HOOVER, Ala. (AP) -Alabama coach Nick Saban is more of a look-ahead kind of guy, but right now he’d settle for his players focusing on the present and not the past.
“Is it 2010? Am I right about that?” Saban asked Wednesday at Southeastern Conference media days. “Because everything I hear has always been about last year. I’m going to make sure that we’re going to talk about this year.”
The defending national champion Crimson Tide are regarded as the preseason favorites to win again, but Saban said you can’t do that while looking in the rearview mirror.
Quarterback Greg McElroy said Tide players understand that.
“It was a great run, great memories that we’ll have for the rest of our lives,” McElroy said. “If you look at us, none of us are wearing our (championship) rings. We understand that whatever happened last year isn’t going to give us an advantage this year.”
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FLORIDA FRESHMEN: Florida coach Urban Meyer isn’t telling his freshmen to hurry up and wait.
lost three players to the first round of the NFL draft, including quarterback Tim Tebow.
“There was no discussion about redshirting,” Meyer said. “If that comes up, we don’t get that young man and move on. We’re gonna play you.
“If you don’t play at Florida, it’s because you’re not good enough to play, it’s not because we’re saving you for down the road.”
The Gators certainly brought in some highly regarded players, including defensive end Ronald Powell, who was rated the No. 1 prospect in the country by Rivals.com.
“We lost some key players, but we’ve got a lot of young guys that are going to step up and prove themselves this year,” offensive lineman Mike Pouncey said.
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MULLEN OVER: Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen thinks both his team and quarterback Chris Relf have taken a big step forward going into the coach’s second season.
The Bulldogs coach said finishing his first year with a win over Mississippi – or, as he says, “that school up north” – helped his players believe they can win any game they play.
“They’re not just going to play hard and battle teams for four quarters, they’re going to find a way to win games and get us to championship level this season,” Mullen said.
Offensive lineman Quentin Saulsberry said there’s more of a comfort now.
d, going 100 percent but not going in the right place. Now we’re going in the right direction to the right place and doing the right things, at 100 percent.”
Mullen said that Relf returns as a completely different player, while redshirt freshman Tyler Russell is also expected to vie for the job at quarterback.
He also might try to get more tailbacks involved after the departure of Anthony Dixon.
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MISSING KIFFIN: SEC commissioner Mike Slive is happy to have coach Derek Dooley at Tennessee. So is Florida coach Urban Meyer.
“I want to welcome coach Dooley back to the SEC,” Slive said, grinning, “and when I say welcome, I mean welcome.”
It was a not-so-subtle dig at former Volunteers coach Lane Kiffin, who had some run-ins with Slive – and Meyer – during his year with the Vols. Kiffin has since left to coach at Southern California, or as Slive put it, “return to his western roots.”
Neither Slive nor Meyer mentioned Kiffin by name, though the Florida coach was asked for his reaction and who he “high-fived” when he heard that the Trojans were placed on four years of probation for NCAA violations in June.
“I’ll let the commissioner handle that one,” Meyer said, smiling. “Nah, no comment.”
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OPERATION WIN: Joker Phillips sees plenty of reason to believe his so-called “Operation Win” plan is on track.
an all-time high.” Phillips the Wildcats have received 14 verbal commitments from recruits, a dozen more than last year at the same time.
Phillips even sees the three-man quarterback competition as a positive. He said there’s not enough separation among senior Mike Hartline, sophomore Morgan Newton and redshirt freshman Ryan Mossakowski to pick a starter going into fall camp.
Phillips also predicted that wildcat quarterback/receiver/return man Randall Cobb will be “the sorest player in the league” because of his many roles.
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QUOTABLE: “In the future, there may well be continued interest in conference expansion for some,” Slive said. “If that happens, we should take the opportunity to assess the values shared by intercollegiate athletics and higher education. This assessment needs to go beyond television sets, contract revenues and market share. It needs to include the potential impact on conference cultures, on the lives of student-athletes, on the impact to our respective communities, and on the collegiate model as we have come to know and appreciate.”
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