ESPN College Football

Edward Aschoff talks with Ole Miss offensive lineman Bradley Sowell at SEC media days.

Not even those flashy, ego-boosting MTV cameras could save Alabama’s prized high school football program from Larry Smith five years ago.

Just a senior at Prattville (Ala.), Smith earned MVP honors after accounting for 174 yards of total offense as in a 35-21 win over Hoover (Ala.) in the 2006 Class 6A title.

Hoover had spent a year in the limelight as its popular reality show Two-A-Days ran on MTV, but Smith made sure it didn’t end the way it’s audience wanted.

Smith can’t go home without being viewed as a celebrity. Even with his family still residing in Prattville, Smith has a few members in the Birmingham-Hoover area and his 2006 triumph is still talk of the town.

Smith returned to Hoover for SEC media days with his Vanderbilt teammates last week, and though there wasn’t a Crimson Tide-like contingency to greet him, there were a few friends in town for him to see.

“We refer to Alabama as God’s country and it’s always good to come back home and relax a little,” Smith said.

Being home reminds the senior quarterback of his past glories, but it also reminds him that he has time to generate a little more acclaim before he calls his college career quits.

Smith has had an up-and-down career in Nashville. He was lauded for his first start in the 2008 Music City Bowl, where he completed 10-of-17 passes for 121 yards in the Commodores’ first postseason win in 53 years.

After that, his approval rating dipped considerably as Vandy has gone 4-20 in the past two seasons, including 1-15 in conference play. Smith completed 47 percent of his passes last season and has thrown 10 touchdown passes to12 interceptions the past two seasons.

Smith hears the criticism. He understands people have called for his starting job and he doesn’t really care. He learned at an early age that in order to succeed, he had to be thick-skinned. Smith found out the hard way after many rough one-on-one basketball games with his father growing up. The more he fell and cried, the more his dad pushed and the stronger Smith got.

And all that commentary he’s hearing now reminds him of the scraped knees from all those skids on the asphalt.
“I really don’t let those things get to me,” Smith said. “I build a wall around me and try go out there and do my best the next game.”

Things will be different, Smith assures. He’s surrounded by a new coaching staff and is under the tutelage of a quarterbacks coach that more than impressed Smith with his work with Josh Freeman at Kansas State.

Ricky Rahne has worked tirelessly with Smith on his technique and reading defenses. The most important lesson for Smith has been Rahne’s sessions on footwork. Smith said that in a more suitable pro-style offense, he’s learned to stand more comfortably and confidently in the pocket, greatly enhancing his delivery.

New head coach James Franklin gave Smith a fresh start, meaning his past was wiped clean, but he’d have to earn back his starting spot.

“Larry's got an opportunity,” Franklin said. “He did have a great spring, a very good summer from what all the players and strength coaches have told me. So I'm excited to get to camp and give him an opportunity to compete against a Jordan Rodgers, compete against the three freshmen we have coming in, then also some of the walk-ons as well.”

Like most at Vanderbilt, Smith is very excited about Franklin. He’s excited about the “360-degree” change in the confidence flourishing throughout the team. And he’s excited to pull a few surprises this fall.

Smith knows the expectations are low -- they always are -- but he and his teammates are embracing the disrespect and like being shunned by everyone.

“It’s exciting being under the radar,” he said. “People might take you lightly and you can sneak up on somebody and get them that week.”

Ivan Maisel speaks with more coaches from the SEC including Bobby Petrino, Les Miles, Joker Phillips, Nick Saban, Mark Richt and James Franklin.

Alabama coach Nick Saban discusses Tuscaloosa's recovery from April's deadly storms, the Crimson Tide's QB situation, Trent Richardson and more.

LSU coach Les Miles dishes on the SEC, the addition of Steve Kragthorpe, the Tigers' season-opener against Oregon and more

SEC commissioner Mike Slive shares his thoughts on the state of his conference, NCAA policies, the SEC's next television contract and more.

Saban talks about why his team plays challenging non-conference games. Plus, Saban talks about his approach with the media.

Ivan Maisel talks to some SEC coaches including Steve Spurrier from South Carolina, Dan Mullen from Mississippi State and Houston Nutt from Ole Miss.

Florida coach Will Muschamp weighs in on how the SEC compares to the Big 12, John Brantley, becoming a head coach, the expectations for the Gators and more.

Also, South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier covers Marcus Lattimore, Alshon Jeffery, the Gamecocks' QB situation, Jadeveon Clowney, his coaching future and more.

Chris Low talks to the defensive tackle about his cleaning habits and the upcoming season.

Chris Low interviews Vanderbilt coach James Franklin.

HOOVER, Ala. -- Superman lives.

Ole Miss senior defensive end Kentrell Lockett, or "Superman" to his fans, is back and ready to exact his revenge on skittish quarterbacks around the SEC.

