The kickoff to the upcoming SEC season begins where it will end in December, though the SEC Championship Game will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Before toe meets leather to kick off the 2025 slate of football game, players and coaches meet with the media to talk about what lies ahead. Each day, AL.com will provide a daily recap from each day with key moments and interesting nuggets of information you might have missed.

Elephants (and Alabama) never forget…

Florida State quarterback Thomas Castellanos lit a fuse earlier this summer as saying that “they don’t have Nick Saban to save them”. That sparked anger and fired up current and former Crimson Tide players, well ahead of the Alabama season opener at Florida State.

For the first time since those comments, members of the Alabama football team had to address them with the media present at media days. Alabama defensive tackle Tim Keenan authored a short, but direct response to the FSU transfer QB’s comments saying, “the disrespect will be addressed”.

Tide linebacker Deontae Lawson also chimed in saying, “all disrespect will be addressed accordingly”.

It remains pretty clear that Alabama has taken Castellanos’ words personally, and any backfield interactions in Week 1 might have a bit more spice to them.

DeBoer talks Alabama standard

It was his first year on the job at Alabama, and despite the nine-win season, Kalen DeBoer knows better.

While taking the main stage at inside the College Football Hall of Fame, Alabama’s head coach addressed the fact that there is a standard at Alabama, of success, in winning bowl games and ultimately, competing for championships. Something they didn’t do last season with a 9-4 record. Something DeBoer put bluntly while talking with the media.

“If you internally ask us, no,” DeBoer said. “We fell short of making the playoffs. It’s as simple as that, right? Giving yourself a chance to go compete for a championship. I think there’s a lot of things that I’m super proud of that have happened within the program that are part of the progression. Yeah, we want it right now, too.”

The “Alabama standard” has been established, officially. It’s now up to DeBoer, the staff and the players to live up to it over 12 weeks in the fall.

Auburn getting some preseason love from who?!

Throughout the lead up to media days, pundits, experts and armchair experts like to make their picks for who may surprise in a certain league or division.

Usually, it’s a team that finished in the middle and or lower half the previous season. A perfect spot for a team like Auburn to be discussed, right? Correct. That’s not the surprise; it is the person who delivered said surprise.

While handicapping the SEC title contenders, former Alabama quarterback and ESPN analyst Greg McElroy tabbed the Auburn Tigers as his sleeper pick, noting their potential with the weapons on offense and talented defense.

Oklahoma shows love to Arnold

The realities of the transfer portal mean that the bonds you create with teammates may last a year, two years, and if you’re lucky it goes throughout your entire college career.

For former Oklahoma QB Jackson Arnold, his time with the OU program lasted two seasons (2023-24) before transferring to Auburn this past spring. When Oklahoma took their place in front of the media, Sooners head coach Brent Venables and the players discussed Jackson at length.

Venables talked about how Arnold handled tough moments and went as far as saying he wanted to keep the new Auburn signal-caller.

When asked about Arnold, former teammate Robert Spears-Jennings remarked about the positive attitude, and R Mason Thomas lauded his professionalism when faced with adversity last season.

Oklahoma and Auburn meet again, this time in Norman, OK on Sept. 20.

Jordan Rodgers gets flashbacks

Being a football player means you’re going to have some hits you don’t remember. Then you have some that you absolutely, positively never forget, and think about so much you wake up in a cold sweat years later.

He may have not woken up in a cold sweat, but it was clear that Jordan Rodgers remembers when he and Mark Barron met when the former Vanderbilt quarterback played Alabama in 2011.

What to watch on Thursday

Thursday in Atlanta is the final day of SEC Media Days 2025. The teams that will take the stage are Kentucky, Missouri, Texas A&M, and Arkansas.

Two schools who are looking to make a breakthrough into the playoff (Missouri, Texas A&M) and two schools with coaches who may need a big season, to return to media days next year in 2026 (Arkansas and Kentucky).

Along with those teams hitting the stage, the preseason predictions for the order of finish and All-SEC preseason teams will be announced soon after. And the only thing left after that is the opening of fall camps, then the season.

Football in the south is on the horizon, just a few more weeks.

Click the following links for recaps from Monday and Tuesday at SEC Media Days. For more on SEC Media Days, visit AL.com for the latest from Atlanta.

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – A complex and years long investigation has led to nearly 50 illegal immigrants being arrested across Alabama.

Federal agents served 14 search warrants in lee, Macon, Elmore, Autauga, Crenshaw and Baldwin counties.

The El Patron Mexican restaurant in Robertsdale was one of the targets.

According to the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama Kevin Davidson, these searches led to more than just arrests.

“Law enforcement recovered distribution amounts of methamphetamine powder, cocaine, crack, cocaine, assorted pills, more than $100,000 of bulk cash, and at least 20 guns,” Davidson said.

At the center of this investigation is Cesar Campos Reyes, who according to FBI Mobile, surrendered himself in Lee County hours after the search warrants were served.

According to a federal indictment, Campos Reyes fraudulently obtained a Paycheck Protection Program loan by falsely certifying documents tied to restaurants that were raided today. Federal agents say the loan funds totaled around $225,000.

Federal agents also going to other El Patron locations in Wetumpka, Opelika and Prattville.

Campos Reyes is said to be the registered agent for the businesses.

Steven Schrank, special agent in charge for HSI in Alabama and Georgia, said this investigation has uncovered a bigger issue.

“This operation was not about any one offense. It was about dismantling a criminal ecosystem, one that profits from the exploitation of people in the circumvention of our nation’s laws,” Schrank said. “In many of the locations we investigated, we uncovered, not only unlawful, unauthorized employment of aliens, but evidence that may point to a broader pattern of criminal conduct.”

Schrank also said businesses who knowingly hire non-citizens are creating a path for other problems.

“When employers knowingly hire illegal aliens, they create a magnet for exploitation, wage theft and unsafe conditions,” he said. “They also sidestep labor laws designed to protect workers, and dissuade honest employers. This creates an underground economy that is often tied to organized criminal activity and puts our communities at risk.”

Federal investigators also said Campos Reyes is the registered agent at the El Patron restaurant in Pensacola.

Although we’re told that business wasn’t raided today, when we stopped by on July 15, a sign on the door said, “closed due to an inconvenience.”

Copyright 2025 WALA. All rights reserved.

The Cincinnati Bengals clearly have a strong top of the wide receiver depth chart.

Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins are a great place to start.

The No. 3 spot is held down by Andrei Iosivas. 

After that, though? The depth is shaky.

The Bengals can fix that in a trade with the Texans, writes For The Win’s Cory Woodroof. He wants them to deal a sixth-round pick to Houston for John Metchie III.

“After their main three wide receivers, the Bengals have a lot of questions with depth on the roster,” Woodroof writes. “Metchie has flashed impressive play in his Texans tenure, but he’s never been able to consistently carve out a role. Houston has one of the more crowded wideout rooms in the NFL, and Metchie would be an excellent get for Cincinnati at this point in the offseason to compete for the fourth wide receiver spot on the roster. He may well win it. Particularly if injury struck, the Bengals having a solid receiver like Metchie on the roster would be pivotal.”

MORE: How good was LeBron at football? NBA legend would have been ‘one of the best’ in NFL

Metchie was a star at Alabama but has had a bumpy start to his NFL career.

Especially given Higgins’ injury history, having such talented depth is a great idea.

Soon enough, Metchie could be playing huge snaps in big games for the Bengals if this deal went down.

MORE NFL NEWS: