HOOVER, Ala. — For the first time since 2002 , Michael Silve did not open Southeastern Conference Media Days with a speech riddled with Winston Churchill and Dwight Eisenhower quotes.
Instead, new SEC commissioner Greg Sankey took to the podium and ushered in a new era by quoting Bob Dylan’s song “The Times, They Are A-Changin.”
When a reporter asked about the difference between his and Silve’s source material, Sankey joked, “I’m better at Google.”
But all kidding aside, Sankey’s first State of the SEC address showcased his different approach to leading the conference by defining the student-athletes’ roles as scholars, champions and leaders.
Scholar
Although the definition of scholar is usually reserved for those who achieve a certain GPA, Sankey used the term to stress the importance of players
earning their degree no matter what their athletic achievement.
“For the word scholars, we want to graduate every student-athlete,” Sankey said.
For the elite athletes who walk the halls of SEC institutions, the opportunity to play their sport at the professional level represents the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. But Sankey emphasized the fulfillment of this dream isn’t mutually exclusive.
Sankey illustrated this by commending a variety of professional athletes who have returned to their SEC schools and received their degrees.
Sankey’s list included LSU’s own basketball legend and four-time NBA Champion Shaquille O’Neal.
Champion
For a conference steeped in athletic excellence, Sankey’s characterization of the SEC student-athlete as a champion is self-explanatory.
“For champions, we want to win every championship,” Sankey said.
Just 72 hours into Sankey’s tenure as commissioner, the conference added two more titles to its trophy case with the LSU men’s golf team and Florida’s softball team both winning their respective national championship on June 3.
Throughout the summer, the league’s athletic dominance was showcased on a variety of platforms with the conference featuring five of the eight Women’s College World Series teams, four of the top women’s track and field teams, three of the top four men’s track and field teams and four of the eight College World Series teams.
Part of Sankey’s characterization of “champion” reflects the importance of achieving on the field success in compliance with NCAA regulations.
To Sankey, this also means “to never return a championship, never pull down a championship banner, never vacate any wins and never have a team banned from postseason competition due to NCAA infractions or the lack of academic success under the NCAA’s academic performance program.”
Leader
Finally, Sankey described the goal of the conference to create leaders, “to literally influence the world.”
Instead of focusing this goal on the role of student-athletes as leaders, Sankey outlined how the conference is at the forefront of development in many areas, including the formation of the SEC Network.
“It has been an incredible 11 months for the SEC Network, and it is, at least for me, hard to believe that it’s not even a year old,” he said. “It seems as if it’s always been with us. We enjoyed a remarkable commitment from our athletics department in campuses in supporting this launch.”
Although he clearly differentiated himself from Slive, Sankey praised the former commissioner’s 13-year tenure, even if they do have different inspirations.
“We’re different, but I learned a lot from Mike,” Sankey said. “Those quotes and observations are really about setting a tone, both for him and for me.”
You can reach Morgan Prewitt on Twitter @kmprewitt_TDR.

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Emily Brauner

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey kick starts SEC Media Days with a small speech follwed by a Q&A on Monday, July 13, 2015 in Hoover, Alabama.