Latest / The Jake Wimberly Podcast / Michael Bratton on the Future of the SEC

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Michael Bratton on the Future of the SEC · The Jake Wimberly Podcast

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  Little on the field stuff, as we believe it or not. You know,
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  second signing days coming up here in a few weeks. Then we've got
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  spring practice coming up. I know you on your podcast today had George Stoya
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  on soonerscoop dot com. You know, Oklahoma, we talk a lot about
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  Texas, Texas, Texas Texas rightfully, So coming into the SEC, what
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  do you expect to see out of Brent Vnables in Oklahoma? You know,
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  they made a big jump from year one to two under Venables, but the
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  transfer portal has dissected that program a little bit, some coaching changes. How
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  good can Oklahoma be in the SEC this year? Yeah? I think potentially
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  it's going to be a struggle, Jake, because I like what they have
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  at the skill position talent, and I like Jackson Arnold what little we seen
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  of him. I know he was an up and down performance in the bowl
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  game and the loss to Arizona, but he showed massive potential and by all
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  accounts the people that I talked to there that they think he could be,
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  you know, the next great Oklahoma quarterback. But as we all know,
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  in this league, you could have all that if you don't have strength in
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  the line of scrimmage. You got nothing, and Oklahoma's going to be replacing
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  all five on the offensive line. I think that's a huge red flag.
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  Now they've attacked it via the transfer portal, but they've not really gotten any
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  stars, and they're another one that has kind of falling behind. They've lost
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  a key transfer target from LSU, a guy named Lance Hurd, who interestingly
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  enough landed at Tennessee. I wonder how that happened, but again maybe that's
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  Tennessee to get sued over that one day too. But they are striking out
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  and their collective game, from what I understand, is not where you'd think
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  it would be for a college football power, and I think that's something that
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  they're significantly going to have to adjust if they're going to compete at an elite
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  level in the SEC. So where are you at on Ole miss watching Lane
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  Kiffin maneuver speaking of maneuverent through the transfer portal getting an A plus everory,
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  it would be Lane Kiffin now picks up last week two offensive linemen from why
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  Washington who both guys were you know, full time starters, played you know,
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  a full season national championship game. Now they're coming to Oxford. What
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  is your level of expectation with Lane Kiffin and what they've been able to do
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  even though they lost quin Shawn Judkins Ohio State. Where are you at with
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  what he's doing? Yeah, I mean you can't be anything other than impressed
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  with what they've been doing. But Jake, honestly, they've been doing this
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  for several years. They've just kicked it up to another notch. And I
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  think the under discussed topic when it comes to Old Miss, and for good
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  reason because you get so many headlines with all these transfers coming in and a
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  lot of key players coming back. But I think the thing that is just
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  not being discussed enough is it's going to be year two under Pete Golding at
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  the defensive coordinator position. So again, I don't think Old Miss is going
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  to be some elite, nationally great defense, but I think if they can
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  take big strides this year with a lot of production turning on that side of
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  the ball and a lot of key additions via the transfer portal, if they
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  could just shoot up kind of the defensive efficiency rankings, maybe twenty or thirty
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  spots. I mean, I have gone from saying this is a playoff contender
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  to this is a national championship contender, and I think that should be the
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  expectation in Oxford right now. Same question for Mississippi State, and obviously a
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  different different level of what Jeff Levy has to work with. I mean,
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  there's a lot of rebuild going on there in Startville. What has been your
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  thoughts of what he has done in a short period of time. Well,
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  I've been impressed with their ability to kind of rework the roster via the transfer
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  portal as well as obviously a different fashion than Ole miss not getting many of
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  the elite, high profile type players. But they have reworked the offensive line
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  that was a need. They have reworked the quarterback room also via high school
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  recruiting in the receiver room, which playing in this Jeff Levy offense, that's
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  exactly what they're going to need. And they needed to add speeding athleticism to
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  this roster. So I like what I've seen early during the Jeff Levy era,
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  But I still I'm just gonna I don't know what to make of them
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  because Levy's never been a head coach, and the defensive coordinators never called defensive
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  plays. I mean, this is these are critical positions, particularly for an
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  offensive minded head coach. You know, the defensive coordinator highre is going to
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  be paramount to his success. And I could sit here and blow smoke and
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  say he's gonna be great. I could sit here and say he's gonna be
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  awful. The truth is, I don't know, and I don't think anyone
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  knows until we see them hit the field this fall. Make sure to get
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  him on social media, the platform acts. You can find him at Michael
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  W. Bratton and of course go to that SEC podcast dot com. You
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  can also grab them on x as well as at that SEC podcast. All
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  kinds of great stuff going on every day throughout the week on his ex feet
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  and of course his podcast as well. Mike, I appreciate your time.
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  Look, if you need just come up there and help wrangle the NCAA with
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  Tennessee, will come do it. It's nice to know you got my back,
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  Jake. I appreciate you. I got your back, brother. We'll
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  talk soon. I appreciate it. Bye bye