Three programs in the East Division of the Southeastern Conference underwent head coaching changes this offseason as the division said goodbye to long-tenured coaches Mark Richt (Georgia), Steve Spurrier (South Carolina) and Gary Pinkel (Missouri).

Alabama defensive coordinator and UGA alum Kirby Smart got the Bulldogs job, former Florida head coach and Auburn defensive coordinator Will Muschamp took over the Gamecocks while Mizzou promoted alum and defensive coordinator Barry Odom to the head coaching role.

Of course, as is the case with any coaching change, it impacts recruiting one way or the other.

Smart developed quite the reputation as a recruiter during his days under Nick Saban with the Crimson Tide and he has put together an excellent staff, including two of the best recruiting/development combination line coaches in the country in Sam Pittman (offensive line) and Tracy Rocker (defensive line).

Those two not only can go out and get the elite prospects, but the vast majority of the time, they get them to play like elite prospects. During a meeting with the media earlier this week, Smart made the comment that he wants to build Georgia football along both lines of scrimmage.

“Most championship-level programs are strong on the offensive and defensive line,” Smart said.

Special teams coordinator/tight ends coach Shane Beamer also arrives with an outstanding reputation and track record on the recruiting trail and the rest of the staff certainly is strong.

In taking over a program that isn’t as far off from its ceiling as most programs that hire new coaches, Smart’s directive is to take his alma mater from good to great. That’s going to take more difference-makers on the roster and there’s not a better place to improve the overall quality of the roster than right there in the state of Georgia, given the amount of talent there.

The success Smart has on the recruiting trail subsequently could equal more championship seasons instead of the 8- to 10-win types of campaigns the Bulldogs were having frequently under Richt. That depends on Smart’s ability to land most (it isn’t realistic to say all) of the elite Peach State talent year-in and year out. Given that he led Bama’s charge into his home state under Saban and was incredibly successful in doing so, it won’t be a surprise to see Georgia take that next step under Smart and to do so using elite Georgia talent.

Muschamp also has a sterling reputation for recruiting and inherits a roster that is underwhelming both in terms of raw talent and player development. He’s hired perhaps the best staff in terms of recruiting track record in Gamecocks history, including two national recruiters of the year in Lance Thompson and Bryan McClendon, plus veterans like Travaris Robinson and Pat Washington with and young up-and-comers like Coleman Hutzler, Shawn Elliott and Bobby Bentley. There is a wealth of experience both with the SEC and the Palmetto State, which will be a renewed focus of Muschamp and his staff.

In Spurrier’s last years, South Carolina just didn’t recruit very well and had a high number of missed evaluations and players that didn’t pan out for whatever reason. Muschamp and his staff are fully equipped to reverse that trend and in short order should improve the team enough to avoid a 3-9 campaign like the Gamecocks had in 2015.

To get South Carolina back to double digit wins and competing for the SEC East, it’s likely going to take several strong classes with few misses, plus some good fortune within the state in terms of “backyard elite talent” — something that hasn’t occurred in South Carolina since the 2009-11 classes when the Gamecocks landed Stephon Gilmore, Alshon Jeffery, Marcus Lattimore and Jadeveon Clowney, among others.

If you are looking at a hire that is going to improve a program from the point it was at when the staff took over, this one may indeed have the most impact. The question will be can it get back to where Spurrier had it before the bottom fell out. So much of that will depend on Muschamp having much better fortune in terms of injuries, offensive scheme and in-game luck than he did during his tenure with the Gators.

Talk to anyone around college football and they rave about Odom. Truth be told, the praise is warranted given what he accomplished as a defensive coordinator. In 2014 at Memphis, he had an outstanding defense in a league where it’s hard to have an outstanding defense (American Athletic) and then this last season his Mizzou defense was outstanding, though the Tigers struggled mightily offensively and slipped overall.

As far as Odom goes as a recruiter, one would think, having worked under Pinkel and then Justin Fuente at Memphis, that the Tigers would continue to be their resourceful selves when it comes to identifying, signing and developing talent. That’s how Missouri achieved so much success under Pinkel and won back-to-back SEC East titles in 2013-14. The Tigers won because the Tigers had good players. Their players didn’t always arrive with high star ratings and analytical accolades, but they were good nonetheless and Mizzou could develop its players as well as any program.

Odom understands the plan that has made Missouri successful and that should give Tigers fans hope.

So just from the standpoint of recruiting potential, what does this do to the SEC East as a whole? And does it make for a resurgence of the division compared to the SEC West, which has solid programs from top-to-bottom and has won eight straight SEC Championship games?

Well, the prediction here is split because for the SEC East to rise as a whole compared to the SEC West, some programs on that side have to slip and there aren’t signs that any intend to anytime soon. Sure, Texas A&M has some turmoil right now, but truth be told the Aggies have one of the best rosters top-to-bottom in the entire league, so even if some changes do occur, there’s no rebuilding job that has to take place.

Who else? Crickets.

But what this could do — with an improved Georgia (perhaps the Bulldogs do snap the SEC West’s streak), South Carolina and Missouri to go along with trending up Tennessee and Florida, that makes the SEC East better top-to-bottom.

Also, Kentucky and Vanderbilt have hope. The Wildcats just need that breakthrough season and there are strides being made in Nashville.

All in all, though, it’s more about the SEC East getting better compared to say, the Pac-12 South or even the ACC Atlantic (considering Florida State and Clemson are both members of that division) than it is about the SEC West. That’s just a monster that is going to have to eat itself for any sort of “dominant division” argument to be made at all, much less answered.