Lockett, who was granted a sixth year of eligibility after suffering an ACL injury early last season, says he's fully healthy and ready for his last romp through the SEC.

Lockett skipped spring practice to recover more, but insists that he hasn't lost any quickness or mobility.

"It's a knee. A knee heals. Nothing happened to anything else," he said. "I still can tackle, still can run, still can jump, so I'm going to play ball."

Getting Lockett, who was a first-team All-SEC selection by the media, not only improves Ole Miss' defense, especially in the pass rush, but adds a crucial element in the leadership category -- an area that suffered a major blow this spring with the season-ending injury to linebacker D.T. Shackelford. Lockett's outgoing and charismatic personality instantly lifts his teammates up and having him on the field this fall will be even more beneficial for the Rebels.

"Means so much to get it back," coach Houston Nutt said. "He is a tremendous leader for us. He does so much with his teammates. He's a winner. I think he's just about there. According to our doctors, he's just about 100 percent, so we expect him to be full go the first game."

Lockett said he felt game-ready late last season when he shed this crutches, and with the season just around the corner, Lockett said his knee is better than it was before he suffered his injury.

"I've made tremendous strides," he said.

"I feel like I'm myself again. I feel like I can do anything now."

HOOVER, Ala. -- He eats grass, says weird things and loves to roll the dice on fourth down.

He's LSU coach Les Miles, and his unpredictability has become must-see TV for everybody in college football, even his players.

"It's crazy. I mean, he's a character," LSU linebacker Ryan Baker said of what it was like to play for Miles on a day-to-day basis.

The Mad Hatter is clearly a hit with his players. They love how fearless he is, whether it's calling a fake field goal when nobody else expects it or going for it on fourth down when the defense is daring you to do so.

"Some of the guys, we sit around and talk about that," Baker said. "We never know what to expect from our coach. We love it. We go into every week not knowing what to expect, but we always know that he has our back no matter what the situation."

It's not just on the field, either.

Baker said during his freshman season that Miles showed up for a team meeting in preseason camp wearing a headband and tight shorts and doing his best "Soulja Boy" dance.

Apparently, Miles has an affinity for rap. He and Snoop Dogg are also boys.

Baker thinks Miles even listens to a little rap from time to time.

"I'll see him on the plane with his headphones, and he'll give it a head rock," Baker said.

Miles, whose Tigers are a consensus top 5 selection to begin the 2011 season, hasn't always been so popular with the LSU fans, who skewered him for well-chronicled clock management mistkaes in 2009 against Ole Miss and last season against Tennessee.

He's also been known to say things that make you wonder if even he knows what he's trying to say at times.

Baker said one of the players usually brings a dictionary to team meetings.

"Yeah, it's off the wall," said Baker, doing his best to keep a straight face.

One day in practice, Baker said Miles reeled off a word that stumped everybody.

"I don't even know what the word was," Baker recounted. "It was a long word, seven or eight syllables."

Finally, one of the LSU players looked up the word and explained to everyone what it meant.

Pressed again on what the word was, Baker shrugged and said, "I really don't remember. It happens a lot."

Baker said receiver Russell Shepard does the best impersonation of Miles.

"He's pretty good, too," Baker said.

Sometimes, the LSU assistants are as lost as the players when Miles gets rolling on his Miles-isms, according to Baker.

"You can sort of tell. They look around and wonder," Baker said.

And if he goes to defensive coordinator John Chavis for a translation, Baker said he usually gets the same response.

"He's like, 'Yeah, what coach said,'" Baker said chuckling.

"He keeps us upbeat. We love it. We love playing for somebody like that."

Alabama: The Tide led the SEC with 16 players selected on the media's preseason All-SEC team. That's great for PR, and means that there should be some talent in Tuscaloosa this year, but neither the players nor head coach Nick Saban are paying attention to us and what we think.

Good, because the last thing Alabama needs is to get caught in the hype with the goal of winning multiple championships on the line.

"From a logical standpoint, I know there's a couple other teams in our division -- forget about the league -- that have just as many returners starting, and their quarterback," Saban said to the media when asked about being picked to win the SEC. "So even though I have a tremendous amount of respect for the intelligence level and your ability to prognosticate, which we really can't do, I'm not capable of doing it, I don't understand how you come to the decisions that you come to."

LSU: The Tigers' offense was downright offensive to watch at times last fall, and they know it. LSU was 11th in the SEC in total offense, averaging 341.3 yards per game.

Now, under the tutelage of new offensive coordinator Steve Kragthorpe, there is more optimism on the bayou when it comes to talking about an offense that the Tigers expect to be more pass-friendly.

