CRESTVIEW — While Crestview High School and Baker School's football teams are Friday night attractions, Southeastern Conference football has long been the king on Saturday.
Although Florida State University — about 150 miles to the east — has a local following equal to that of many SEC schools, many fans favor the SEC to FSU’s home conference, the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Baker football Coach Matt Brunson and Crestview Coach Tim Hatten weigh in on how they see the SEC shaping up this year.
SEC West
Hatten, who sees the West as one of college football's most competitive divisions, believes any of the seven teams could win. “If you look at the teams in the West, you’ve got Ole Miss and Mississippi State, the top two teams (in the nation) last year. Alabama has won a national championship in the last five years.”
Hatten pointed to the continued success of Louisiana State's team, which won it all in 2007 and played Alabama for the 2011 national championship. He’s also high on a surging Arkansas team and Auburn. “You’ve got Arkansas that really finished strong last year after spending a few seasons as a doormat kind of deal,” Hatten said. “But that’s Arkansas. Arkansas is always going to be Arkansas (a streaking team that is good for several years and goes through a down cycle before getting good again). Look at Auburn — two years ago they played for the national championship and they won one (in 2010) when Cam Newton was quarterback.” Hatten also doesn't count out Texas A&M.
Brunson believes the West will come down to a rivalry game late in the season. “I’m hoping Alabama and Auburn are playing in the Iron Bowl (the name of the game between the schools) to win the West,” he said. “You can never count (Alabama coach) Nick Saban’s teams out, so I’m saying Alabama edges Auburn in the Iron Bowl to go to the SEC championship game.”
Brunson said several teams could be in the mix to win the West. “Right behind (Alabama and Auburn), I think LSU and Mississippi State with (quarterback) Dak Prescott, they are really coming on,” he said. “Ole Miss, we will see what they put together this year.”
SEC EAST
“Who’s going to win the East?” Brunson said. “They’ve picked South Carolina in the past and they haven’t done well. But as long as (head coach Steve) Spurrier is there, anything can happen."
Hatten praised Georgia, the media's pick to win the division. He’s taking a wait-and-see approach with Florida under new coach Jim McElwain's direction. He believes the Gators have the athletes on defense to make them a contender, but he’s not going with Florida to win the East.
“I like Tennessee in the East,” he said. “Late in the year, you watch a redshirt freshman quarterback (sophomore quarterback Josh Dobbs) and a freshman running back (Jalen Hurd). They are two of the most talented players (in the SEC). They are big, strong, talented kids. They are an exciting team to watch.
“I’m going to say South Carolina and Georgia will fight it out in the East,” he said. “And (Spurrier) at South Carolina wins a close one and South Carolina goes to the SEC championship game.When you get to that game, anything can happen, but I see Alabama wining another SEC title.”
Brunson likes Tennessee to finish third in the division and, like Hatten, said he’ll have to see a little proof at Florida under McElwain. He expects Kentucky to struggle as the Wildcats lost offensive coordinator Neal Brown, who is the new head coach at Troy University, Brunson’s alma mater. “I think Kentucky is getting better, but we will see how losing the offensive coordinator, Neal Brown to Troy, affects them,” Brunson said. “And we will see how Neal Brown does at Troy, so I’m excited to see how that plays out as well.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Offense-minded Hatten — who likes guys on his side of the ball — is excited about Tennessee's Dobbs and Hurd duo, but he also thinks other players are worth watching.
“The receiver from Ole Miss, (Laquon) Treadwell, I like him,” he said. “And you’ve got the kid at Auburn that I recruited when I was at Pearl River that went to Gulf Coast, D'haquille Williams — he’s going to be exciting. The corner, Vernon Hargreaves III, I think he’s as good as anybody in the country.
“I think Derrick Henry, the tailback from Florida that plays at Alabama is fun to watch,” he said. "I like Dak Prescott, the quarterback at Mississippi State. “(2014 Crestview grad) Denzel Ware at Kentucky, I think he’ll be the favorite for local people to watch. I was able to coach Denzel a little bit and I think he’s going to have a great career.”
Bruson said he doesn’t necessarily have favorite team, but he enjoys watching the variety of play in the SEC. “I love to watch teams and styles of play,” he said. “And I just think there are some great storylines across the SEC.”
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: North Okaloosa coaches Hatten and Brunson talk SEC football