With the summer continuing to roll along, only one big event stands between now and the start of training camps across the nation next month: conference media days.
The Big 12 host their media days event from July 7 to July 8 in Texas, the ACC will go from July 15 to July 17 in North Carolina, and the Big 10 will take place from July 28 to 30 in Chicago. SEC Media Days, meanwhile, will happen July 20-23 in Tampa, FL.
SEC Media Days will see four coaches speak on each of the four days. Josh Heupel and his Tennessee player representatives will speak to the media on the opening day of the event. The other three Monday teams include Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Missouri.
Tuesday will see Georgia, Auburn, South Carolina, and Vanderbilt. Wednesday will see Alabama, Florida, Texas A&M, and Ole Miss. The final day on Thursday will see Mississippi State, LSU, Texas, and Arkansas.
It’s not all too difficult to predict what questions Heupel will be asked about while he’s on the main stage. With a busy offseason full of changes, it’s easy to expect the Tennessee head coach to field questions about his quarterback battle, new defensive coordinator and defensive scheme, coaching changes, and strength program changes. Perhaps there’s even some NIL-related questions about Tennessee’s new Adidas partnership mixed in.
With the national media being there, there will almost assuredly be broader questions about the overall health of college football, playoff expansion, NIL-related topics, rules, scheduling, and more.
Additionally, with Oklahoma being there on the same day, some Sooner-related questions could be asked to the former Oklahoma championship-winning quarterback.
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Tennessee has not announced which players will accompany Heupel to SEC Media Days later this month, but there are a handful of plausible options. Tennessee likes to bring productive and/or veteran players, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see guys like DeSean Bishop, Arion Carter, Jeremiah Telander, Braylon Staley, David Sanders, or Ethan Davis.
The SEC has a handful of new coaches in the conference this year, with Arkansas’ Ryan Silverfield, Auburn’s Alex Golesh, Kentucky’s Will Stein, and Florida’s Jon Sumrall all coming from different conferences. You’ve also got Lane Kiffin making his national media debut with the LSU Tigers, and this will also be the first SEC Media Days event for Ole Miss with Pete Golding as the head coach.
Here’s a full breakdown of the 2026 SEC Media Days event, which will begin in exactly two weeks:
Monday, July 20th
- Tennessee, HC Josh Heupel
- Oklahoma, HC Brent Venables
- Kentucky, HC Will Stein
- Missouri, HC Eli Drinkwitz
Tuesday, July 21st
- Auburn, HC Alex Golesh
- South Carolina, HC Shane Beamer
- Vanderbilt, HC Clark Lea
- Georgia, HC Kirby Smart
Wednesday, July 22nd
- Alabama, HC Kalen DeBoer
- Florida, HC Jon Sumrall
- Texas A&M, HC Mike Elko
- Ole Miss, HC Pete Golding
Thursday, July 23rd
- Mississippi State, HC Jeff Lebby
- LSU, HC Lane Kiffin
- Texas, HC Steve Sarkisian
- Arkansas, HC Ryan Silverfield