"I love it," offensive lineman T-Bob Hebert said of the offense. "Coach Kragthorpe brought a new intensity to the offensive side of the ball and he's injected new life in us. We can't wait to get back there during camp, start practicing, get more refined and more like a well-oiled machine. That's how an offense should work -- like a machine."

Ole Miss: The loss of linebacker and emotional leader D.T. Shackelford this spring to a knee injury was absolutely devastating for the Rebels. The centerpiece of the defense is gone and Ole Miss didn't find a replacement this spring.

However, prized recruit C.J. Johnson appears to have what it takes and Houston Nutt isn't going to hesitate throwing him in the regular rotation early.

"C.J. Johnson doesn't look like a guy just coming out of high school," Nutt said. "Physically he looks the part. So I'm excited about him, getting him going. We'll give him every opportunity to get in the mix.

"Just by default because of D.T. Shackelford's injury, we lose a guy like that, he'll line up second team day one. He'll have every opportunity to play a lot of football."

Vanderbilt: The Alabama secondary is getting a ton of preseason love, and so is LSU's secondary. But Vanderbilt senior cornerback Casey Hayward says not to sleep on the Commodores' secondary when you start ranking the best defensive backfields in the league.

Hayward was a second-team All-SEC selection by the coaches and media. Senior safety Sean Richardson had 98 tackles a year ago, and his running mate at the other safety spot, Kenny Ladler, was one of the most talented freshman safeties in the league last season. Junior cornerback Trey Wilson also looks like he's coming. He was one of the Commodores' most impressive players this spring.

"We don't get a lot of credit because of our record," said Hayward, who was second in the SEC last season with six interceptions. "But production-wise, when you look at the things we did last year, not too many secondaries did that. I think we'll take it to another step this year."

Chris Low talks with the defensive end at SEC media days in Hoover, Ala.

Edward Aschoff talks with LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson at SEC media days.

Chris Low talks with the linebacker about the upcoming season.

HOOVER, Ala. -- We are transparent here at the SEC blog, so we aren't afraid to share our picks for the media preseason All-SEC team.

Chris showed you his picks earlier, so now it's my turn.

Here is how my first team looked:

OFFENSE

• TE -- Orson Charles, Georgia
• OL -- Barrett Jones, Alabama
• OL -- Cordy Glenn, Georgia
• OL -- Bradley Sowell, Ole Miss
• OL -- Larry Warford, Kentucky
• C -- William Vlachos, Alabama
• WR -- Alshon Jeffery, South Carolina
• WR -- Greg Childs, Arkansas
• QB -- Aaron Murray, Georgia
• RB -- Trent Richardson, Alabama
• RB -- Marcus Lattimore, South Carolina

DEFENSE

• DL -- Devin Taylor, South Carolina
• DL -- Jaye Howard, Florida
• DL -- Jake Bequette, Arkansas
• DL -- Malik Jackson, Tennessee
• LB -- Dont'a Hightower, Alabama
• LB -- Courtney Upshaw, Alabama
• LB -- Jerry Franklin, Arkansas
• DB -- Mark Barron, Alabama
• DB -- Stephon Gilmore, Alabama
• DB -- Morris Claiborne, LSU
• DB -- Tramain Thomas, Arkansas

SPECIALISTS

• PK -- Blair Walsh, Georgia
• P -- Drew Butler, Georgia
• RS -- Brandon Boykin, Georgia
• AP -- Joe Adams, Arkansas

Here is how my SEC rankings panned out:

EAST
1. South Carolina
2. Georgia
3. Florida
4. Tennessee
5. Vanderbilt
6. Kentucky

WEST
1. Alabama
2. LSU
3. Arkansas
4. Mississippi State
5. Ole Miss
6. Auburn

SEC champion

• Alabama

HOOVER, Ala. -- For the fourth time since 1992, Alabama has been picked by the media to win the SEC championship.

That's the good news for Alabama fans.

The bad news is that the Crimson Tide failed to win the title each of the past three times they were picked to win it -- 2010 (fourth in the West), 2000 (tied for fifth in the West) and 1993 (lost in the SEC championship game).

Only four times since league expansion in 1992 has the SEC media days contingent correctly picked the SEC champion -- Florida in 2008, LSU in 2007, Florida in 1995 and Florida in 1994.

Also, with Auburn being picked fifth in the West, it raises an obvious question: When's the last time the defending national champion (or the SEC champion, for that matter) has been picked as low as fifth in its own division?

South Carolina, for the first time in school history, was picked to win the East. The Gamecocks made their first-ever trip to the SEC championship game a season ago.

On the media's All-SEC team, South Carolina receiver Alshon Jeffery received the most votes (152). It's the third highest vote total in SEC media days history behind Alabama’s Mark Ingram (165) and Dont’a Hightower (158), both from last year.

