Pressure percolates everywhere in the SEC, from the rowdy stands to the mad intensity on the field and especially to the sidelines, and it says here that the defensive coordinator under the most pressure in 2016 is Auburn’s new man, Kevin Steele.

Steele’s situation is uniquely pressure-filled, but he had competition in this race.

All Jeremy Pruitt has to do is follow in Kirby Smart’s footsteps at Alabama, where it’s national title or bust every season, now more than ever.

Tennessee’s Bob Shoop is taking over a defense that blew three big leads last season.

Georgia’s Mel Tucker becomes part of those new, grandiose expectations in 2016, but he was the defensive backs coach at Alabama, so Athens should be a breeze, right? And the pressure he’ll face will pale in comparison to that of Smart, the man he’ll be coaching under and the guy he spent last year with in Tuscaloosa.

The fictional runner-up in this race is Dave Aranda, who steps into LSU’s den of high-strung fan passion and sky-high expectations while in more than a bit of irony is replacing none other than Steele.

But they all succumb to Steele, who lands at Auburn with a land mine of issues and obstacles. Let us count Steele’s lengthy list of pressure points:

1) Steele is now at Auburn, the ancient, hated rival of Alabama, which has ripped off four national titles in seven years. Sure, the Tigers interrupted Bama’s incredible run with a title of their own in 2010 and ended the Tide’s chances again in 2013, but Auburn fans will look at Steele as a prime solution to beat back their rival and put the Tigers on a somewhat even playing field after two consecutive losses.

2) The 58-year-old Steele is practically an SEC lifer. This will be his fourth SEC school, starting with Tennessee in 1980. “He’s a solid X’s and O’s guy, with a ton of big-game experience in the SEC,” wrote Rich Cirminiello in Campus Insiders. And with that big-game experience in the SEC comes big-time pressure for his defense to show up in those big games.

Last season Auburn gave up 45 in a loss to LSU and 54 in a four-overtime loss to Arkansas.

Auburn opens this season against Clemson, which scored 40 on Alabama in the national championship game.

3) Steele was hired by Nick Saban at Alabama. Twice. Saban brought Steele in as defensive coordinator in his first year as head coach at Bama. After two years in Tuscaloosa and three years at Clemson, Steele was brought back by Saban in 2013 as director of player personnel.

And because Saban entrusted Steele not once but twice, Steele will be expected to live up to that impressive distinction, all while having to face Saban in November for the first time in an Iron Bowl.

4) Steele will be Auburn’s third defensive coordinator in three years, meaning he will be looked at as the guy who can finally provide the Tigers with some stability on that side of the ball after Ellis Johnson left after two years (2013 and 2014) and Will Muschamp said goodbye after all of one season to become South Carolina’s head coach.

5) Auburn is still Auburn, proud and tradition-rich. But the numbers haven’t been so pretty lately. The Tigers went an ordinary 4-4 in the SEC two years ago and slipped to an unheard of 2-6 last season, when the defense that Steele is taking over allowed at least 27 points in six of Auburn’s 12 games. The Tigers almost lost at home to Jacksonville State, for crying out loud.

So the combination of Auburn’s expectation to win and its recent failure to win will turn up that pressure cooker on head coach Gus Malzahn and trickle down to his coordinators, including Steele.

6) Despite their recent struggles on the field, Malzahn brought in another top-10 recruiting class in February, one that included seven defensive players who were four-star or five-star recruits. And while that might not impact the results on the field much this fall, passionate fans know which players are waiting in the wings and how highly rated they were, and that it’s the coach’s job to turn top recruiting classes into top-notch defenses.

7) SEC fans read and see most everything, and it’s likely most will have seen the news that Steele will make at least $3.6 million over the next three seasons. Steele will get $1.1 million for his first year plus $100,000 raises in each of the next two seasons. Translation: A coordinator making the big money better prove he’s worth it, and kind of right away.

All of that makes for the perfect confluence of pressure-packed factors that Steele will be swimming in, effective immediately.

But he’s been around the SEC forever. He can handle it, right?