The only correct way to seat the coaches and executives at the SEC's Spring Meetings

College football season is roughly three months away. This does not mean the game is sleeping. It only means the drama has been moved off the field and, this week especially, behind closed doors.

The Southeastern Conference’s annual Spring Meetings is back for the first time since 2019 to discuss the future of the league and what to do about topics like scheduling, the College Football Playoff, NIL and a booming transfer marketplace. It will also be the backdrop for the first face-to-face meeting between Alabama head coach Nick Saban and Texas A&M counterpart Jimbo Fisher since the two had a very loud, very public spat about player compensation earlier in the month.

There’s a real, albeit unlikely, chance we’ll see more fireworks this week. Unfortunately, the SEC has failed to capitalize on this drama, placing several different league executives between the two in a seating chart that surfaced Tuesday.

That’s fine. It’s not how I would have done it, but it’s fine. The SEC is trying to get actual work done, so I can appreciate the use of buffers to minimize conflict like they’re planning out a wedding between two families filled with drunks.

I, on the other hand, would prefer to embrace the mess. This is an opportunity to breed conflict capable of lasting decades and friendships that could last even longer (unless you’re Brian Kelly). So, here’s what the SEC should have done to maximize coverage of its annual Spring Meetings and generate the headlines to sustain the conference from now until Media Days.