DALLAS (AP) — Billy Napier enters his third season as Florida coach in maybe the toughest position in college football: Head coach at an Southeastern Conference powerhouse whose program is struggling to gain traction and facing one of the most daunting schedules in the country. Napier arrived at SEC Media Days on the hottest seat in a conference — and the country. The vibes around the Gators seem ominous. Napier sounds hopeful about an experienced team that returns 17 starters. Patience might be good for Florida after four coaches in 13 years. Can Napier show enough progress to earn it?

DALLAS (AP) — Georgia coach Kirby Smart says Bulldogs players who have been arrested or cited for driving violations have been disciplined with suspensions and fines through the collective that provides name, image and likeness payments to the school’s athletes. A week after one Georgia player was arrested on reckless driving charges and another cited for street racing, Smart called the off-field issues unfortunate and disappointing. The Atlanta-Journal Constitution has reported there have been 24 incidents involving Georgia players being involved in driving-related violations starting with a crash that killed a player and a recruiting staffer in January 2023.

DALLAS (AP) — Nick Saban is at SEC Media Days again, six months after retiring as Alabama coach. This time he’s asking the questions as part of ESPN’s SEC Network coverage of the four-day event. Saban retired after 17 seasons with the Tide and three decades as a head coach. The seven-time national champion will work for ESPN this season on its “College GameDay” Saturday pregame show. He said he strives to be objective as a broadcaster and steer away from being controversial. Though he already made a headline by picking Georgia and Texas, and not Alabama, to play for the SEC title.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The man who painted the midfield South Carolina Gamecocks midfield logo for 40 football seasons at Williams-Brice Stadium, has died at age 69. Eddie Dunning’s death was announced by the university’s athletic department on Wednesday. His obituary said Dunning died July 13 at an area Columbia. Dunning was a longtime department employee who would start preparing the logo on Thursdays of game week so it would be ready and dry for Saturday.

DALLAS (AP) — Oklahoma’s Jackson Arnold and Tennessee’s Nico Iamaleava are the Southeastern Conference’s wild-card quarterbacks. The two first-year starters and former five-star recruits have the potential to turn their teams into College Football Playoff contenders. The Sooners made their SEC Media Days debut on Tuesday and Arnold was the main attraction, drawing a three-deep crowd of reporters around his dais. Tennessee coach Josh Heupel decided to leave his first-year starter at home, but don’t mistake that for a lack of confidence for Iamaleava. Heupel said he expects Iamaleava to ‘hit the ground running.’

DALLAS (AP) — Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin learned a lot from Nick Saban — especially about the dangers of preseason praise and high expectations being placed upon a team by fans and media. As SEC Media Days kicked off on Monday, Kiffin cited the former Alabama coach who described such praise as “rat poison.” At LSU, third-year coach Brian Kelly knows well that all the hype and hoopla that builds in the offseason doesn’t matter at all in the fall. Their teams enter the 2024 season with very different vibes. Ole Miss is getting plenty of buzz while LSU is looking like a team with plenty of unanswered questions despite consecutive 10-win seasons.

DALLAS (AP) — Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey unofficially opened the league’s first football season as 16-team league in North Texas. It was a setting for SEC Media Days at a time when everything about college sports seems to be in flux. He said it was time to update expectations for what college athletics can be. The 59-year-old commissioner stressed that college sports must find solutions from within. He also said that while he is paying attention litigation in the Atlantic Coast Conference involving Florida State and Clemson, the SEC is focused on its 16 schools and he is not a recruiter.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New England Patriots wide receiver Kayshon Boutte will not be prosecuted on charges related to illegal online gaming that police said took place while he was underage and still a player at Louisiana State University. A statement from the district attorney’s office in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, says the decision was made after Boutte completed a gambling awareness program and agreed to a ban from gaming in Massachusetts and on the FanDuel and BET99 online sites. It also said Boutte had not bet against himself or his team. Boutte was selected in the sixth round of the NFL draft by the Patriots in 2023.