<
>

SEC morning links

1. Jim McElwain has made it a point to make his presence known at Florida. The new coach has fans excited with his renewed interest in offense, he just concluded his first recruiting cycle with a solid finish and now it appears he's helping to improve Florida's football facilities. It started with the announcement of finally constructing an indoor practice facility, which is expected to be ready by fall camp. Now, it appears that Florida's football facilities will undergo even more changes, athletic director Jeremy Foley said Monday. Foley didn't go into much detail, but he did mention trying to improve the locker room and the dorms. Amid criticism, Foley adamantly defended Florida's facilities back in December, but the announcement of the indoor practice facility and this new announcement sends a pretty clear message that he understands Florida is behind most of the SEC when it comes to facilities. It hasn't been a secret to other coaches around the country and it's good for Florida that Foley realizes changes need to be made.

2. One decision that hasn't been made is the one concerning where ESPN 300 linebacker Roquan Smith is going to attend college. The four-star prospect from Montezuma, Georiga, dramatically picked UCLA -- like having place cards and a bag full of gloves dramatic -- before almost immediately stating that he wasn't ready to make a final decision on where he wants to play college football. Of course, Georgia is a finalist and was the favorite going into national signing day, but Smith's high school coach, Larry Harold, says there's no timetable on when he'll make his actual final decision and sign. Harold said that there isn't any pressure on Smith to sign yet, and he really can take a ton of time if he wants, but this hammers home the point that if a high school prospect isn't ready to sign with a school, he shouldn't make any sort of public announcement. There's absolutely no point. You don't have to sign on national signing day, it's just the first day you can sign with a school. Take your time and really think, kids.

3. Did you know that there were 14 coordinator changes in the SEC this offseason? Eight of them were on offense, while six were on defense. Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason is even taking over the defensive responsibilities for the Commodores. If you want real perspective on this, only Alabama and Ole Miss didn't make any changes with their coordinators. A lot of new faces in new situations means some growing pains and some adjustments that will need to be made this spring before we can really get a feel for what these guys will do in their new positions. With that said, Athlon Sports decided to really dive into the coordinator carousel and picked four winners and losers, along with four "Wait and See" situations.

Around the SEC:

Tweet of the day (because Florida fans had to be tired of the whole CeCe Jefferson saga ... and Ron Swanson is everything):