SEC notebook: Greg Sankey softens tone on breaking away from NCAA

Two days after setting the college football world ablaze during his opening remarks at SEC Media Days, commissioner Greg Sankey on Wednesday clarified his comments -- but made it clear he is not happy with the current state of college football.

As Sankey and the rest of the college football world wait to see if Congress will move on legislation that would standardize rules throughout the sport, Southeastern Conference leaders have had discussions for months about what to do should nothing happen on Capitol Hill.

"Those frustrations are real," Sankey told reporters gathered in Tampa, Fla., about the concerns within the conference. "What we want to do is make the system better, and if people want to focus on breakaway on the outside, fine. But we focus on different things internally."

That stance was bit softened compared to Monday, when Sankey said there were real conversations among conference leaders about the SEC breaking away from the rest of college football.

"People have talked about that," Sankey said Monday. "The frustrations that bring them to the point of saying we should look at something significantly different. I do not believe that is a leverage point. I think that's honest communication."

While it is not entirely clear what breaking away from the rest of college football would entail beyond SEC teams scheduling only conference games, there are plenty of facets making such an idea very murky. Among them would be the conference's current TV contract, which runs through 2034, and the settlement between the House and the NCAA approved in June that among other things established a cap on how much schools can pay athletes.

As for the current legislation being bounced around in Congress, Sankey said the SEC will wait for the final version before deciding what to do next.

"We'll have to make that decision when we see what's produced from the ongoing conversation," Sankey said. "We've identified what we think are common sense improvements ... we'll see if adjustments are made, and then consider our position based off of the legislation we can actually review."

--"Tough decision" looming at Alabama QB

Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said the two-man battle to replace Ty Simpson behind center has yet to be settled, and that the competition is "going to lead to a tough decision."

The fight is between Austin Mack, last season's backup who first played for DeBoer at Washington, and second-year player Keelon Russell -- one of the top recruits in the 2025 class who threw for 143 yards and two touchdowns in spot work last season.

Mack was 24 of 32 for 228 yards and two scores with another touchdown on the ground in four games last season.

"Our quarterbacks do have the belief and trust amongst our entire team," DeBoer said. "There are different ways where I've seen that, whether it was in the spring or through the summer. ... Our team trusts that whoever steps on the football field and takes those snaps is going to be a guy -- and I think that's because they believe in both guys."

The Crimson Tide made the College Football Playoff with Simpson running the show last season, but lost 38-3 in a quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl against eventual national champion Indiana.

--No hard feelings in Oxford

Though most Ole Miss fans probably have a few choice words when it comes to Lane Kiffin, Rebels head coach Pete Golding says his feelings toward his former boss are far from animus. In fact, he even did a little business with Kiffin.

Golding famously took over as interim coach of the Rebels after Kiffin left the program to take over at LSU before the CFP began. After leading the Rebels to a surprising run to the semifinals, Golding was made the permanent coach.

But Golding says all is fine with him and Kiffin.

"Lane and I are good," Golding said, before adding, "I'm very appreciative of how he treated me and my family, and learned a lot from him. I have no ill-will towards Coach Kiffin. He texts me on a regular basis, and there are certain things we'll talk about, and certain things we don't talk about. He's very competitive like I'm very competitive."

Despite the competitiveness, one thing they were able to agree upon was the price of a house Kiffin had for sale in Oxford, Miss. Golding said he bought the house.

"He's still got another one for sale, but I bought one of them," Golding said. "But he was kind of redoing it and hadn't finished everything yet, so I bought it."

--Field Level Media