The SEC is the best conference year in and year out in college football. Therefore there is naturally a large amount of intrigue and speculation around it going into each season. With SEC Media Days kicking off the unofficial beginning to the 2024 season back in July and fall camp now under way, things are heating up.
While some stories are more note-worthy than others from the 2024 offseason, all lead up to what is expected to be a fantastic 2024 season with the expansion of the SEC to 16 teams.
Here are the top 5 storylines heading into the 2024 SEC football season
Kalen DeBoer replaces Nick Saban at Alabama
For the first time in 17 years, a new head coach will patrol the sidelines for the Alabama Crimson Tide after Nick Saban retired this past offseason. Saban went 206-29 during his time in Tuscaloosa and won six National Championships.
Kalen DeBoer comes over from the Washington Huskies which he led to the College Football Playoff in 2023. DeBoer’s overall record as a head coach at multiple levels is an impressive 104-12. With an impressive trio of running backs to go along with the leading return vote getter for the Heisman Trophy in 2023 in quarterback Jalen Milroe, DeBoer is challenged with keeping the Tide on top in 2024.
Vanderbilt’s revamped coaching staff and roster
LockedOn’s Corey Burton of LockedOn Vandy coined the Commodores as the “Vanderbilt Aggiedores” in 2024 due to the influx of coach and player talent inherited from the New Mexico State Aggies who went 9-3 last season and finished as the Conference USA runner up in 2023.
The key additions for the Commodores in 2024 include former Aggies starting quarterback Diego Pavia and former head coach Jerry Kill. Pavia is in a competition battle with Utah transfer Nate Johnson and looks to have an edge at the moment, while Kill will act as the Chief Consultant to head coach Clark Lea this season.
Lea will call plays for the first time since 2022 when he led the Commodores to a 5-7 record in his second season as coach. All of these changes could make the Commodores the surprise team of the SEC in 2024.
Ole Miss’s roster built on the transfer portal
The Ole Miss Rebels crushed it in the transfer portal this past offseason acquiring at least one player at nearly every position. The defense will be totally revamped under second year defensive coordinator Pete Golding with new stars on every level. Alabama transfer Trey Amos will insert as a starting defensive back, Arkansas linebacker Chris “Poo” Paul will lead the linebacking core and top rated transfer portal acquisition Walter Nolen looks to clog the middle on the defensive line.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Rebels return key starters quarterback Jaxson Dart, tight end Caden Prieskorn and wide receiver Tre Harris. Dart enters his third season as a starting quarterback under the offensive minded head coach Lane Kiffin and has plenty of weapons at his disposal.
With all of these acquisitions, the Rebels are one of the favorites to win the College Football Playoff in 2024. The intrigue here is whether or not a team that was largely built on the transfer portal will succeed.
SEC coaches on the hot seat
Arkansas Sam Pittman and Florida’s Billy Napier are the two coaches inarguably on the hot seat in 2024. Each made some big swing changes to their staff in the offseason hoping for an improvement.
Pittman enters his fifth season for the Razorbacks with a winning percentage of 48%. He hired offensive coordinator and former Razorbacks head coach Bobby Petrino this offseason to improve the Razorbacks on the offensive side of the ball in hopes of saving his job. He will most likely need at least a seven win season in order to do so.
In Gainesville, Napier has similar issues with a losing record in each of his first two seasons for a team with much higher expectations. The Gators go into 2024 with the most difficult schedule in the country. Many believe if the Gators even go 6-6, it would be a miracle. And even at that, Napier still may be on the outs.
Oklahoma and Texas go through their first season in the SEC
With the addition of the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns, the SEC has expanded to 16 teams in 2024. These two will not only square off in their annual rivalry, but they bring back historic Big 12 matchups as well like the Texas versus Texas A&M rivalry known as “The Lone Star Showdown.”
These additions many project will make it nearly impossible for an SEC team to have an undefeated regular season moving forward. Time will tell, but it definitely makes each teams schedule that much more difficult.