As we get close to wrapping up our coverage here from Hoover, Ala., there’s one more nugget worth sharing from today’s session.

Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin was asked about his father, 69-year-old defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin. The question was about the concerns some had about a 69-year-old trying to keep up with 20-year-olds in college football.

Kiffin is widely regarded as one of the best defensive coaches in the game, but has spent nearly all of his career in the NFL. He did coach at Arkansas under former coach Lou Holtz from 1977-79. But much of his notoriety has been in pro football, working for teams like the Tampa Bay Bucs.

Well, Lane Kiffin told a story about his father from earlier this summer to illustrate it’s no problem.

“I see him in the office every single day,” Kiffin said. “I finally kick him out, sent him to Tampa. My mom is calling me, telling me, ‘Will you please send him on vacation. I haven’t seen him.’ So I send him to Tampa.”

“I think he’s on vacation. Then I find out the Tampa Bay Bucs set up an office for him. He’s going in every single day in the morning, not coming home til night. My mom calls, says, ‘He hasn’t been here one time. Not for breakfast, he’s not here til after dinner.’”

That will wrap things up for us here on the Blog and also on Twitter. After hearing from Auburn, South Carolina, LSU and Tennessee, Alex and I are finishing up a couple stories that will be in Saturday’s paper.

When we finish, we’re jumping in the rental car and driving back to Fayetteville tonight. So you might not hear much from us other than one or two updates from the road on Twitter.

But thanks for following us this week from SEC Media Days and stay tuned because three days in Hoover, Ala., does nothing but signify the start of football season.

The interviews at SEC Media Days are over. Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin and defensive back Eric Berry just spoke to the print room here at the Wynfrey to wrap things up for this three-day event.

Kiffin and Berry had plenty to say. Alex Abrams will be examining Kiffin for tomorrow’s paper. Berry will be the focus of something we do soon.

With that in mind, here’s a little bit on the other UT representative today: Senior running back Montario Hardesty.

Hardesty hasn’t gotten to do much in his career because of injuries and other tailbacks taking the carries. He has 1,046 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns in his career, but is hoping for a breakout year this fall.

“I’ve shown glimpses, this and that, but I’ve never been able to put together an entire season,” Hardesty said. “This will be my first time doing a full offseason. I’m just ready to come to the table as a leader and show what I can do.”

It would mean a lot to the Vols if he can. Tennessee is unsettled at quarterback and has had a rash of injuries to its receiving corps this summer. The Vols look like they’ll be relying on freshmen at those skill positions this fall. So the more Hardesty succeeds, the better.

The running back understands it. He thinks the Vols do, too.

“I think this coaching staff liked what I did during spring,” Hardesty said. “I feel like they have a lot of confidence in me. I’m just ready to play.”

LSU left tackle Ciron Black was asked what he believed to be the biggest misconception about Tigers coach Les Miles. His response was pretty good:

“I don’t think his hat is too big,” Black said of Miles, whose trademark is his white LSU hat. “I don’t think it’s that big. I guess it looks bigger on TV.”

After a little bit of laughter Black came up with something else: He doesn’t think Miles is the wild gambler he’s made out to be.

“Everything we do in games we work on in practice,” Black said. “Every single day. The play in Auburn in ‘07, we worked on that every single day in that type of situation. Every time before the game, he tells us, things we work on, we’re going to do them.

“People say he gambles a lot. I don’t think so.”

Quarterback was a mess for LSU last year. In fact, erratic play from inexperienced quarterbacks was one big reason the Tigers finished the season 8-5, shocking by LSU’s standards.

So it’s no surprise LSU is hoping for consistency at the position this year.

And right now, the Tigers are pointing toward Jordan Jefferson, who started the final two games of the year and was named the Offensive MVP of the Chick-fil-A bowl last winter. For now.

LSU coach Les Miles said Jefferson is his starting quarterback heading into preseason camp.

“He’s bigger and stronger than he’s been,” Miles said. “The experience he had in his true frehsman year will benefit hiim tremendously.”

Jefferson completed 36 of 73 passes for 419 yards with 4 touchdowns on 1 interception last season. He also ran for 134 yards and a touchdown.

But returner Jarrett Lee — who started eight games last season — could factor into the mix as well. Lee threw 14 touchdowns passes, but 16 interceptions in his playing time last year.

Miles said he believes Jefferson is going to have a great fall for the Tigers, but feel comfortable that two quarterbacks are capable.

“We’re fortunate, in my opinion, to have two guys that have experienced that, at this point in time can look towards their development to happen a little bit more even and with more success.”

