SEC Football: Offseason grades per school

Texas (A-)

Probably some of the best news for the Texas Longhorns is they were able to retain starting quarterback Quinn Ewers and backup Arch Manning. While the team did lose last year’s backup quarterback Maalik Murphy to the transfer portal, they gained four star freshman Trey Owens in the high school class of 2024.

The Longhorns did lose defensive line coach Bo Davis who is revered as one of the best in the country.

The Longhorns did rank fourth in the transfer portal for 2024 with one of their biggest acquisitions being defensive lineman Jermayne Lole who comes over from Louisville.

Vanderbilt (A)

Massive changes in the offseason for head coach Clark Lea brought in former New Mexico State and Minnesota head coach Jerry Kill who will serve as chief consultant to Lea. Kill brought with him his offensive coordinator Tim Beck. The pair knocked off the Auburn Tigers on the plains last season and finished second in Conference USA in 2023.

At quarterback, the commodores bring in former Utah quarterback Nate Johnson and former New Mexico State quarterback Diego Pavia. We could see a one-two punch at quarterback in 2024 for the Commodores, but look for Pavia to take the controls primarily. Pavia’s dual threat ability sets the Commodores up for what was a highly successful offseason.

To cap it all off, Lea has opted to take back over the defense instead of overseeing. After calling the plays on defense in 2022, the Commodores went 5-7 but regressed to a 2-10 record last year.

Large scale changes in Nashville will see an improved commodores team in 2024.