HOOVER, Ala. -- Three coin flips in 1980 paid huge dividends for the University of Georgia.
Former All-American running back Herschel Walker, was torn between joining the Marine Corps and playing college football throughout that spring, he said Tuesday at SEC media days.
"I ended up flipping a coin and that's how I ended up at the University of Georgia," Walker said.
It wasn't just one coin flip for the teen-aged Walker, who grew up in Wrightsville, Ga., and didn't choose Georgia until late in the process.
"I love the military and thought I was cut out to be a Marine," Walker said. "I couldn't tell my mom and dad I didn't want to go to college. On Easter Sunday in April, my mom said, 'Bo -- that's my nickname, you know Bo Jackson wanted to be me -- don't you think it's time for you to decide what you want to do?' "
"I flipped [a] coin to decide whether I was going to the military or going to college and it came up for me to go to college. I go 'crap.' Then I was not going to the University of Georgia because I was upset that God wouldn't let me do what I wanted to do. So I flipped a coin between Clemson and the University of Georgia and Georgia ended up winning the coin toss.
"Then I said I'd love to go to USC out in California. So it was between those two schools and Georgia won that as well. This is no lie. I pulled the names out of a bag and I pulled Georgia. That time I said I was going to Georgia. You know, sometimes when you're naive and stupid, God will take care of you."
Walker led Georgia to the 1980 national championship while rushing for 1,616 yards and 15 touchdowns and finishing third in the Heisman Trophy race.
Walker finished with 5,259 career rushing yards and 52 total touchdowns in three seasons with the Bulldogs. He won the Heisman Trophy as a junior after being the runner up in 1981.
Shootout shoutout
Former Ole Miss quarterback Archie Manning, speaking as part of a panel with Steve Spurrier and Herschel Walker as part of the preview of the 150th season of college football, reminded media members he wore a patch in 1969 as part of the 100-year anniversary of the game.
He brought up a memory from that season when asked about some of the greatest rivalries in college football.
"The network did a pretty smart thing. They scheduled a game that year, first time ever, after Thanksgiving and it was Texas-Arkansas," Manning said. "Pretty good choice. They were both 9-0 and they had this Big Shootout. I remember it well. It was really unbelievable."
The No. 2 ranked Longhorns beat No. 1 Arkansas 15-14 that day with President Richard Nixon and many other dignitaries on hand.
While Texas went on to win the national championship by beating Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl, Manning led Ole Miss to a 27-22 victory over Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, 1970.
Rule changer
SEC coordinator of officials Steve Shaw pointed to Texas A&M's 74-72 seven-overtime victory over LSU on Thanksgiving weekend for leading to a change in the overtime rules.
The Aggies' victory, their first over LSU since joining the SEC in 2012, included 255 plays.
The new overtime rules will go into effect this season. The first four overtimes will be conducted as they had before, with teams required to run mandatory two-point conversion tries after the second overtime. But now, beginning with the fifth overtime, teams will go directly to two-point tries as opposed to taking possession at the 25-yard line.
"It does not change the fabric of overtime," Shaw said. "It's a way to ultimately decide the game because there were too many plays."
Texas A&M Coach Jimbo Fisher said he understood why that game triggered a discussion about changing the guidelines.
"That's the game that did it, that's for sure," Fisher said.
Dooley's day
Georgia will name the field at Sanford Stadium for long-time coach and athletic director Vince Dooley this fall.
Vince Dooley Field will be dedicated on Sept. 7 in the Bulldogs' home opener against Murray State.
"That means a lot," former Georgia All-American Herschel Walker said. "Coach Dooley has done some great things. ... He deserves it because he builds men.
"It's great to name it for Coach Dooley while he's still here to appreciate it."
Dooley was head coach at Georgia from 1963 to 1989 and was director of athletics from 1979 to 2004. He led the Bulldogs to the 1980 national championship and his teams won six SEC championships.
During his tenure as athletic director, the Bulldogs won 23 national championships and 78 SEC titles.
Return of Tee
Tee Martin, the quarterback who led Tennessee to the 1998 BCS national championship, has returned to Knoxville, Tenn., as assistant head coach, passing game coordinator and receivers coach.
Martin, who began his coaching career at Morehouse College in 2006 before spending two years in the high school ranks, has coached the last seven years in various roles at Southern California, including the last three as offensive coordinator.
Wal-Mart run
Tennessee quarterback Jarrett Guarantano said when he was at the Manning Passing Academy at Nicholls State in Thibodaux, La., the last weekend in June, he made a shopping trip with Missouri quarterback Kelly Bryant and Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
"We went on a Wal-Mart run," Guarantano said. "We had to get some sheets. We didn't pack any. We forgot that. And we got some extra Gatorades, because it was like 110 degrees. It was so hot there."
Guarantano and Bryant were among nine SEC quarterbacks at the Manning Passing Academy along with Arkansas' Ben Hicks, Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa, LSU's Joe Burrow, Georgia's Jake Fromm, South Carolina's Jake Bentley, Mississippi State's Tommy Stevens and Ole Miss' Matt Corral.
"It was a great experience, great weekend," Guarantano said of hanging out with his SEC counterparts. "We don't really talk about football. We talk about life and how everything's going personally."
Trainor back
Kevin Trainor, Arkansas' associate athletic director for public relations, is serving as moderator for SEC coaches in the main media room for the ninth consecutive year.
When the coaches appear before the media throng, Trainor picks out the reporters to ask questions.
"We like what Kevin does, because he knows the reporters, he knows the coaches, and he just knows the way it works," said Herb Vincent, the SEC's associate commissioner for communications who is from North Little Rock. "He handles it really well. I think it's important to him and he enjoys it, too. He has a good time doing it."
The SEC Network televises media days live, and Trainor appears with every coach.
"It's kind of a big stage. You're on national TV," Vincent said. "So having somebody in Kevin who's comfortable with it and knows how to do it is good for us. It's one less worry we have when we go into this thing."
Pittman cares
Georgia offensive line coach Sam Pittman has built a strong unit going into his fourth season with the Bulldogs, just as he did at Arkansas, where he held the same position from 2013-16.
"Coach Pittman is like a second father to us," Georgia tackle Andrew Thomas said. "He cares about us off the field as well as on the field. I think that's what helps us play harder for him.
"He treats you the same whether you've played hundreds of snaps or zero snaps."
Chaney continues to impress across conference
Jim Chaney will begin his fourth stint as an offensive coordinator in the SEC, and his second at Tennessee, this fall.
His work, which included two years at Arkansas (2013-14), drew praise from two different camps on Tuesday at SEC media days.
Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm said Chaney, the Bulldogs' coordinator from 2016-18, has a lot of wisdom.
"He was always someone I could go to and have really intelligent football conversations with, not just about Xs and Os, but just about scheme and situational stuff," Fromm said. "It was always great. We'd go in and talk for hours. I definitely learned a lot from him. He's a great football coach and one who it's going to be fun playing against this fall."
Tennessee Coach Jeremy Pruitt wanted an offensive coordinator who had spent time in the SEC.
"Wherever he's been he's had a lot of success, and he's done it a bunch of different ways," Pruitt said. "There's some really, really good defensive minds in this league and it helps to have experience against them.
"Jim understands the University of Tennessee. He coached there before. So when it come to hiring an offensive coordinator, I couldn't think of nobody else I'd rather hire than Jim Chaney."
Sports on 07/17/2019