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NASHVILLE — Brian Kelly saw Georgia up close and personal last season, losing to the Bulldogs in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game.

Another recruiting cycle later, Kelly isn’t kidding himself. Even though the Tigers are a bit of a sexy pick to contend for the national championship this fall, Kelly admitted Monday at SEC Media Days at the Grand Hyatt in Nashville that the Tigers still have work to do in player acquisition to catch up to the two-time defending champs.

"Based on how we've recruited and continue to recruit, we'll have a roster that'll be able to compete against UGA,” Kelly said. “Is that right now? No it's not. But if we continue doing what we're doing, we'll have a roster that can compete.”

Much of the focus on catching the Bulldogs is on the continued development of quarterback Jayden Daniels.

“We knew Jayden as a person, but we really didn’t know him much as a football player and how would he respond in really a new system of offense where he had to make really a 180 in terms of what he was asked to do,” Kelly said. “So what does development look like for him? I think it would be the natural progression from the last game in which he played where he was aggressive but he was under control. He ran the ball when he needed to but yet stepped up in the pocket and made the tight window throws.

“I think that was the progression. From what we saw in the first week where a step up in the pocket meant step up and run or not making those tight-window throws. I think that's what we saw during the year was his natural progression of understanding the offense and being more confident. We want to see that in year two. We want to see that confidence that we saw at the end of the year continue to show itself right through the first game against Florida State.”

Daniels threw for 2,913 yards and 17 touchdowns — and just three interceptions — in his first season at LSU. He said Monday he’s learned a lot about what it takes to excel in the SEC.

“From my first game to the bowl game, I would just say being comfortable within the system,” Daniels said. “First game, first everything. First game with a new team, new coaches, so you didn't really know what to expect or where to go.

“Fast-forward to the bowl game, you can see how much more comfortable everybody was with each other, how much comfortable the coaches were with the players and the players were with each other as a team and also with the coaches. Moving forward to this year, what I hope to change is week one, start with a win. Last year we started with a loss. I want to start with a win this year.”

LSU opens the season Sept. 3 in Orlando versus Florida State.

Daniels believes Howard has bright future at Ole Miss: Daniels shared the quarterback room in Baton Rouge last season with Walker Howard. Howard transferred to Ole Miss in January and appears to be in the driver’s seat to the Rebels’ quarterback of the future.

Daniels discussed his relationship with Howard and his hopes for his future success on Monday.

Jackson elaborates on leaving Mississippi: There have been rumors the past couple of offseasons that Texas A&M defensive lineman McKinnley Jackson was thinking about transferring back to his home state. However, the Moss Point, Miss., native is now a senior, so he's clearly not returning to the Magnolia State to play college football -- unless it's in a Texas A&M uniform.

"Honestly, I wanted to grow, expand my mind," Jackson said. "I've been in Mississippi for 18 years, so I wanted something new, to see the world for more than what it is, because where I'm from it's kind of small. I don'twant to tell you how it is where I'm from, but it's kind of small- minded. You don't see too much every day. You see the same things, same people. I could go home today, and I leave for a year, and the same thing is going on. So, you know, I wanted something new out of life, and I felt like Texas was where it's at."

Texas A&M underachieved last season, in part because of drama in the locker room. Jackson admitted as much Monday.

"There were ups and downs," Jackson said. "Of course there's going to be. How we come together and commemorate to one another, like I say, hold each other accountable. So dealing with those losses, you know, at times we didn't handle our business the way we should have. We didn't conduct ourselves the right way.

"It falls back on a lot of things, like leadership. Like I said, I feel like this year, it's one of the things we've worked on especially this offseason, especially myself. Like I said, being selfless and pushing others to be more than what they expect themselves to be because, you know, there's no limit to what you can be. And if you don't see it, someone else sees it. If I see it, I'm going to push it out ofyou each and every day, no matter if you like me or not."

Jackson reflects on loss of Terry Price: Texas A&M defensive line coach Terry Price died on June 23. He was 55. Price had two stints at Ole Miss in addition to a long stint at Auburn. Jackson discussed Price's passing and his legacy Monday in Nashville.

Fisher non-committal about play-calling: Jimbo Fisher has insisted play-calling won't be a storyline this fall, not with Bobby Petrino in College Station as the Aggies' new offensive coordinator. However, on Monday, when asked about those duties, Fisher wouldn't completely concede that he will leave play-calling to the former Atlanta Falcons, Arkansas and Western Kentucky coach.

"I'm not going to get into that," Fisher said. "Bobby was hired for a reason. Tremendous guy. Tremendous football mind. Hopefully he'll call the game and I'll have suggestions."

Pressed, Fisher again wasn't clear.

"I'm not going to get into what we're going to do from a schematic viewpoint," Fisher said.

Drinkwitz surrendering play-calling: On the flip side, Missouri's Eliah Drinkwitz said he hired former Fresno State offensive coordinator to take those duties from him.

"At the end of (last) season, we were ineffective on the offensive side of the ball," Drinkwitz said. "I wasn't giving us the best advantage. So (it was time to) turn over the play-calling to someone else."

Sankey appeals to Congress: SEC commissioner Greg Sankey visited Congress last month in Washington D.C., appealing to senators and members of the House of Representatives to legislate NIL.

“The reality is our student-athletes deserve something better than a patchwork of state laws that support their name, image, and likeness activities, if support is the right word,” Sankey said. “Our student-athletes deserve something better than a race to the bottom at the state legislature level. As the efforts are made to create what are perceived as a competitive edge through state laws that are not overseen.

At the same time, we've seen in a number of states laws enacted that bar associations, the NCAA, or conferences, including the Southeastern Conference, from enforcing what at our level, at the conference level, are still to be adopted, if ever, NIL policies. In other words, the states haven't been active in enforcing laws, and now states are preventing the NCAA, our conferences, from adopting and enforcing reasonable name, image, and likeness standards.

“If states will not enforce the laws, and states are going to prohibit the NCAA or conferences from enforcing these reasonable policies, Congressional action is then the only way to provide a national uniform standard for name, image, and likeness activity and to draw the lines around the boundaries that do not become simply pay for play.”

More realignment?: It’s almost impossible to have a big-picture college football athletics without discussing more realignment. There is considerable talk nationally about the Pac-12, the Big 12 and more possibly adding new members sooner rather than later.

Sankey, however, said that’s not something he’s obsessed with as the 2023 season approaches.

"We are a super conference,” Sankey said. “I’m focused on growth to 16. It's not been a topic for the Southeastern Conference. Do I think it's done? People say I get to decide that. We know who we are. We're comfortable who we are."

A tribute to Leach: Sankey took a moment Monday to honor former Mississippi State coach Mike Leach, who passed away this past December.

"Last year in Atlanta, one of my backstage discussions with Mike Leach focused on the uselessness of neckties that concluded with the rhetorical question of why powdered wigs went away but neck ties remain,” Sankey said. “To honor Mike, I am without a tie today.”

Schedule note: As had been rumored for a couple of years, SEC Media Days will be held July 15-18 in Dallas at the Omni Hotel, the first year Texas and Oklahoma join the SEC.