July 6, 2016
Birmingham, Ala. – Standouts Oren Burks, Zach Cunningham and Ralph Webb will join Vanderbilt Head Coach Derek Mason next week at Southeastern Conference Football Media Days, the league announced today.
Burks, Cunningham and Webb will appear with Mason Monday afternoon, the opening day of SEC’s wildly successful Media Day activity held at the Wynfrey Hotel south of Birmingham.
Started in 1989, SEC Media Days has become college football’s biggest preseason spectacle. In 2015, more than 1,100 media members representing newspaper, magazines, radio and television, and web-based affiliates attended the event.
This marks the second SEC Media Day appearance for Webb, the Commodores’ junior running back, and the first for junior linebackers Burks and Cunningham.
“Oren, Zach and Ralph will be tremendous representatives of our football team and Vanderbilt University,” Mason said. “All three guys are proven performers on the field, great teammates, and outstanding leaders for our squad.”
Burks, from Fairfax Station, Va., will be recognized for his accomplishments on and off the football field. A two-year defensive starter, Burks will move into a hybrid outside linebacker-safety role this fall.
The 6-3, 222-pound Burks topped the Commodores and ranked among the SEC Top Ten last year with three interceptions, returning one for a touchdown in Vanderbilt’s win over Kentucky. Burks also ranked among team leaders with 34 solo stops, 58 total tackles, and six defensed passes as a 12-game starter at safety in 2015.
Burks has become a key leader on the Vanderbilt campus. In 2015, Burks helped co-found the campus organization Revitalizing & Empowering Vanderbilt’s African-American Male Population (REVAMP), then helped coordinate a series of successful events for REVAMP during the year. He has also been active within the program’s athletic community and will serve as president of the Vanderbilt Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) chapter. Burks has also been nominated for the All-State American Football Coaches Association Good Works team.
Cunningham, from Pinson, Ala., burst on the scene last year, earning an array of SEC and national accolades after becoming a starting inside linebacker in the third game of the season. In 10 starts, Cunningham became one of the conference’s top performers – and one of the most productive defensive players in modern Vanderbilt history.
The 6-4, 230-pound Cunningham swept First Team All-SEC honors from head coaches and Associated Press sportswriters last year after leading the Commodores in several defensive categories. He topped the team and ranked high in the conference with 69 solo tackles, 16.5 tackles for loss, 103 total tackles, four forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries.
Cunningham’s tackle for loss total was the third highest single-season mark ever by a Commodore, and the most since linebacker Jamie Winborn posted 23 tackles for loss en route to earning All-America honors in 1999.
After two record-breaking seasons, Webb is on pace to smash most of Vanderbilt’s career rushing records entering the 2016 season. A product of Gainesville, Fla., Webb enters the season among the SEC’s active leaders with 2,059 rushing yards. The total ranks No. 8 on Vanderbilt’s all-time list.
Webb was Vanderbilt’s most productive offensive weapon in 2015, setting several sophomore rushing yards. Webb’s 1,152-yard total eclipsed Jermaine Johnson’s former sophomore record of 877 yards in 1994. Webb’s rushing total from a year ago, which came on a school-record 277 carries, also ranks as the second highest ever by a Commodore, behind the 1,193-yard total accomplished by Zac Stacy in 2011.
Continuous coverage of SEC Football Media Days will be available on SEC Network and the SEC’s official website, SECSports.com. VUCommodores.com will also be in Hoover, providing an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at the
Black and Gold representatives.
A complete list of current and former Vanderbilt student-athletes who have participated in SEC Media Days follows:
2015 – Nigel Bowden (LB), Spencer Pulley (OL), Ralph Webb (RB)
2014 – Adam Butler (DL), Steven Scheu (TE), Andrew Williamson (DB)
2013 – Andre Hal (DB), Wesley Johnson (OL), Jordan Matthews (WR)
2012 – Jordan Rodgers (QB), Zac Stacy (RB), Trey Wilson (DB)
2011 – Casey Hayward (DB), Chris Marve (LB), Larry Smith (QB)
2010 – Chris Marve (LB), Warren Norman (RB), John Stokes (LB)
2009 – Bradley Vierling (OL), Myron Lewis (DB)
2008 – George Smith (WR), Reshard Langford (DB)
2007 – Earl Bennett (WR), Jonathan Goff (LB)
2006 – Brian Stamper (OL), Jonathan Goff (LB)
2005 – Jay Cutler (QB), Moses Osemwegie(LB)
2004 – Jay Cutler (QB), Jovan Haye (DL)
2003 – Jay Cutler (QB), Jovan Haye (DL)
2002 – Dan Stricker (WR), Rushen Jones (DB)
2001 – Greg Zolman (QB), Nate Morrow (LB)
2000 – Elliott Carson (TE), Jamie Winborn (LB)
1999 – Ainsley Battles (DB), Todd Yoder (TE/WR)
1998 – Clay Condrey (OL), Fred Vinson (DB)
1997 – Corey Chavous (DB), Jamie Duncan (LB)
1996 – Matt Schuckman (DL), Eric Vance (DB)
1995 – Robert Couch (OL), James Manley (DL)
1994 – Gerald Collins (LB), Eric Lewis (RB)
1993 – Eric Dahlberg (OL), Shelton Quarles (LB)
1992 – Clarence Sivillian (WR), Robbie Young (DB)
1991 – Bob Craycraft (OL), Rod Keith (DL)
1990 – Kevin Brothen (OL), Corey Harris (DB)
1989 – John Gromos (QB), DeMond Winston (LB)