Pinkel and Bielema bump heads over philosophy

Wednesday was the lightest day of the week at Southeastern Conference Media Days, as only three teams addressed a slew of reporters at the Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Ala. ITG takes a look at the most noteworthy happenings of the day.

- Florida fans may want to make sure they have access to the SEC Network by Aug. 27. That's when a documentary called "The Believer" - profiling former Gators coach Steve Spurrier - will be aired. The film is produced by filmmaker Shaun Silva as well as country music singer Kenny Chesney.

The trailer, aired Wednesday, shows former UF running back Errict Rhett being interviewed about Spurrier as well as numerous flashbacks from his coaching career.

- As part of an SEC Network presentation, it was also announced that the channel will have a weekly show airing Wednesday nights during the season in which current SEC coaches - one each week - break down film.

- Complete opposites when it comes to offensive philosophy, Missouri coach Gary Pinkel and Arkansas coach Bret Bielema didn't cross paths in Hoover on Wednesday, but they did express an ongoing disagreement on pace of play in college football.

Pinkel was asked about player safety when it comes to hurry-up offenses: "I don't buy the health issue in any way. It's never happened. No one has ever come into me all those years and said, 'Gosh, I'm really concerned about the health of our teams playing these fast paced offenses.' I think it's fiction. Fiction based on that. Never even come up before."

Bielema, a proponent of a traditional pro-style offense, didn't directly combat the issue as he did in 2013 but did make his stance known.

"For my formula to work and complete wins, you have to be able to be good offensively, defensively and on special teams," he said. "All three have to work together. A lot of times, no huddle offenses can play really good offense and bad defense and still win. That's just not how I'm going to work. I have seen a couple good fiction movies, though, so I know good fiction when I see it."

- Pinkel gave Will Muschamp a call during the latter part of the 2013 season to offer his support as Muschamp navigated through the worst Florida football season since 1979.

"When I see people have experiences similar to what we had, been a part of, I think what happens is I've had people reach out to me before, how important that's been to me. When I get an opportunity to do those kinds of things, that's what I try to do, for those reasons."

- LSU coach Les Miles took to the stage Wednesday and, as usual, was more entertaining than informative. For instance, he spent much of his introduction talking about his family vacation to see his daughter, who attends the University of Texas.

"We had six, two parents and four children on that campus. It was miserable. I hated it. But it was great fun. I mean, it was not a beach, it was not sand, but it was my family, and that was the best."