SEC notebook: Spurrier gets in some golf; Saban says gay player would be welcome at Alabama

Steve Spurrier got in a quick round of golf here Tuesday morning before the SEC’s annual spring meetings began.

More importantly for Spurrier, it was a good round of golf.

“A few good ones, a few, better than normal,” South Carolina’s football coach said.

Spurrier is being modest about his round, according to Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze, who was part of Spurrier’s foursome along with Auburn coach Gus Malzahn. The foursome rotated partners for six holes each, and Spurrier’s group won every time, Freeze said.

“Coach Spurrier was the big winner,” Freeze said. “It was a coach Spurrier kind of day.”

Spurrier credited former Ole Miss quarterback Archie Manning with bringing him good luck. Manning walked several holes with the group, Spurrier said.

“When Archie showed up, I played a lot better for some reason,” Spurrier said.

Teammates first

Alabama coach Nick Saban would have no problem signing a gay player at Alabama, he said.

“We don’t really look at what guys’ choices are when it comes to those types of things,” he said. “I’ve been on teams with folks like that, don’t have a problem with it. As long as we respect them and they should respect us, and as long as that happens I’m good. I would have no problem with that, and I would hope the players on our team would have the same kind of respect for someone’s thoughts and feelings and differences and show the same respect.”

Older and wiser

When former Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron complained after the season that some of his young teammates at Alabama didn’t have the proper commitment during the 2013 season, Saban wondered if McCarron understood his responsibility in that.

“I love AJ – but I think a senior player has a responsibility as a leader on the team to understand that when younger players come into the program that are not going to necessarily have all the right stuff or understand the right stuff to be a part of the team,” Saban said. “There has to be a tolerance and a commitment on the older players to sort of embrace the younger players to try to get them where they need to be, even if they don’t play. But it should not be something that upsets an older player; it should not be an issue with an older player.”

Outta my way

The league’s coaches have been briefed on how much time and access they will be expected to give to the SEC Network and are comfortable with the relationship, Florida coach Will Muschamp said.

“There’s gonna be some give and take with this,” Muschamp said. “I think, for our league, it’s going to be huge moving forward. There are going to be some access things that they ask as far as practice. Sure, I have no problem with that.”

Muschamp came to the Gators from Texas, where the ESPN-owned Longhorns Network caused some coaches to chafe at the requirements of a relationship with the network. The SEC Network won’t be so intrusive because it will have 14 schools to cover instead of one, Muschamp predicted.

“You’ve got so much information that they’re going to be collecting from different people,” he said. “Based on what I was told, I think it will be very fair.”

Arkansas vs. Auburn

Arkansas coach Bret Bielema downplayed any personal rivalry between himself and Malzahn, but then, intentionally or not, provided more fuel for the fire when asked about Malzhan’s history as a high school coach in Arkansas.

“They think he invented (up-tempo offense) there, but it was going on a lot of other places,” Bielema said.

Bielema and Malzahn were on opposite ends of the pace-of-play debate. The Razorbacks and Tigers play Aug. 30 in the season opener for both teams.

“I think our guys are fired up to play Auburn,” Bielema said. “They don’t need me or Gus involved.”

Extra points

... The SEC men’s basketball tournament will be played in St. Louis in 2018 and in Tampa, Fla., in 2022. With the earlier announcement of Nashville, Tenn., as the conference’s “semi-permanent” home, the event is now scheduled out through the 2025 season.

Arkansas athletics director Jeff Long, the chairman of the College Football Playoff selection committee, did not attend Tuesday’s meetings due to a family health issue, SEC commissioner Mike Slive said.

The SEC will stick with 18 conference basketball games but will add two more permanent opponents to the schedule. South Carolina’s two additional permanent opponents, joining current permanent Georgia, will be determined at a later date.

Changing the SEC rules to allow alcohol sales in the public areas of SEC home stadiums was not discussed Tuesday, Slive said.