SEC Notebook: Smoke Bouie no longer with Georgia

Welcome back. The last time Kentucky coach Mark Stoops was in Nashville, his Wildcats lost 21-0 to Iowa in the Music City Bowl last year. They played without starting quarterback Will Levis and lead running back Chris Rodriguez Jr., who sat out while preparing for the draft.
Stoops turned to an old friend to get his offense back on track. Liam Coen returns as Kentucky’s offensive coordinator after holding that position with the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams last season. Under Coen in 2021, the Wildcats ranked fifth in the SEC, averaging 32.3 points per game. Last year, Kentucky scored just 20.4 points per game, worst in the conference.
Stoops said it was a big deal to bring back Coen.
“You go back a couple years ago, you see the immediate impact that he had with our offense and the energy and the juice that he had within our building,” Stoops said. “I think we both have a lot of trust and belief in each other and confidence in each other.”
New coach, new digs. Mississippi State first-year head coach Zach Arnett is the SEC’s youngest at 36 and he’s also the only first-year head coach. He’s also the league’s first head coach of Hispanic descent. The Bulldogs will also have a new uniform this year. The team’s primary attire will be a clean, classic maroon jersey with a maroon helmet that features the word State in script on both sides in white underlined with the stacked Mississippi State wordmark on the front bumper. Auburn also changed coaches, but hired Hugh Freese who was at Ole Miss for five seasons.
Under construction. There’s construction around the Grand Hyatt, which is the venue for the SEC Media Days, as well as nearby Vanderbilt’s football and basketball facilities.
Vanderbilt’s First Bank Stadium (40,350) is the SEC’s smallest stadium, which hasn’t had major renovations since 1981.
“A year from now, two years from now, we’ll have a really tough place to come and play for an opponent,” Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea said.
Both end zones are under construction this season. The south end zone area is adding new locker rooms, a dining facility for athletes and premium seating. The north zone area is getting an operations center and indoor practice facility.
Lea, who is in third season at his alma mater, sees the improvements as a difference-maker.
“It gives us the landscape to paint the picture of what the future will be and in short order we’ll be talking about Vanderbilt football with cutting-edge facilities and best-in-class resources,” Lea said. “When has that ever been said?”
Red River Rivalry returns. The name of the annual Texas-Oklahoma football matchup has been changed back to the Red River Rivalry, ditching the unpopular Red River Showdown used since 2014. Allstate was announced Monday as the new title sponsor of the game played every year at the Cotton Bowl amid the Texas State Fair in Dallas. The game was long known as the Red River Shootout before being changed to the Red River Rivalry in 2005. The rivalry dates to 1900 and this year’s meeting on Oct. 7 will be the 119th matchup between the Longhorns and Sooners. This year’s meeting will be the last in the Big 12 Conference as both teams are joining the SEC.
Georgia cuts ties with former A&M DB. Former A&M defensive back Smoke Bouie who transferred to Georgia in January is no longer with the Bulldogs.
“Smoke is no longer with our team,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said Tuesday to the school’s beat writers. “It was mutually agreed to part ways, and we wish him nothing but the best.”
Bouie was part of A&M’s top-ranked class in 2022. He had recorded three tackles and one pass deflection in seven games last season.
“It was very disappointing his stay was short,” Smart said. “But it was a decision that was made by both parties, and we wish him nothing but the best. He’s from the same hometown that I’m from, and I know a lot of people back there. But it was the decision that was made.”