Next week marks the ‘unofficial start of football season’ with the SEC Media Days event taking place over four days at the Omni Hotel in Dallas, Texas.

Each team brings their head coach along with three players to address the media, answer questions, talk about the upcoming season, and ultimately build excitement.

Incredibly, there will be a record 11 quarterbacks representing their schools in Dallas out of the 16 SEC programs. Both Auburn and Alabama will be bringing their quarterbacks, with Jalen Milroe representing the Tide and Payton Thorne representing the Tigers.

Alabama is bringing two additional program leaders, one of them being rising 5th-year safety Malachi Moore, who was among the most vocal players to speak in support of Alabama upon his return after Nick Saban retired.

Rising junior guard Tyler Booker will attend with Alabama, as well as another player who chose not to enter the transfer portal following Saban’s departure.

Along with Thorne, Auburn is bringing senior linebacker Eugene Asante, who will be playing his sixth season of college football in 2024 after transferring from North Carolina two years ago and playing the best season of his career in 2023.

Hugh Freeze is also bringing a rising sophomore defensive lineman, Keldric Faulk. Faulk played in every game for the Tigers as a true freshman in 2023 and recorded 35 total tackles along with 3.5 tackles for loss.

It should be a tremendous week in Dallas as fans get to hear from their coaches as well as some of the best players in their programs.

Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP and hear him every weekday morning from 6 to 9 a.m. on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5, available free online.