  OK, so now that everyone knows that South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier was the coach who didn’t put Florida quarterback Tim Tebow on his All-SEC ballot, we can get more into the story that has turned into a major controversy over the past few days.

  Spurrier, who’s a legend in Gainesville,  said the snub was an oversight on his part. He said his director of football operations filled out the All-SEC ballot, but when Spurrier looked it over, he did so quickly and didn’t catch that Tebow had been left off the first team.

  ”I’m embarrassed about what happened, I really am. I’m embarrassed,” Spurrier said. “It shouldn’t have happened. I apologized to Tim and all Gators that it happened. … I have no reason to not say anything or to slight Tim Tebow or the Gators.”

  After all, the Ol’ Ball Coach was a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback at Florida and then made a name for himself as a coach by leading the Gators to a national championship and plenty of lopsided wins.

  Spurrier said he called SEC official Charles Bloom and asked if he could change his All-SEC selection at quarterback to Tebow. Bloom said that would be OK.

  ”I was able to put Tim Tebow in today, so it’s unanimous,” Spurrier said.

  You would hope that that would have been the end of Tebowgate, but nope. Spurrier was bombarded with several more questions about the whole “scandal.”

  Spurrier admitted that he hasn’t filled out his own preseason ballot over the past 17 years, which raised some eye brows. He said someone on his staff will fill it out and then he’ll look it over. 

  ”I did glance at the (All-SEC ballot) this year, but I didn’t glance very thoroughly. So it was my fault,” Spurrier said. “It was my fault all the way on it.”

  Despite the apology, the issue didn’t go away. Reporters kept hammering him about it.

  ”I was something that just happened. I feel badly about it,” Spurrier said. “In fact, I didn’t sleep worth a dang last night thinking about it. But it’s history. I’m trying to correct it the best I can.”

  Now, can we please move on to the next ridiculous controversy?

Are you wondering what it was like for Auburn players during their 5-7 season in 2008? Tight end Tommy Trott summed it up pretty well a little while ago here in the Wynfrey Hotel.

“Well, let’s just say last year as a whole was just flat out awful,” Trott said. “It was such a disappointing season. You put too much work into it, 365 days a year, to come out there and win five ballgames and have a losing record. There was just nothing enjoyable about that.”

Most of the trouble came because of an anemic offense. The Tigers moved from their traditional, power running attack to the spread under Tony Franklin. The move was a disaster. It led to Franklin’s firing at midseason, several in-season changes to the attack and, eventually, Tommy Tuberville’s ouster at the end of the year.

Auburn, which is now led by Gene Chizik, is sticking to the spread with its new offensive coordinator — former Arkansas assistant and Springdale High coach Gus Malzahn. But Trott said things are so much different under Malzahn — who Trott called a football Nutt — and his version of the spread. Trott believes the Tigers will have success with it this season.

“I think you’ll see we use the run to set up the pass a little bit more,” Trott said. “It’s going to be big for us. Time has proven to be an effective offense inthe SEC you have to be able to run the ball. That’s the way it’s been for years. With Coach Malzahn’s offense you’re able to establish more of a downhill running attack.”

Thursday was a pretty busy day around here with Tim Tebow, Urban Meyer, Houston Nutt and Nick Saban roaming the halls.

There was plenty to write about for this morning’s paper. Let’s start with Alex’s story on Tebow and the attention devoted to the quarterback. Will we find out who didn’t vote for Tebow today? We’ll see. Speaking of attention, Ole Miss and coach Houston Nutt are getting a lot of it this summer and I explored the topic in a story I wrote. And don’t forget to check out our notes, covering Georgia’s ridiculous schedule, Saban’s movie role, and Mark Richt’s thoughts on Bobby Petrino.

That leaves us to today, where the final four coaches will take the podium, talk about their team, and, of course, tell us whether or not they voted for Tebow. Here is what’s in store:

• Auburn (8:30-10:30) — Coach Gene Chizik, TE Tommy Trott, DE Antonio Coleman
• South Carolina (8:30-10:30) — Coach Steve Spurrier, WR Moe Brown, LB Eric Norwood
• LSU (10:30-12:30) — Coach Les Miles, OT Ciron Black, LB Jacob Cutrera
• Tennessee (10:30-12:30) — Coach Lane Kiffin, RB Montario Hardesty, S Eric Berry

Keep following us on Twitter (@NWAOnlineHogs and @NWARobbie) and on the blog more more news and notes today.

Good morning from Hoover, Ala. The third and final day of SEC Media Days will begin shortly when Auburn coach Gene Chizik steps up to the podium. We’ll fill you in on the things he and the rest of the coaches say today.

