The SEC woke up Friday morning to the news Columbia had been waiting on: Laurel Police arrested one Rashodrick Harris late Thursday night in Paducah, Kentucky, charging him with two counts of aggravated assault in connection with the Mother's Day weekend shooting of Missouri running back Ahmad Hardy. Harris reportedly drove nearly seven hours from Mississippi to a biker-club concert and then allegedly decided to make it a whole thing. Laurel PD's Sgt. Macon Davis said he was 'baffled' by the decision, which is the kind of institutional understatement that belongs in a quote museum. Hardy — who rushed for the second-most yards in the FBS last season, turned 300-yard individual outings into a hobby, and entered 2026 as the most electric back in the conference — is back in Columbia, posted a 14-second 'I'm good, thank you' video earlier this week, and has a theoretical shot at playing this fall. Coach Eli Drinkwitz says he's taking it 'day by day,' which is SEC-coach-speak for 'we genuinely have no idea.' The whole saga is awful, and the fact that Hardy appears to be a legitimately good person on top of being a legitimately great player makes it worse. Root for the kid.
Meanwhile, in Tuscaloosa, the pile-on continues unabated. Paul Finebaum formally crowned Kalen DeBoer the SEC's most pressure-cooked coach this week on ESPN's Get Up, declaring that 'that 35-point loss to Indiana has devastated his fan base' and warning that DeBoer 'better win big this year or else.' That tracked with CBS ranking him No. 8 on their national hot seat list, and with a chorus of anonymous rival coaches telling Athlon Sports that Alabama is soft, doesn't run the ball, and hasn't cleared the Nick Saban toughness bar. This is a program that went 20-8 over two seasons, played in an SEC Championship Game, and made a CFP quarterfinal. At literally any other school, DeBoer would be mid-contract-extension press conference. But Alabama isn't any other school, so instead SEC Mike is on podcasts threatening a 'we ain't putting up with this' ultimatum, and the fanbase has already lapped grief and gone back to rage. For reference: Saban was 19-8 in his first two seasons. DeBoer is 20-8. The man got paid $87.5 million, and Alabama Twitter is writing his obituary in May. This is what you signed up for, Kalen.
Then there is the Jared Curtis situation, which refuses to stop being funny. Curtis — the five-star QB who flipped from Georgia to Vanderbilt right before the December signing period after reportedly not wanting to wait behind Gunner Stockton — is now starring in a Nate Bargatze movie as part of a NIL deal with the Commodores. He is a true freshman. He has not taken a single collegiate snap. Georgia fans who spent last November in full eulogy mode are now openly relieved. Kirby Smart's program runs on 'football is the priority' energy, and apparently the coaching staff does not view 'appearing in a Netflix comedy as a teenager' as part of the curriculum. Meanwhile, an anonymous SEC coach this week told Athlon Sports that Georgia no longer has the depth it did in 2020, that those former third-string Bulldogs are now starters at Missouri and Georgia Tech. Jared Curtis would like to respectfully redirect you to his IMDb page.
Oh, and ESPN dropped a 'wild predictions' column Thursday flagging six possible SEC coaching changes in 2026 — including DeBoer, Shane Beamer, Josh Heupel, Jeff Lebby, Brent Venables, and a wildcard slot that apparently includes 'Lane Kiffin decides to live full time on the moon.' Six changes. Again. In one conference. In one year. This sport is completely unwell and I am never leaving.
