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Diego Pavia’s swagger, and rumors of a Nick Saban return highlight Day 1 of SEC Media Days 2025

First came Beyoncé and then the WWE. The Major League Baseball All-Star Game was not far behind. The string of big events in Atlanta continued with SEC Media Days, centerstage at the College Football Hall of Fame.

The kickoff to the upcoming SEC season begins where it will end in December, though the SEC Championship Game will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Before toe meets leather to kick off the 2025 slate of football game, players and coaches meet with the media to talk about what lies ahead. Each day, AL.com will provide a daily recap from each day with key moments and interesting nuggets of information you might have missed.

The return of the king?

The last time Nick Saban coached in a football game, it was Jan. 1, 2024 at the Rose Bowl. Soon after he retired, just nine days later on Jan. 10, people began to wonder if they’d ever see the generational coaching legend on the sidelines again.

Former Crimson Tide quarterback and ESPN media personality Greg McElroy swirled speculation Monday morning, sparking a fuse that ignited into the story of the day.

During his show Monday, MacElroy and Cubelic in the Morning on WJOX, the former Alabama quarterback hinted that Nick Saban could return to coaching. Unsurprisingly, word spread quickly and much of the morning was spent by media and even some fellow coaches discussing the possibility of a Saban return.

Ole Miss head coach and former Alabama assistant Lane Kiffin discussed a Saban return noting, his high level of ‘addiction’.

Saban, who hasn’t been scheduled to attend SEC Media Days, has been one of the new stars in sports media on ESPN College Gameday, becoming a darling of the FCC comments section.

ESPN reporter Chris Low, the man who helped break the news of Saban’s retirement back in January of 2024, shared his thoughts on a possible return to coaching for Nick Saban.

Pavia Mania

You may have heard this before, but Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia is a confident young man. His bravado seemingly has grown with his success on the field. Consider his record vs. Alabama and Auburn is 3-0.

While Pavia beat Auburn for the second year in a row, it’s the win last September against the Crimson Tide that firmly thrust him into the national spotlight.

During that win, Pavia helped author a historic upset of No. 1 Alabama in dominating fashion. Sauntering into the opening day of SEC Media Days, Pavia reflected on his star-making moment. In classic Pavia fashion, he pointed out the Commodores’ preparation.

What does Diego plan to do for an encore? His sights are set on something Vanderbilt has never done in school history, reach the SEC Championship. Noting that he aspires to have run compared to the 2020 Alabama national title winning team.

The only thing standing in Vanderbilt’s way? Alabama, Auburn, and the rest of the SEC.

Never a dull moment with Lane Kiffin

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin likes to have fun, don’t believe that? Just go on social media. In recent weeks, the Rebels head coach has picked a new target for entertainment: Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze, and his much-publicized golf game.

To end the day, Kiffin had a chance to link up with ESPN’s Paul Finebaum, just off the heels of their latest episode, just a week ago when Finebaum went after Freeze, for being trolled by Kiffin.

On the SEC Network set Monday, which is also home to the Paul Finebaum show during the duration of media days, Kiffin and Finebaum traded barbs, deadpanned remarks and even poked fun at their “dynamic”. Like most comedic duos, they clearly make each other better, while driving each other crazy.

LSU’s QB talks return to Alabama

If LSU is to live up to preseason expectations and make a potentially deep playoff run, quarterback Garrett Nussmeier will have to exercise some demons in the process.

One of those locations where the demons are? Tuscaloosa, AL. having played inside Bryant-Denny Stadium when his dad Doug was an Alabama assistant. Speaking with the media on Monday, the Heisman hopeful feels like he’s ready for the moment.

What to watch on Day 2?

Four teams down, 12 more to go.

Up next for SEC Media Days: Day 2, the media in Atlanta will see Auburn, Georgia, Texas, and Tennessee beginning Tuesday at 8 a.m. CT. Auburn and Georgia take the morning session, while Texas and Tennesse close out the day in the afternoon.

The player who will grab the most attention of course is Arch Manning, given the small space of the College Football Hall of Fame venue hosting the event, you will easily be able to spot where the latest Manning gunslinger will be chatting with the media.

The coach to watch? Auburn’s Hugh Freeze. Will he be answering questions about his golf game? Possibly, will he talk about his quarterback Jackson Arnold? Guaranteed.

Golf and quarterback questions aside, Freeze enters the most pivotal of his Auburn tenure. As anxiety grows among the fan base wanting to breakthrough into the quadrant of the league, Freeze may feel a bit more heat as he faces the media.

Tuesday morning’s broadcast of SEC Media Days begins at 8 a.m. CT airing on SEC Network.

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Why are the Home Run Derby sluggers wearing No. 3 or No. 44?

The T-Mobile Home Run Derby is being contested on Monday night at Truist Park in Atlanta. On Tuesday night, the MLB All-Star Game will be played on that field.