One thing worth mentioning this morning: The SEC Media Days preseason All-SEC team has been announced. And a handful of Razorbacks have been honored.

Running back Michael Smith and tight end D.J. Williams were named to the first-team offense. Smith also was a first-team selection on the Coaches All-SEC team last week. Williams was a second-team pick.

Defensive tackle Malcolm Sheppard, a second-team pick on the coaches team last week, is on the second-team defense in the SEC Media Days list. Florida led the way with 12 selections on the All-SEC team. Alabama has 8.

As for the projected order of finish, Arkansas is projected to finish fourth in the SEC West. No surprise there. The West looks like this today: Alabama, LSU, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Auburn and Mississippi State. I’m a little surprised Ole Miss is listed third in the SEC West. I thought they’d be higher than that. Maybe even the projected division winner.

What about the SEC East? Well, you should know the answer. Florida was a unanimous selection (earning 64 of 64 first-place votes) to win the East. Charles Bloom tells us that has never happened before.

Florida is not a unanimous pick to win the SEC title, though. The Gators earned 63 votes. The other went to … Ole Miss.

The second day of SEC Media Days is in the book. And what a day it was. Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss and Florida all spent two hours in the hotel diving in and out of interview rooms. There were plenty of things to talk about. Plenty was said.

So now that it’s over, what did we learn?

• Still no answer to which coach didn’t vote for Florida quarterback Tim Tebow on the Coaches All-SEC team. Houston Nutt, Nick Saban and Mark Richt all proclaimed they voted for him. Urban Meyer couldn’t. That means seven coaches have said here they voted for Tebow. One coach — Tennessee’s Lane Kiffin — said he did, too, back in Knoxville. So what does that leave us with? Well, either LSU’s Les Miles, South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier or Auburn’s Gene Chizik did it. Either that or someone is lying.

• Speaking of Tebow, we’ve learned today that he’s still a virgin. Seriously. I know what you’re thinking: Why would anyone ask that? I was thinking the same thing, too. But Tebow was asked the question today. He answered it. And there it is.

• We learned that Richt has a “fire Nolan” schedule this year. OK, maybe not. But remember when former Arkansas basketball coach Nolan Richardson said his 2001-02 schedule was so tough it was a “fire Nolan” schedule? And then he was fired? Well, how does Oklahoma State, Arizona State and Georgia Tech sound for nonconference games? Exactly.

• We learned that Saban likes doing movies. We think. Saban — along with other SEC coaches like Nutt and Tennessee defensive assistant Ed Orgeron — will be in a movie based on the book, “The Blind Side,” which is about former Ole Miss offensive lineman Michael Oher. “I think it’s a wonderful story,” Saban said.

• We also learned that Alabama fans still love coming to the Wynfrey Hotel. The lobby of the hotel was packed once again today with ‘Bama fans hoping to catch a glimpse of Saban and his two players. Check out the picture. Saban was asked about the frenzy. His response: “When there’s not a stir downstairs, I got problems.”

• As for Nutt, we learned that he doesn’t agree with the notion that he’s better coaching an underdog than he is coaching a favorite. His Rebels are projected to win the SEC West. When asked about the reputation he has, Nutt said: “If you look at the times we were picked high, we had some major injuries. Major. Not as an excuse, but that’s part of it. It’s a blow.”

Ole Miss quarterback Jevan Snead is no Tim Tebow when it comes to star power in the SEC. But there’s no doubt Snead is grabbing loads of attention as he prepares for his junior season. In fact, he’s even mentioned as a Heisman Trophy darkhorse.

Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt was asked about this today, especially since he’s seen it before. Nutt, of course, coached Darren McFadden at Arkansas and saw this type of hype before. So what is his advice for Snead?

“When you play the way you play, at the end of the year (in 2008), there’s going to be attention,” Nutt said. “It’s how you handle the attention. I want Jevan to keep being Jevan. He’s always been a very unselfish guy.

“I think the biggest thing, learning what we went through with Darren McFadden, there’s going to be attention, there’s going to be a lot more media, a lot more TV interviewers. There’s going to be more demands on your time. … You have to stay focused and keep priorities priorities. What that means is managing that time. It’s school, it’s football, and then handle all the extracurricular activities that’s gonna happen with all this attention.”

As far as Snead goes, the quarterback said not much has changed in his mind even though the notoriety is much, much greater after the Rebels’ success last season. The junior said he’s just taking everything in stride.

“I think as a team, we’re handling it well. We’re not changing much from what we did last  year. It was hard work that got us success and that’s what we’re continuing to do.”