The other top vote-getters from this year were Alabama offensive guard Barrett Jones (148), Hightower (144), Alabama safety Mark Barron (140) and South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore (130).

Here's a look at my All-SEC ballot and the way I voted in the league race:

OFFENSE

• QB -- Aaron Murray, Georgia
• RB -- Trent Richardson, Alabama
• RB -- Marcus Lattimore, South Carolina
• WR -- Alshon Jeffery, South Carolina
• WR -- Greg Childs, Arkansas
• TE -- Orson Charles, Georgia
• OL -- Barrett Jones, Alabama
• OL -- Bradley Sowell, Ole Miss
• OL -- Larry Warford, Kentucky
• OL -- Cordy Glenn, Georgia
• C -- William Vlachos, Alabama

DEFENSE

• DL -- Devin Taylor, South Carolina
• DL -- Jake Bequette, Arkansas
• DL -- Malik Jackson, Tennessee
• DL -- Kentrell Lockett, Ole Miss
• LB -- Dont'a Hightower, Alabama
• LB -- Courtney Upshaw, Alabama
• LB -- Danny Trevathan, Kentucky
• DB -- Mark Barron, Alabama
• DB -- DeQuan Menzie, Alabama
• DB -- Morris Claiborne, LSU
• DB -- Stephon Gilmore, South Carolina

SPECIAL TEAMS

• PK -- Blair Walsh, Georgia
• P -- Drew Butler, Georgia
• RS -- Brandon Boykin, Georgia
• AP -- Joe Adams, Arkansas

EAST

• 1. South Carolina
• 2. Georgia
• 3. Florida
• 4. Tennessee
• 5. Kentucky
• 6. Vanderbilt

WEST

• 1. Alabama
• 2. LSU
• 3. Arkansas
• 4. Mississippi State
• 5. Auburn
• 6. Ole Miss

SEC champion

• Alabama

HOOVER, Ala. -- Gone are the offensive weapons that provided the excitement in Kentucky’s 2010 offense.

Do-everything athlete Randall Cobb is gone. Quarterback Mike Hartline, who was second in the SEC in passing a year ago -- adios. And running back Derrick Locke and receiver Chris Matthews, who were both instrumental offensive cogs, have hit the road as well.

The cupboard isn’t bare, but it’s full of new, shiny objects that have yet to really get much grease on them.

Except when you look up front.

Kentucky returns four veteran starters on the offensive line that has the makings of being one of the best in this league, accumulating more than 60 combined starts in their careers.

Senior guard Stuart Hines leads the group with 24 career starts and has enjoyed the praise he and his other fellow linemen have received this year and expects it to be the guiding force for the Wildcats’ offense this fall.

“There’s a lot of pride behind that. We’ve worked hard as a group to be where we are right now and we just want to continue to improve and continue to get better,” Hines said. “It’s a great starting spot to build your offense around.

“People [say] we lost a lot of guys, well we return a lot of guys on the offensive line.”

Hines might be the heart and keeps the focus in the trenches, but a lot of the hype has surrounded second-year starter Larry Warford.

After playing mostly as a reserve during his freshman year, Warford burst onto the scene last season, starting 13 games and leading Kentucky’s line with 43 knockdown blocks. He enters his junior year with some nice preseason accolades as well.

Hines admits that Warford was a bit lazy when he first arrived, thinking his ability alone could carry him, but now he sees a determined athlete with relentless drive on and off the field.

“He’s worked his butt off to get into shape and shed a few pounds and keep his weight down,” Hines said. “He’s done a great job of doing of that and getting the extra stuff with Coach ‘Rock’ [Oliver]. It’s great to see a guy that dedicated to doing what he has to do to be a good player.”

Kentucky also returns junior Matt Smith at center and senior Chandler Burden, who missed spring but will return in August, at left tackle. Senior Billy Joe Murphy left spring as the starter at right tackle.

By last count, that makes three of the five up front residing in Kentucky’s senior class, a welcomed realization for new quarterback Morgan Newton.

“Everyone knows the offensive line is a big key,” Newton said. “Those guys are as good as anybody. That group, we talk about guys that work and don’t really say a lot, that’s that group.

“That’s one of the best offensive lines in the country. Having a group like that is a great start for a special offense.”

And it will have to be a great start. Along with the baby-faced Newton, the Wildcats also have a new group of young running backs to utilize. Hines said it’s important for the line to make those players feel comfortable about running up the middle. They need to provide quality holes for the backs to limit the dancing around in the backfield.

Like any offensive line, this one is very close-knit. Hines said one major reason is the pride four of them take in being from the state of Kentucky. To Hines, there is something about being Kentucky bred that contributes to their on-field success.

“I guess we eat a lot of Kentucky country food or there’s something in the water,” he said. “I don’t know what it is. A bunch of cornbread or something.”