re: Can someone explain how exactly SEC football was so much cooler 30 years ago?

The players may have come into college less skilled than those today because of QB camps, 7v7 and personal trainers, but they were waaay tougher 30 years ago.

I was playing high school football less than 30 years ago and there's no way any of my coaching staff keeps their job if they were coaching today. If we lost a game on Friday we had full pads contact practice on Monday...let's just say we didn't lose many. Lots of guys shrugged off minor injuries because they didn't want to come off the field and give someone else a shot to take their starting position. Hell, our linebacker had his dislocated shoulder popped back into place by our trainer in the lockerroom mid-way through the second quarter and he played the entire second half with something like 4 solo tackles, 6 assists and a sack.

I'm not saying football was better back then, but we knew it was a gladiator sport and loved every second of it. No sure there are a lot of highly rated recruits these days who truly love the game. Sure they love the benefits of being a football player, but I suspect if they could get the same somewhere else they wouldn't choose to play such a physically violent game. Just my .02