Arch Manning, Ernie Johnson, freaks, newcomers and more SEC football notes
After a week of training camp, some SEC football notes:
▪ Rivals has moved Arch Manning to the No. 1 spot on its prospects list for 2023. The high school quarterback is the son of Cooper Manning and nephew of Peyton and Eli. He is a 6-foot-3, 190-pound pro-style quarterback who plays for Isidore Newman School in New Orleans.
▪ Tennessee quarterback Brian Maurer was a no-show for practice on Wednesday after dropping to fourth-string on the depth chart. No explanation was given for Maurer’s absence. The sophomore from Ocala, Fla., played sparingly last season, completing just two of six passes for 9 yards. He did not play in the Vols’ 34-7 loss to Kentucky.
▪ Tennessee’s and Pittsburgh’s home-and-home series will be called the “Johnny Majors Classic.” The two teams play in Knoxville on Sept. 11, then in Pittsburgh on Sept. 10, 2022. A former All-American at Tennessee, Majors coached at both Pittsburgh and UT. He coached Pitt to the 1976 national title before taking over at his alma mater. He was 116-62-8 as the Vols’ head coach. Majors passed away June 3, 2020, at age 85.
▪ TNT broadcaster Ernie Johnson spoke to the Alabama football team this week. He shared an inspiring family story.
▪ Joseph Goodman of AL.com writes that there should be vaccine requirements or COVID-19 tests for fans attending SEC football games. “To protect the South from itself, it’s time for SEC schools to once again lead when others will not and require for entry into all sporting events proof of vaccination or a current negative test for COVID-19. If selfish politicians pass laws preventing that, then schools should just break those laws to protect the public. It’s the right thing to do.”
▪ The highest SEC player on Bruce Feldman’s “Freaks List” for The Athletic? That would be Alabama offensive tackle Evan Neal. After talking to strength and conditioning coaches across the country, Feldman wrote of Neal, “Most really big linemen struggle to stop their bodies in motion, but Neal has such great core strength, he’s stable and able to be nimble and be in control, says another coach who has worked with him. During the Tide’s national title run, Neal’s body fat was 22 percent, on par with what most offensive linemen who are some 40 pounds smaller usually measure at the NFL Scouting Combine. Alabama’s 4th Quarter program has quite a bit of distance running for its big men, but word is Neal crushes it all.”
▪ Three of Feldman’s Top 10 play in the SEC. Besides Neal at No. 1, Georgia defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt is No. 5, LSU cornerback Derek Stingley is No. 9. Stingley may also play some wide receiver this year for the Tigers.
▪ ESPN’s list of top college football newcomers has Alabama linebacker Henry To’oto’o at No. 1. To’oto’o transferred from Tennessee. Via Michael Casagrande of AL.com, Bama’s Nick Saban on To’oto’o: “I think his familiarity with the system helped with the transition playing for Jeremy (Pruitt) at Tennessee,” Saban said Wednesday. “It’s a very similar or same defense, probably. I never asked them what they did at Tennessee but just watching them on film, there are a lot of similarities.”
▪ Alabama has lost wide receiver Xavier Williams for the season with a medical issue. A junior from Hollywood, Fla., Williams caught three passes for 24 yards last season.
▪ Former Boston College and San Diego basketball player Chris Herren Jr. has joined the Alabama football team as a wide receiver. The 6-foot-3 Herren averaged just 0.3 points in 5.8 minutes over four games for San Diego last season. According to the Newport Daily News, Herren’s hometown paper, Herren, the son of former NBA player Chris Herren, has never played football.
“I actually have never played football,” Herren Jr. told the Unqualified Sports Talk podcast. “When I first started thinking about it, it kind of felt like a crazy idea and it is a crazy idea.
“But I was just kind of like, I’ve got these last two years (of eligibility) left to play a sport and like, this is what I really want to do. So why would I just give it up because just I think it’s too crazy an idea. I plan on playing wide receiver.”
▪ Ole Miss is working backup quarterback John Rhys Plumlee and lead running back Jerrion Ealy at wide receiver.
▪ While ex-South Carolina coach Will Muschamp is stepping in to coach special teams at Georgia, the Gamecocks claim opponents will have trouble figuring out their new defense.
“No one will figure this defense out,” sophomore safety Jahmar Brown said Tuesday, referencing defensive coordinator Clayton White’s 4-2-5 scheme. “Not one offense we play will figure this defense out. This defense is fun, it’s fun to be in. It’s complex. It’s all over the place.”
Auburn, Florida and Vanderbilt notes
▪ Auburn defensive tackle Tyrone Truesdell has left the team. Truesdell was a two-year starter for the Tigers. The Montgomery Advertiser reported that Truesdell entered the transfer portal on Wednesday. Truesdell is a 6-2, 335-pound senior from Augusta, Ga. He recorded three sacks during the 2019 season.
▪ After suffering a season-ending knee injury in 2020 and a torn labrum in the offseason, Auburn offensive lineman Brandon Council is reportedly looking good in early practices.
▪ Daquan Newkirk and Antonio Valentine are shoring up the middle of Florida’s defensive line. Both are transfers. Newkirk came to Florida from Auburn. Valentino spent four years at Penn State before moving to Gainesville.
▪ Via Joe Rexrode of The Athletic, Vanderbilt football general manager Barton Simmons: “We’re thrilled with our (2021) class so far. ... We’ll find out if we know what we’re doing, but the guys that we want are the guys that we’re getting.”
▪ Despite having a returning starter at quarterback in Ken Seals, new Vandy coach Clark Lea says he’s going to let competition at the position play out. Sophomore Mike Wright is challenging Seals, who started last year as a true freshman.
“I don’t know that it necessarily is beneficial to have a date where we have to name a quarterback,” Lea said. “To me it’s a matter of letting the competition play out. ... Obviously you can develop chemistry when you have a named starter and you kind of know who’s going to be out there together but I’m very comfortable taking that into game week because ultimately what you just want to see is the competition.”
▪ The Mississippi High School Athletic Association says schools that go to virtual classes cannot play or practice in 2021. All games will be forfeited. “If a school has to go virtual due to COVID-19, then they don’t need to interact with other schools and risk spreading COVID,” said MHSAA executive director Ricky Neaves.
This story was originally published August 12, 2021 at 10:19 AM.
