Eight months after becoming the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy, Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel stole the show on the second day of the Southeastern Conference Media Days in Hoover, Ala.
Manziel answered questions about leaving the Manning Passing Academy and his upcoming sophomore campaign.
Despite reports that Manziel was kicked out because he was hungover and arrived late to camp on Saturday, the Heisman winner claimed the reason for his exit was benign.
“The rumors about the other things weren’t really true,” Manziel said. “I just overslept and missed a meeting … I’ve just been on a hectic schedule and overslept.”
Manziel stirred controversy earlier in the offseason after tweeting that he wanted to leave College Station, Texas. He has since stopped tweeting.
“The whole social media aspect is different,” Aggies coach Kevin Sumlin said. “It’s a different time. It’s a different day and age.”
“I think that … the discussion after the last tweet, you know, he hadn’t been on there ever since then. He hasn’t been on there for the last month. Obviously, there was something to that discussion.”
Added Manziel: “I used to be a person that watched ESPN and SportsCenter all day, every day. I shy away from it now, articles and things on Twitter.”
Regardless of the controversies, Manziel said he improved in the offseason as he makes a bid to replicate his Heisman-winning numbers in 2013.
“I’ve worked a lot to get better,” he said. “I’ve worked with the new guys, and that’s the biggest thing is making sure my teammates are prepared because we’re the ones who will take it to the next level.”
New coaches take stage: Four head coaches spoke at SEC Media Days for the first time on Wednesday.
Kentucky’s Mark Stoops, Tennessee’s Butch Jones, Auburn’s Gus Malzahn and Arkansas’ Bret Bielema all made their debut.
Stoops, who was previously Florida State’s defensive coordinator, said the comments his brother – Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops – made about the SEC that questioned the conference’s strength were not necessarily accurate.
“I certainly understand Bob defending his conference,” Stoops said. “With that being said, I don’t think any of us need to defend what’s going on here in the SEC. The success we’ve had in the SEC speaks for itself.”
Contact Adam Lichtenstein at alichtenstein@alligator.org.
Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel talks with reporters during the Southeastern Conference football Media Days in Hoover, Ala., on Wednesday.
