We continue our weekend celebration of America’s 250th birthday. Since Independence Day and fireworks go hand in hand, we thought it was the perfect time to look back at the biggest “firework” moments in SEC history. Here’s a short list of our favorites.
Bobby Petrino’s “motorcycle accident”
It was April Fools Day in 2012 when an event so bizarre unfolded that if it were to happen today we’d just all assume that it was AI.
What began as concern over Bobby Petrino’s motorcycle accident quickly turned into a spectacle that captivated the college football world. Fresh off his second ten win season in a row and a top five finish in the rankings, Arkansas football was finally winning and heading in the right direction.
The crash served as an eventual metaphor for the whole program. Petrino showed up to a press conference in a neckbrace. He claimed he was riding alone, but it was later found out that he had a 25-year-old female employee riding on the back.
The two were having an affair. Petrino suffered four broken ribs and a cracked vertebra, and he was subsequently fired ten days later. Arkansas has had eight losing seasons in the 14 years since he left.
Nick Saban’s return to Alabama
He prematurely left Baton Rouge after restoring a program from Vanderbilt level depths, then took them to the mountain top.
LSU had eight losing seasons in 11 years prior to Saban arriving. He won a national title in year four. He left South Louisiana for South Beach and became the head coach of the Dolphins. It was immediately evident that it was not a fit, and before the second season was even over, his name surfaced as a potential candidate for the Alabama job.
For five weeks, Nick Saban denied he would leave the Miami Dolphins for Alabama, even as speculation intensified. On Jan. 3, 2007, the rumors became reality, and college football was never the same.
Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC
This felt more like a professional wrestling storyline than a moment in college football. It was the third or fourth day of SEC Media Days in 2021 when Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork walked into what felt like an ambush. Greg Sankey had dropped a bombshell, bringing his own NWO to the SEC with the announcement that Texas and Oklahoma were joining the league.
A league that already had 14 members and had just completed conference expansion less than a decade ago was now to expand to 16. This time it wouldn’t be adding two Big 12 little brothers, they were adding to of the most iconic blue blood programs in the sport. People were shocked.
Texas A&M was furious. And, Greg Sankey was smiling after essentially bringing in two free agent programs with endless revenue streams and financial opportunities.
Anytime 2019 LSU touched the field
In the time it took you to read this sentence Joe Burrow threw for well over 300 yards and four scores to Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson.
