SEC Football: Who won the offseason?

The offseason if for projections, press conferences and middle-aged coaches to wear Jeezys. Just a few days away from the start of the season, we take a final look back at the reality show known as the SEC offseason as we look ahead to the coming season.

The SEC is often criticized for the spectacle they make of things in the offseason. Take SEC Media Days for example. While many conferences host a small, informal annual event the SEC takes it to another level.

The event stretches out almost an entire week as fans line up at a hotel in Hoover waiting for a glimpse of their favorite player. So who gained the most from the media circuits, radio shows and offseason previews? In my estimation, the Auburn Tigers, Tennessee Volunteers and Arkansas Razorbacks were the biggest winners.

At the center of Auburn’s building momentum is quarterback Jeremy Johnson. Johnson has had such a small sample size that it has really benefited him. There is a similar effect that happens during the NBA Draft. There is often an international prospect or two that fans expect their team drafting in large part because they do not know much about them. Meanwhile, American players are over-analyzed because people have been able to watch them and pick them apart.

Jeremy Johnson, much like the international prospect above, could turn out to be everything Auburn fans want him to be. However, at this point, it seems near impossible for him to meet such lofty expectations. The limited play we have seen from Johnson has been good, but it might have helped create unrealistic expectations for Auburn this season.

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The Tigers also hired Will Muschamp as their defensive coordinator. All SEC teams that hired coordinators over the off-season seem to be given the benefit of the doubt. The reality is that coordinator hires can go both positively and negatively. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the Manny Diaz hire at Texas a few years ago. My point is just because Muschamp has the defensive knowledge does not mean he will be able to turn a struggling defense into a force overnight.

Last we saw the Tennessee Volunteers they were in Jacksonville beating up on the Iowa Hawkeyes in a bowl game. This moment seems to be the beginning of the building of momentum for us all falling in love with Tennessee. The formula for offseason attention appears to be a good bowl performance plus a young team returning equals success in the eyes of the media. Tennessee could very well be able to put their strong recruiting classes together this season to compete for the SEC East division. They could also find themselves with a 7-6 record again.

Finally, the Arkansas Razorbacks also won the off-season by using a page from Tennessee’s playbook and winning impressively in their bowl game. The Razorbacks defeated Texas 31-7. If history has taught us anything, it is that for the most part bowl games have little effect on the next season. One reason is there is so much time between games. It is hard to imagine a game in December leading to victories in September of the following year.

Arkansas did look solid at times last season, especially against Alabama. The challenge for them is they find themselves in the SEC West. Even if they are indeed a better team, they could wind up the same record-wise. With road games against teams like Alabama, Ole Miss and LSU it makes it hard to have a breakout season.

Projections are fun, and we need them to survive the offseason. Auburn, Tennessee and Arkansas could certainly have great seasons in 2015. This is just a friendly service announcement that winning the offseason does not necessarily mean you win the actual season.

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SEC Football 2015: Who won the offseason?

By Jonathan Adams | Aug 29, 2015

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