The Southeastern Conference's annual football preseason media gathering begins today, but in a new locale.
After residing for more than three decades in Alabama - first in downtown Birmingham and then the Birmingham suburb of Hoover - the SEC's four-day hype extravaganza is in Atlanta. The news conferences will be conducted at the College Football Hall of Fame, with the adjacent Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center the host hotel.
League commissioner Greg Sankey announced the change in December, adding the 2019 summer showcase would move back to Hoover.
"SEC Football Media Days is a signature event for our conference, and we are pleased the city of Atlanta will host this kickoff to the 2018 college football season," Sankey said in December. "SEC Football Media Days is now added to Atlanta's inventory of great events, which includes the annual SEC football championship game and this season's College Football Playoff championship game."
Last season's national championship game was held Jan. 8 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and it was an all-SEC affair, with Alabama rallying past Georgia 26-23 in overtime.
SEC Media Days, which features the head coach and three players from each of the league's 14 institutions, had been housed in Hoover's Wynfrey Hotel for 17 consecutive years. The SEC introduced the event in 1985 in place of the "Skywriters Tour." From 1965 to 1984, a handful of reporters would fly on the same plane to each of the league campuses, which numbered 10 at the time.
After opening remarks from Sankey, representatives from Kentucky, LSU and Texas A&M will take their turns today. Georgia is set to appear Tuesday, with Alabama and Tennessee scheduled for Wednesday.
Six of the 14 programs have different coaches from last year's event - Arkansas (Chad Morris), Florida (Dan Mullen), Mississippi State (Joe Moorhead), Ole Miss (Matt Luke), Tennessee (Jeremy Pruitt) and Texas A&M (Jimbo Fisher). Luke took over the Rebels less than two weeks after last year's SEC Media Days, when Hugh Freeze resigned after it was discovered he had been making calls to a female escort service.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.