HOOVER, Ala. -- Gus Malzahn was a high school coach when he became a Steve Spurrier fan in the 1990s as Spurrier turned Florida into an SEC power.
Now Spurrier, heading into his 10th season at South Carolina, is a fan of Malzahn, who led Auburn to the SEC title last year and was offensive coordinator of the Tigers' 2010 national championship team.
"Gus is one of the best coaches in the country, not just the SEC," Spurrier said. "I think everybody knows that. They don't win that national championship unless he was there. I think everybody knows that, too. He's a sharp guy."
Spurrier and Malzahn will meet for the first time as head coaches Oct. 25 in Auburn, Ala.
"He and I, I think, are pretty good friends," Spurrier said. "We don't really look forward to that game, but we've got to go in there and give it our best shot."
Spurrier is 0-5 against Auburn since coming to South Carolina.
"They have outplayed us, outcoached us and everything," Spurrier said.
Ready for Rock
Georgia Coach Mark Richt said he is pumped up to play his first game in Little Rock when the Bulldogs visit War Memorial Stadium on Oct. 18 for a game against Arkansas.
"I'm excited about it," Richt said. "I don't know enough about it, but I know it's a special place for Arkansas to play a game."
Richt is 2-0 in games played in Fayetteville, 52-41 in 2009 and 20-14 in 2004.
Richt said the game in Little Rock would leave only one SEC stadium off his list: Texas A&M's Kyle Field.
No Texas talk?
Alabama Coach Nick Saban denied there had been any dialogue between himself and the University of Texas last winter and certainly little interest on his part in the Longhorns' head coaching job.
"I didn't have any conversations with them," Saban said. "Nobody offered me anything. So I guess if I didn't have any conversations with them, I didn't have very much interest."
ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum, in his upcoming book, claimed Texas representatives were prepared to make Saban a $100 million offer to replace Mack Brown as the Longhorns head coach.
Les is No. 1
Ole Miss Coach Hugh Freeze said his 15-year-old daughter Ragan is so into college football that she keeps rankings of the SEC coaches.
Her current No. 1 is LSU's Les Miles. Freeze said Miles spent 10 minutes at midfield in the time before kickoff of last year's LSU-Ole Miss game, which factored into her rankings.
Freeze would not reveal the rest of Ragan's vote.
"She doesn't put me on the list," Freeze said. "I hope I'd be her No. 1. ... Her little heart beats 100 mph when you win, and she's crushed when you lose."
Down dogs
Alabama Coach Nick Saban said the offseason has been exciting around his house, partly because a new grandchild was welcomed into the family and his daughter became engaged to be married.
"With the addition of these folks in our family, I just seem to continue right on down the totem pole," Saban said in a dead-pan delivery. "I've always been behind the two dogs, but the line is getting deeper and deeper when it comes to Miss Terry."
Transfer talk
Georgia Coach Mark Richt, whose team has lost high-profile transfers like Zach Mettenberger and Nick Marshall who went on to junior colleges and then great success at other SEC programs, isn't uptight about player movement.
Asked about talented safety Tray Matthews transferring directly to Auburn, Richt said he's never hindered a transfer from going anywhere he wants to go.
"When guys leave our program, my goal for them is that they continue their career and they realize all their dreams," Richt said. "Life's too short. They're young men that make mistakes. If somewhere along the way you learn from your mistake, you turn it around, finish your career strong, I'm happy for the guy."
Matthews was one of two Georgia defensive backs who misplayed a pass -- from Marshall -- that was tipped to Ricardo Louis for the game-winning 73-yard touchdown in Auburn's 43-38 victory over the Bulldogs.
Drake take
Alabama Coach Nick Saban gave a lengthy talk about player behavior and discipline to open his time at the podium, all to seemingly suggest he would not dismiss running back Kenyon Drake and defensive tackle Jarren Reed following their offseason arrests.
He was asked directly about the two players later.
"Those players are suspended but they're not kicked off the team," Saban said. "They're suspended from activity. When they prove that I think or we think that they're ready to come back and show a little bit more responsibility and discipline for how they handle themselves ... how they represent the university, their family and themselves, then we'll allow them to come back on the team."
Director Conley
Georgia receiver Chris Conley directed a 25-minute science-fiction movie called Retribution, a kind of satirical tribute to Star Wars, that was released earlier this year.
Filming took place in and around Athens, Ga., including on-campus shoots and a scene in Sanford Stadium, which required getting permission from campus officials.
Conley, a journalism major, said Georgia officials didn't ask for script approval.
"They didn't look at the specifics," he said. "They wanted the general idea. They also wanted to know that no one was going to get killed or hurt."
Conley, who played the role of villain, used light saber sequences and lots of action. Georgia Coach Mark Richt also had a cameo role in the movie, sitting on a bench looking at a game plan as a battle raged around him.
"He's a natural presence," Conley said. "He did a great job. I just told him to sit there and he did. And it worked."
Palm's in view
Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema flew to a tropical destination with his wife, Jen, after departing media days Wednesday.
Bielema tweeted out a picture of the early sunrise over palm trees and a body of water on Thursday, writing: "Some fish are going to be jumping in our boat. @jenbielema needs a coffee first."
Buzz bet
Ole Miss Coach Hugh Freeze was wearing a short haircut at media days, thanks, he said, to losing a golf bet with South Carolina Coach Steve Spurrier.
The pair was joined by Auburn Coach Gus Malzahn, and Freeze said in response to a question about their pace of play that the trio played their round in 3 hours and 50 minutes with no practice swings among them.
Rolling Freeze
Ole Miss Coach Hugh Freeze, while speaking in the second floor main media room, had to contend with the loud crowd noises coming from the first-floor lobby of the Wynfrey Hotel by Alabama fans, who were cheering the movement on Coach Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide players in attendance.
Several minutes into his media appearance, an SEC staffer shut a side door to minimize the noise level from the lobby.
DGB wishes
Dorial Green-Beckham was supposed to be one of the SEC's top receivers for Missouri this season after he had 59 catches for 883 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2013.
Instead Green-Beckham is at Oklahoma, where he transferred after being dismissed by Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel in the wake of an investigation for allegedly pushing a female Missouri student down stairs. She declined to press charges against Green-Beckham, who also had two marijuana-related arrests, and the case was closed.
"We lost a really great player," Pinkel said. "I wish Dorial the best. The most important thing, you make mistakes, you have a chance to learn lessons, and I think he will."
Sports on 07/18/2014