After being held in Nashville, Atlanta, and Birmingham for the last three seasons, SEC Media Days will begin next week in Dallas, Texas. 2024 will mark the first time Dallas has hosted the event and will be held at the Omni Dallas Hotel from July 15-18. As it always is, the four-day event will be aired on the SEC Network.
SEC Media Days is looked at as the unofficial start to the college football season and is used to drum up excitement among the 16 SEC fanbases. With Texas and Oklahoma joining the conference, there will be even more news to discuss than usual.
For SEC Media Days, each school typically sends its head coach and up to three players to represent the team. On Monday, Tennessee announced head coach Josh Heupel will be accompanied by Omari Thomas, Cooper Mays, and Keenan Pili. The selected players will meet with the media in various platforms while in Dallas.
Omari Thomas Makes His Second Consecutive SEC Media Days Appearance
In 2023, Tennessee sent Joe Milton, Jacob Warren, and Omari Thomas as its three player representatives to SEC Media Days. With Thomas deciding to use his extra year of eligibility, Josh Heupel has chosen to bring his big 6’4″ 320-pound defensive tackle alongside him again.
Omari Thomas has been a mainstay on the Tennessee defensive line since his freshman season in Knoxville. Over the last three seasons, he has started 30 games. The senior from Memphis graduated from the University of Tennessee in May 2024 and is part of the NCAA Oversight Committee.
Cooper Mays
Preseason All-American center Cooper Mays will be heading to SEC Media Days in Dallas as part of the Tennessee contingent. The senior graduated in May and is the anchor for the Volunteers’ offensive line. Mays has started 32 games in his career and has not allowed a sack in his last 14 games played.
Last season, Mays missed the first four games due to hernia surgery. Once he returned, the Tennessee offense hit a different gear. For the second straight season, he helped the Vols run for over 2,500 yards. He is a likely candidate to be named to the preseason All-SEC team.
Keenan Pili
A graduate transfer from BYU in 2023, Keenan Pili is the elder statesman of the group heading to the SEC Media Days. Originally a freshman in 2016, Pili went on a mission from 2017-2019. When he returned to BYU, he became a team captain before he transferred to the University of Tennessee.
Pili started the first game of the 2023 for Tennessee before sustaining a season season-ending injury. The injury allowed him to appeal for an extra season of eligibility, which he will help lead the Vols defense in 2024.
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