Florida State this fall. LSU plays at Florida on November 16.