Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

7/23/2010 at 9:59am

HOOVER, Ala. — Arkansas players and coaches aren’t alone in expecting a big 2010. Outside expectations are a little less optimistic, though.

A day after Bobby Petrino, D.J. Williams, Jake Bequette and Ryan Mallett spoke of competing for an SEC title, media picked the Razorbacks second in the SEC behind defending national champion Alabama. Arkansas has 17 starters returning from a team that went 8-5 with a Liberty Bowl victory to close out last season.

Mallett was the media's pick as the top signal caller in the league. He was named to the All-SEC coaches’ team earlier in the week, and Mallett is the first Arkansas quarterback to achieve that status since the UA joined the league in 1992.

Williams was also named to the media All-SEC first-team as the tight end. He was picked in the same spot by coaches earlier in the week. Offensive tackle Love was tabbed as a second-team selection.

Noticeably missing from the media all-SEC team were any Arkansas receivers. Led by sophomores Greg Childs, Joe Adams and Jarius Wright, the group teamed with Mallett to help lead the SEC in passing offense.

Childs ranked eighth in receptions per game last season (3.69) and Adams was ninth in scoring with eight touchdowns. Childs was fourth in the league at 68.8 yards per game and Adams was ninth at 56.8.

ESPN’s SEC blogger Chris Low tabbed the group as the best in the league. Petrino said the receivers would be motivated by the perceived snub.

“I feel like they’re underrated,” Mallett said. “I think they’re the best receiving corps in the nation.”

Even with only three total All-SEC selections the Razorbacks were thought good enough to have garnered six first-place votes among 177 cast by media on hand.

Alabama was the overwhelming favorite to win the West, while media predicted Florida to win the East. The Crimson Tide and the Gators have met in the last two SEC title games.

Granted, the media vote has been right only four times since 1992.

“I don’t think you can predict the SEC,” Mallett said. “… Anything can happen on any given Saturday. That’s what makes playing in this conference so fun.”

Auburn’s Lee Ziemba, a Rogers native, was named as a first-team offensive line selection at offensive tackle. Ziemba, a 6-foot-8, 320-pound senior, is on the Outland Trophy watch list and has started 38 games for the Tigers.

LET’S STAY TOGETHER
Gene Chizik stressed the importance of a long-term plan in building the Auburn program into a consistent national title contender. Among the chief components of the plan entering Chizik’s second year was continuity on the coaching staff.

Auburn had no offseason turnover on its staff, something Chizik estimated happened at less than “10 percent” of the 119 teams at the FBS level. Arkansas, for example, added three new assistant coaches to its staff in the offseason.

“Some of these kids for the first time in their career will have the same coordinator two years in a row,” Chizik said. “It was important to me to give some continuity to our coaching staff.

“That was part of the puzzle to build the foundation.”

Included on the Auburn staff is offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn. He’s a native of Arkansas and spent a season at the University of Arkansas as offensive coordinator after 15 years as a high school coach in the state.

Auburn was 8-5 last season.

LANE WHO?
New Tennessee coach Derek Dooley was given numerous opportunities to take shots at predecessor Lane Kiffin.

Kiffin was with the Volunteers less than a year, but rubbed many in the SEC and Knoxville, Tenn., wrong with his brash demeanor. Even league commissioner Mike Slive took a veiled shot at Kiffin during his remarks to those gathered for SEC Media Days.

Dooley didn't follow suit. Even when asked if “any of your fellow coaches have thanked you for not being Lane Kiffin?" Dooley refused to bite.

“No. No. I mean, how do you answer  question like that? Y’all are just waiting for me to say something, I guess.”

Dooley didn’t say much about Kiffin, but he did offer up a solid media day debut. He’d kept a low media profile since his move from Louisiana Tech, but dived right into his media appearance with a joke about his mom and kept rolling from there.

Tennessee’s new coach turned out to be very personable and was at ease with the media, even cracking jokes at the expense of the few reporters he knew by name. It was almost enough to make you forget he was just 4-8 at Louisiana Tech before the Volunteers hired him to be their third coach in three years.

LAW MAN
Dooley was once a lawyer. Somebody asked how that career prepared him for life as a football coach.

His response — as was the case with most of his answers on Friday — was classic.

“I was able to understand the NCAA manual the first time I read it,” Dooley said.

PRIORTY STATUS
LSU has struggled with clock management under Les Miles.

Expect that to change, Miles said on Friday. Miles went so far as to say 45 minutes over two practices would be devoted to better execution in situations where time is at a premium.

"It's more than lip service," Miles said.

QUOTABLE
“I get a college education in exchange for my services on the field. I think that’s going to prove to be more valuable than a few hundred thousand dollars here right now. I’m not hurting for money. I’ve got a roof over my house. I’ve got a bed to sleep in. And, obviously, plenty of food. I’m OK. I’m all right.”
—Auburn tackle Lee Ziemba when asked his thoughts on if college players should be paid.

ArkansasSports360.com's Max Farrell contributed to this report.

Tagged: Arkansas Razorbacks, Ryan Mallett, D.J. Williams, Bobby Petrino, Lee Ziemba, DeMarcus Love, Gus Malzahn