Every coach’s path is different.

Some work and grind their way up the coaching ladder for years before getting a chance as a head coach. Others skyrocket to the top of the profession, seemingly going from graduate assistant to running a program overnight.

The SEC’s leading men have a variety of backgrounds, from legendary coaches to guys that rose from the high school ranks in a matter of just a few seasons. SDS takes a look at how each program got its head coach.

Nick Saban, Alabama

The Crimson Tide’s head man earned a reputation as one of the best in the business at LSU, reviving a program and building it into a national title contender after stints coaching at Michigan State, Toledo and as a coordinator in the NFL. After putting off the pros for years, Saban finally bit and took a job coaching the Miami Dolphins in 2005. Saban posted a winning record in his first season, going 9-7, before suffering a 6-10 campaign in his sophomore year as an NFL head man. When Alabama fired Mike Shula in late 2006, the Crimson Tide came calling. Saban denied interest, but eventually took the job, immediately becoming the highest-paid coach in college football.

Bret Bielema, Arkansas

Bielema worked his way up the chain, from GA at Iowa to co-defensive coordinator at Kansas State before becoming defensive coordinator at Wisconsin. When Barry Alvarez retired in 2005, he tabbed Bielema to take over for him running the Badgers. Bielema had a successful run at Wisconsin, leading the Badgers to two Rose Bowls and a 68-24 overall record before the SEC and Arkansas came calling.

Gus Malzahn, Auburn

Malzhan had a meteoric rise up the coaching ranks. He was high school head coach until the mid-2000s, when Arkansas brought him on to run the offense. He moved from Arkansas to Tulsa, again running the offense, before Auburn brought Malzahn on as offensive coordinator. After helping to guide the Tigers to the 2010 national championship, Malzahn moved onto head coaching finishing school at Arkansas State. After a year there, Auburn brought Malzahn back to replace his former boss, Gene Chizik.

Jim McElwain, Florida

McElwain bounced around college football, coaching all over the country, as well as a year with the Oakland Raiders, before landing as Alabama’s offensive coordinator under Saban. From there, McElwain took the job at Colorado State, where he built up the program to new heights in his first career head coaching gig. We already know the rest, as Florida’s pursuit of McElwain this fall was well-documented.

Mark Richt, Georgia

After starting his coaching career as a GA at Florida State, Richt returned to the program after a year at East Carolina and built a strong reputation after running the offense for seven years. Georgia offered him its head coaching job in December 2000, and Richt has been leading the Bulldogs ever since.

Mark Stoops, Kentucky

Stoops moved all around the county for nearly two decades, building a reputation as a defensive whiz from Miami to Houston to Wyoming. He landed two high-profile defensive coordinator jobs, first at Arizona and then at Florida State, before Kentucky brought him on as head coach in 2012 to replace Joker Phillips.

Les Miles, LSU

It’s no easy task to replace Saban, and Miles has been dealing with comparisons ever since LSU brought him in to replace the living legend after the 2004 season. Miles left Oklahoma State in the late-90s after a successful run as offensive coordinator to be an assistant with the Dallas Cowboys, returning to be the head coach at OK State a few years later. Miles ran the Cowboys for four years before LSU brought him down to Baton Rouge.

Dan Mullen, Mississippi State

Mullen linked up with Urban Meyer early in his career, following the coach from Notre Dame to Bowling Green to Utah before landing at Florida. Mullen piloted the potent Gators offense, mostly led by Tim Tebow, for five years until Mississippi State tabbed him to replace Sylvester Croom.

Gary Pinkel, Missouri

Missouri’s long-time head coach has a history of staying put. After 15 years working his way up the college football ladder, Pinkel was the head coach at Toledo for 10 years. After several division titles and one conference championship in the MAC, Missouri brought Pinkel on board in 2000, and he’s been in Columbia, Mo. ever since.

Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss

One of the coaches that shot up in the coaching profession, Freeze went from coaching high school to coordinating recruiting at Ole Miss to running an FCS program that doesn’t exist anymore in just a few years. After going to Arkansas State for two years, first as offensive coordinator and then as head coach, Ole Miss hired Freeze after the 2011 season.

Steve Spurrier, South Carolina

Spurrier’s legendary career is well known. The Head Ball Coach left the Swamp after a historic 12-year run at his alma mater to coach the Washington Redskins in 2002. Spurrier flopped in two seasons in the nation’s capital, and South Carolina wooed him to Williams-Brice Stadium with the explicit goal of winning an SEC title.

Butch Jones, Tennessee

Jones came to Tennessee from Cincinnati, where he had a successful three-year stint as the Bearcats head coach, leading the team to an 11-2 record in his final season. Before that, he was the head coach at Central Michigan for three, where he’d previously been a position coach in the 1990s.

Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M

After several assistant jobs at Power Five schools, including Texas A&M and Oklahoma, Sumlin took the head coaching gig at Houston in 2008. His teams there churned out impressive offensive performances for four years before the Aggies made a run at him to usher the program into the SEC.

Derek Mason, Vanderbilt

Over the course of 15 years, Mason held down assistant coaching positions at eight college programs and one NFL team before landing at Stanford. He helped build the Cardinal into a national power as the man in charge of the team’s punishing defenses. He rose to associate head coach/defensive coordinator in 2012 and 2013 before Vanderbilt came calling to have Mason replace James Franklin.