SEC Football Media Days 2019: One big takeaway from each team

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COLUMBIA, MO – NOVEMBER 10: Head coach Barry Odom of the Missouri Tigers prepares to lead his team onto the field for a game against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Memorial Stadium on November 10, 2018 in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) /

Tigers must block out NCAA distractions

It may have been Texas A&M that showed Kelly Bryant what the SEC was all about, but it’s Missouri that landed services of the Clemson quarterback transfer. While the Tigers were faced with NCAA sanctions shortly after Bryant’s decision, he never wavered.

Just a few weeks after Kelly Bryant chose to transfer to @MizzouFootball, the NCAA placed sanctions on the program

Despite that, Bryant never wanted to leave the program, and said he would make the decision to commit all over again #SECMD19 pic.twitter.com/ebBZJGayOj
— College Sports on SiriusXM (@SXMCollege) July 15, 2019

A CBS Sports report indicates that Missouri appeal will be heard this week. The Tigers won’t know their fate until mid-August, and maybe even early September, into the regular season.

Apparently we could be into mid-September before the NCAA decides on the Missouri bowl ban. I think it should be overturned. Keep scholarship reductions, but a bowl ban is a stiff penalty when other programs in similar (if not worse) situations have gotten less.
— Sonny Martinez (@SonnyMartinezFS) July 16, 2019

As Barry Odom’s Tigers await an NCAA decision, the focus turns to the field. With a week one road trip and a Week 2 matchup with West Virginia, they don’t have any room to be distracted.

Bryant will take over offensive coordinator Derek Dooley’s offense after Drew Lock went in the second round of this year’s NFL Draft. After spending five seasons as an assistant for the Dallas Cowboys, Dooley brought an offense filled with pro schemes to Columbia. Lock ran it tremendously in 2018, and now Bryant gets his shot.

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