The dates of those events are July 14 and July 15 – or 7/14 and 7/15.

When Hall of Fame pitcher C.C. Sabathia realized that, it led to the competitors in the Home Run Derby wearing either the No. 3 or No. 44 on their uniform – 3 for the American Leaguers and 44 for the National Leaguers.

The connection? Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron.

Ruth completed his Major League career with 714 home runs, a feat that became perhaps the most celebrated record in U.S. sports.

But the unbreakable record was broken by Mobile native Hank Aaron when the Atlanta Braves outfielder belted his 715th MLB home run on April 8, 1974, in Atlanta.

Sabathia serves as a special assistant to the Commissioner of Baseball, so he was in position to do something with his date-home run connection.

“I just saw the date of the Home Run Derby,” Sabathia told ESPN, “and knew that the game was in Atlanta again, and thought it would be special to honor not only Hank, but Babe, in that way. Everything (in baseball) is about numbers — who you can pass, you need to get this number to get in the Hall of Fame. Seven-hundred-fifteen is such a huge number, and that actually being the date in the Derby was the inspiration behind the guys wearing the uniforms.”

“We’d be doing ourselves a disservice to not do the storytelling, especially behind Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Atlanta. The history of our game, you know, we have so many opportunities to tell stories and just with the date and the number, I thought it would be so cool to tell this one.”

The National League players in Aaron’s No. 44 on Monday night include Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz, Atlanta Braves third baseman Matt Olson and Washington Nationals outfielder James Wood.

The American League players wearing Ruth’s No. 3 include Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton, Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero, New York Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr., Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh and Athletics designated hitter Brent Rooker.

The numbers went beyond the Home Run Derby, too. For batting and fielding practice for the MLB All-Star Game, the National and American League teams wore No. 44 and No. 3, respectively, on all the players’ uniforms on Monday.

The T-Mobile Home Run Derby is being televised by ESPN.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.

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South Carolina’s Shane Beamer talks playoff expansion, 8 vs. 9 SEC games

South Carolina narrowly missed the College Football Playoff a year ago, so perhaps Shane Beamer is biased.

Whatever the reason, Beamer said Monday that he’s in favor of further expanding the playoff beyond its current 12-team format. The CFP was at four teams from 2014-13, then went to 12 teams last year, though there remains constant chatter it could be expanded to 14 or even 16 teams in 2026 and beyond.

“I’m all for more teams getting opportunities,” Beamer said Monday during his appearance at SEC Media Days in Atlanta. “I want to make sure we have the greatest regular season in any sport in college athletics, in my opinion, because every regular season game means something. So you want to make sure that the regular season doesn’t lose meaning and confident that it won’t if we expand. It’ll still make a lot more games meaningful in the month of November in my mind, and then gives more teams opportunities to go compete for a championship, which is what anybody wants.”

South Carolina went 9-4 last season, including a victory over eventual ACC champion Clemson on the final weekend of the regular season. However, when the final CFP rankings were released in early December, the Gamecocks were No. 15, left out along with the likes of Miami and Ole Miss.

There has also been talk of expanding the SEC’s schedule from eight games to nine for 2026. Beamer said that with South Carolina’s annual rivalry game with Clemson, the Gamecocks in effect already play nine “conference-level” games per year.

As Beamer noted, only South Carolina, Florida (with Florida State), Kentucky (Louisville) and Georgia (Georgia Tech) among SEC schools play the same non-conference rival each season. Beamer said that if the SEC went to a nine-game schedule, it would have to be made equitable across the board.

“Competition is a core value of our program, so I’m never gonna shy away from competition,” Beamer said. “… We have a schedule that we get to play, but we also get to play Clemson every season as well, and that’s a nonconference rival that we have that not every school in this league has. … I know everyone is going to play a power (conference) team in the regular season typically, but in my mind, we’re already playing nine conference games. Then if we go to nine, we’re now playing 10 conference games. And then we’ve also got future schedules with Miami on it, Virginia Tech this year, North Carolina, North Carolina State.

“So I’m all for competition, but I want to make sure that the other teams in this league aren’t playing nine SEC games and then playing three … games that they should win, because that’s not very smart as the head coach of South Carolina to be doing that if that’s what the other teams in this league aren’t doing it.”

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Brewers select Alabama signee, Thompson star pitcher in 20th round

University of Alabama signee Ma’Kale Holden was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday in the final round of the Major League Baseball Draft. The Brewers used the 605th pick in the 20th round of the draft to select Holden as a pitcher.

Holden, who starred at Thompson High School at pitcher and third base, was a first-team Alabama Sports Writers Association All-State selection as a utility player. He was ranked as the top right-handed pitcher and the No. 5 overall player in Alabama by Perfect Game USA, which clocked his fastball at 97 mph on June 22, 2024.

