SECMD23: Sankey all smiles as he celebrates another big year for his conference
Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey was proud of the accomplishments of his conference and reiterated all of the good that happened to the league last year. (Courtesy Southeastern Conference)
By GRAHAM DUNN
NASHVILLE - Greg Sankey stood before the masses at the opening of the 2023 SEC Media Days looking like a proud papa.
Make that a grand papa.
“I'm going to do something for which I have no permission, which makes everybody feel awkward,” the newly resigned commissioner said. “It's not permission from my staff that matters. I'm really proud to stand up here and tell you that last Tuesday, my wife Cathy and I became grandparents for the first time.”
That was plenty to celebrate, with or without the announcement but Sankey had more… yes more, to proclaim at the 38th edition of the event.
Take note:
A two-time champion in football in Georgia.
A national title in baseball that featured two teams from his conference duking it out in Omaha.
Titles in women’s basketball, track and field.
The No. 1 overall pick in football (Bryce Young), baseball (Paul Scenes) and women’s basketball (Aliyah Boston).
It was a sales pitch like no other.
“For the young people who want to go pro in sports, it appears the Southeastern Conference is the place to prepare yourself for those opportunities, he said, “since in the last year former SEC student-athletes earned the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft, were drafted 1 and 2 in the Major League Baseball Draft, No. 1 in the WNBA Draft, and were the two highest drafted collegians in this year's NBA Draft.”
The time it took to go over the accolades almost ran into the time the first coach was to be interviewed in LSU’s Brian Kelly, but Sankey was on a roll.
And with good reason.
“The good thing about the whole thing and why we all got in this business many, many years ago is to be able to coach the game and play the game,” Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher said. “. At the end of the day that's still what we find our greatest moments, when we're on the practice field and when we're on the game field coaching these young guys and developing these young guys.”
When the topic of NIL came up, Sankey didn’t bat an eye, nor did other coaches such as Kelly - There is a problem with “outside interference.”
“What seems to have happened is there's been overly broad language. When we were here with our presidents in March we identified potential strategies for conference regulation of name, image, and likeness,” Sankey said.
“I think whatever answer I give you there's going to be holes in it because there is not much regulation,” Kelly said. 'I think that the easiest answer to that question – and I'm not going to be political up here – we do want to control what we can control. But I would say that the thing that makes it difficult for us, all of us, is third-party involvement, and at what level does that third-party involvement influence the spirit of name, image, and likeness. I think that's where we're all at. If there are different laws, too, in each state, then the league is not balanced, either. To me, those would be the two kind of bullet points as it relates to NIL. I'm not here to fix it. I'm here to navigate it. If I can lend my experience in any shape or fashion, I will do that.”
Sankey also took time to honor fallen Mississippi State coach Mike Leach, appearing tie-less in his speech , remembering a Leach diatribe on wearing ties.
He also announced that the next SEC Media Days will take place in Dallas, probably at AT&T Stadium, as a welcoming event to newcomers Oklahoma and Texas.