Practices, open and closed

Only one team in the SEC still has completely open practices with nearly unrestricted media access.

The Vanderbilt Commodores and head coach Bobby Johnson are the last of a dying breed. According to a survey by The Telegraph of Macon, Ga., and a story in this week's Tennessean, Vandy stands alone when it comes to practice access.

Bobby Johnson

Why is Vanderbilt different?

Sure, Johnson is a laid-back, media-friendly coach, but so are Tommy Tuberville and Mark Richt, and they both close practice completely.

I'd be willing to bet the media horde is much smaller at Vanderbilt than it is at other SEC schools. On top of that, Nashville is a much more competitive media market. Vanderbilt must compete with NFL and NHL teams (not to mention to the Tennessee Volunteers) for space in the newspaper and time on the evening news. So it behooves the Commodores to roll out the red carpet for the media.

In Alabama, college football dominates the landscape 365 days a year, and even restrictive media policies won't stop reporters from covering the Tide and the Tigers aggressively.

Auburn's policies changed this year. In the past, the first 15 minutes of each practice were open to reporters before we were escorted off the fields. Now, practices are closed entirely.

The change isn't terribly meaningful, because we didn't get to see much in the first 15 minutes - maybe some stretching and a few punts.

Tuberville generally allows anyone - fans, reporters, dogs, kids - to watch the first couple weeks of August camp. That time can be incredibly helpful in learning about new players and watching position battles.