Locating diamonds in the rough is much tougher than pinpointing the obvious future superstars as college head coaches, but ESPN analyst Travis Haney’s blending of the two in a recent insider piece is worth further inspection.

Haney has his finger on the pulse of the college football coaching circuit and believes there are seven current SEC assistants poised to become head coaches including four on the verge under the ‘head-coach ready’ title.

‘Head-coach ready’

  • Kirby Smart, Offensive Coordinator, Alabama
  • Jeremy Pruitt, Defensive Coordinator, Georgia
  • Robb Smith, Defensive Coordinator, Arkansas
  • Geoff Collins, Defensive Coordinator, Florida

‘Ready in near future’

  • Rhett Lashlee, Offensive Coordinator, Auburn
  • Jake Spavital, Offensive Coordinator, Texas A&M
  • Barry Odom, Defensive Coordinator, Mizzou

Glancing at Haney’s head-coach ready list, a familiar name headlines the SEC’s group of four — Kirby Smart, Nick Saban’s right-hand man in Tuscaloosa. Only 39 years old, Smart’s won two national assistant coach of the year awards since starting his tenure at Alabama in 2007 and during that span has directed the nation’s top overall defense twice.

Smart’s an excellent recruiter and has been entrusted with managing the Crimson Tide’s game plan and defensive personnel for eight seasons. Alabama’s ranked outside the SEC’s top spot on defense only once over that stretch.

One of Smart’s former assistants, Georgia defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt, coached the Crimson Tide’s secondary to consecutive national titles in 2011 and 2012 before winning another during his only season as Florida State’s defensive coordinator in 2013.

Mark Richt made hiring Pruitt a priority after the Bulldogs gave up 29.1 points per game in 2013 and stumbled to an 8-5 record. Pruitt shaved nine points per game off that total last fall between the hedges and is believed to have the most athletic unit in the Eastern Division this season.

Defensive-minded coaches Robb Smith and Geoff Collins round out Haney’s head-coach ready selections.

As for assistants on the cusp of stardom? Offensive gurus Jake Spavital (Texas A&M) and Rhett Lashlee (Auburn) are among the nation’s momentum leaders. Spavital has signed the top pocket passer and dual-threat quarterbacks in the country back to back years with his Air Raid attack under Kevin Sumlin while Lashlee’s followed Gus Malzahn at several coaching stops with success.

The jury’s still out on wild-card Barry Odom, Mizzou’s recently-hired defensive coordinator. He’s spent the last three years finding success on that side of the football at Memphis before returning to the program that gave him his start in the football office as the director of recruiting in 2004.

If you subscribe to ESPN Insider, you can view the rest of Haney’s picks and his thought-process for each, here.