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Mr. Baseball goes in first round

Prep Baseball Report ranked the 6-foot-1, 215-pounder as the No. 2 right-hander and the No. 5 overall prospect in the state.

As a senior, the 18-year-old Holden struck out 55 batters in 40 innings and finished with a 2.45 earned run average for Frankie Perez’ Warriors. In 2024, Holden’s grand-slam home run on a 3-2 count in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted Thompson past Spain Park 13-12 in the opening round of the AHSAA state playoffs.

Atlanta picked UAB outfielder Logan Braunschweig – another former Thompson player – in the ninth round of the draft on Monday.

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Hugh Freeze announces Auburn football’s fall camp start date

The 2025 college football season is right around the corner, and Auburn’s campaign will start earlier than normal this year.

The Tigers will once again start the season in August, with the season opener against Baylor scheduled for Aug. 29. It puts the game on a Friday, starting before the majority of college football takes the field that Saturday.

With the early start, Auburn will begin fall camp before the month of August begins. Hugh Freeze told reporters at an AMBUSH event in Atlanta that the Tigers will begin camp on July 29, exactly one month before Auburn travels to Waco to face Baylor.

Freeze added that he likes what he’s seen from the team during summer workouts, complimenting the approach from both the players and staff.

“I couldn’t be more pleased. I really couldn’t,” Freeze said. “I love the chemistry I see between the quarterbacks and receivers right now. They believe in each other, it’s obvious and hopefully that is shown when we start playing games.”

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m

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Alabama State baseball duo selected in 2025 MLB draft

A pair of Alabama State Hornets were selected in the 2025 MLB draft on Monday.

Both selected in the 20th round, first baseman Juan Cruz was selected by the Washington Nationals with pick No. 591 and outfielder Kameron Douglas went to the Detroit Tigers at No. 609.

Cruz was named SWAC Hitter of the Year after a standout season with the Hornets that saw him bat .420 with 14 home runs, 23 doubles and 73 RBIs. He posted a .481 on-base percentage with stole six bases.

His 105 hits led all Division I athletes last season while his batting average ranked No. 8 among all qualified players.

The 6-foot-5 first baseman also claimed first-team all-SWAC honors and was named SWAC Freshman of the Year in 2024 with the Hornets. Following the season, he entered the NCAA transfer portal and announced his commitment to Georgia.

A fellow first-team all-SWAC pick, Douglas batted .335 with 17 home runs and 65 RBIs for Alabama State in his lone season with the Hornets, posting a .419 on-base percentage and a .639 slugging percentage.

His 79 hits ranked fourth among all SWAC players, while his home run mark ranked No. 3.

He also had three multi-home run games last season with Alabama State with a season-high five RBIs against Bethune-Cookman on May 2.

The Hornets went 31-29 last season and 21-9 in SWAC play, falling to eventual champion Bethune-Cookman in the SWAC Baseball Tournament at Rickwood Field in Birmingham.

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Boston Red Sox pick Auburn pitcher in 18th round of MLB draft

The Boston Red Sox made Cade Fisher the fifth pitcher picked from Auburn’s 2025 team in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft when the American League club selected the left-hander at No. 538 on Monday.

Fisher is coming off his first season with the Tigers.

In 2025, he appeared in 14 games, with 10 starts. Fisher posted a 1-3 record and a 4.68 earned-run average. In 42.1 innings, he struck out 54 and yielded 38 hits and 23 walks.

Fisher came to the Plains from SEC rival Florida. In two seasons with the Gators, Fisher had a 10-3 record, although his ERA ballooned to 7.13 in 2024 after he went 7-0 with a 3.10 ERA as a freshman.

Fisher followed Dylan Watts, Cam Tilly, Samuel Dutton and Hayden Murphy into the draft on Monday.

The Toronto Blue Jays chose Watts at No. 202, the New York Mets took Tilly at No. 223, the Athletics selected Dutton at No. 290 and the Seattle Mariners picked Murphy at No. 453.

The five pitchers picked on Monday joined two other draft picks from the 2025 Auburn team so far. The Baltimore Orioles chose catcher/outfielder Ike Irish at No. 19 on Sunday and the Toronto Blue Jays selected infielder Eric Snow at No. 172 on Monday.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.

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SEC coaching legend won’t talk to Kiffin, Finebaum, they claim

For all their differences, Paul Finebaum and Lane Kiffin have at least on thing in common: A former SEC coaching legend won’t talk to either of them.

That coach was revealed Monday when the Ole Miss coach made an unscheduled appearance on “The Paul Finebaum Show.”

The topic came up while the two were explaining their on-again, off-again bromance.

“Since you are a former NFL coach, I think you coached six or seven games with the Raiders,” Finebaum jabbed before he was interrupted.

“I screwed up because I was trying to get the Tennessee job,” Kiffin replied. “You didn’t know that.

“I think you reported one time I actually (former Tennessee coach) Phillip Fulmer fired.”

Finebaum acknowledged he did report that because he said it was “100 percent true.”

“The most beloved coach since (General Robert)) Neyland and here comes Lane Kiffin,” Finebaum joked.

That’s why, Kiffin said, Fulmer won’t talk to him.

“Phil Fulmer never spoke to me because of that,” he said. “You reporting that. I tried to reach out, go over and meet him. He wouldn’t talk to me because he was convinced Paul Finebaum said that I got him fired.

“I was in Oakland, losing games and kicking 76-yard field goals.”

Finebaum admitted the same.

“Phil Fulmer doesn’t talk to me either. Don’t worry about it.”

Fulmer, the second-winningest coach in Tennessee football history, compiled a 152-52 career record in 17 seasons.

Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.

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BetMGM bonus code ALCOM1500: Get $150 if you win a Home Run Derby or NBA Summer League bet

One of the most entertaining events of the MLB season is here, and if you want to cash in on the MLB Home Run Derby, the BetMGM bonus code ALCOM1500, which offers a bet $10, get $150 if you win a Home Run Derby or NBA Summer League tonight.

So if you want to try your hand at a bet $10, get $150 in bonus bets if your first wager wins, here is how.

BetMGM Bonus Code ALCOM1500 at a glance

BetMGM bonus code ALCOM1500
BetMGM new-user offer Bet $10, get $150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins
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Bonus bets must be played through within seven days of issuance.

Last verified July 14, 2025

BetMGM bonus code: How to claim the offer

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  4. Collect $150 in bonus bets, paid out as three $50 bet credits, if your first wager wins
  5. Play through bonus funds 1x to convert them to withdrawable cash
  6. Keep playing with BetMGM

BetMGM existing user promos

If you play with BetMGM you’ll get some of the most lucrative bonus offers on your favorite betting markets each day. Here are the best existing user promos right now.

Home Run Derby odds boost

If you are intending to bet on the Home Run Derby, BetMGM will make it more lucrative to do so. Place a Home Run Derby-related wager with a maximum stake of $20, and BetMGM will boost the odds by 20 percent.

That means if you’re a Braves fan hoping to wager on Matt Olson to win at +900, the odds will be boosted to +1080 — a boost of $1.80 profit-per-dollar wagered if he wins.

Bonvoy Bet and Get

Simply link your Marriott Bonvoy account to your BetMGM account, then place a wager of at least $20, and you’ll receive 2,000 hotel points added to your Bonvoy account.

Minimum odds of -200 on your wager to qualify. Offer eligible for straight wagers, parlays or any variation. Offer eligible once per week through July 30.

BetMGM bonus code ALCOM1500: How to claim the offer

Though it may seem compelling to try your hand at a player-to-win wager with the BetMGM bonus code ALCOM1500, it is very, very hard to predict who will win the Home Run Derby.

So the best way to wager is to wager on a short-odds wager, like Cal Raleigh to advance to the semifinals, since the MLB home-run leader is the favorite to do so (-275).

If Raleigh is one of the four players with the most home runs in the first round, you’ll win $13.36 plus three $50 bonus-bet credits.

If NBA summer league is more your speed, allow us to recommend a very-short odds play like the Celtics to defeat the Heat (-250) or the Hornets to beat the Mavericks (-300), since Cooper Flagg will not be playing the rest of the summer-league slate.

Whichever you pick, do so wisely, since a losing wager will pay out nothing while a successful bet will pay out $150 in bonus bets.

Learn more about our gaming editorial staff.

If you or a loved one has questions or needs to talk to a professional about gambling, call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit 1800gambler.net for more information.

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Mountain Brook star, Alabama signee selected in 2025 MLB draft. Will he stay with Crimson Tide?

Mountain Brook High star Caleb Barnett has been selected in the 2025 MLB Draft, picked by the Chicago Cubs with pick No. 571 overall in the 19th round.

A two-way player for the Spartans last season, he is the second player from an Alabama high school to be drafted; Hewitt-Trussville star Steele Hall was selected with the No. 9 overall pick by the Reds.

Despite being drafted on Monday, Barnett confirmed to AL.com that it his is intention to play for the University of Alabama; he committed to the Crimson Tide in June of 2022.

Last season with Mountain Brook, he batted .355 with five home runs, nine doubles, 28 RBIs and 40 runs scored to lead the Spartans to a Class 6A quarterfinal appearance.

On the mound, he posted a 5-2 record with a 1.61 ERA, striking out 85 batters across 56.2 innings. He was a first team all-state pick at designated hitter in Class 6A and selected to the Birmingham News 2025 Terrific 22 Baseball Team.

The Cubs selected three players with Alabama ties, including Crimson Tide pitcher Kade Snell and Troy pitcher Noah Edders.

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