Many great college football coaches have had outstanding careers yet have fallen short of the ultimate prize — and that includes some of the best coaches in Southeastern Conference history.

After all, it’s extremely difficult to win a national championship, and the challenge is even more demanding for teams forced to compete with legendary head coaches like Bear Bryant, Robert Neyland, Steve Spurrier, Urban Meyer and Nick Saban.

Who are the best of the rest? We discuss the 10 best SEC head coaches never to win a national title.

It’s important to note that there are some great coaches that paced the sidelines at programs currently residing in the SEC, but never coached in the conference, and are therefore ineligible.

For example, Mike Donahue won 99 games at Auburn in the first quarter of the 20th Century before the league was established. Elsewhere, Ken Hatfield (Arkansas) and R.C. Slocumb (Texas A&M) each won three Southwest Conference titles. All three would be ideal candidates for our list, but do not qualify because they were never head coaches in the SEC.

Others narrowly missed the list:

Honorable Mentions

John Barnhill, Tennessee, 1941-45

  • Record as a Head Coach: 32-5-2 (54-22-5 overall)
  • Best Season: 1942; 9-1-1 overall record, No. 7 final ranking from the Associated Press
  • Notable: 1944 SEC Coach of the Year

Barnhill oversaw the Tennessee football program during World War II while Robert Neyland was away from the school. The Vols finished second in the SEC in each of Barnhill’s four seasons (there was no team in 1943), and were ranked in the top 20 of the Associated Press poll each year. In 1946, Barnhill left Tennessee for Arkansas, and guided the Razorbacks to a 22-17-3 record across four seasons.

Terry Bowden, Auburn, 1993-98

  • Record as a Head Coach: 41-17-1 at Auburn (159-92-2 overall)
  • Best Season: 1993; 11-0
  • Notable: 1993 SEC Coach of the Year, Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year, Paul “Bear” Bryant Award, and Walter Camp Coach of the Year

Bowden came to Auburn in 1993 following a successful stint as the head coach at Samford University. His first Auburn team was a perfect 11-0 and finished the season ranked No. 4 in the AP Top 25, but was ineligible for the SEC Championship or the postseason until 1994 due to NCAA sanctions. Each of Bowden’s first five Auburn teams won eight games or more, including the 10-3 squad that won the SEC West in 1997.

Billy Brewer, Ole Miss, 1983-93

  • Record as a Head Coach: 68-55-3 (125-94-6 overall)
  • Best Season: 1992; 9-3, No. 16
  • Notable: Also coached at Southeastern Louisiana and Louisiana Tech

Brewer was hired at Ole Miss prior to the 1983 season and immediately led the Rebels to their first bowl game in 13 years. After not recording a winning season since 1975 or a ranking in the final AP poll since 1971, Ole Miss would go to five bowl games in Brewer’s 11 years in Oxford. Brewer posted nine-win campaigns in 1990 and 1992 in which the Rebels finished ranked No. 21 and No. 16, respectively.

Blanton Collier, Kentucky, 1954-61

  • Record as a Head Coach: 41-36-3
  • Best Season: 1954; 7-3
  • Notable: 1954 SEC Coach of the Year

Collier succeeded Bear Bryant at Kentucky, and is the last Wildcats football coach to post an overall winning record at the end of his tenure. After he was fired at Kentucky in 1961, Collier landed as an assistant with the Cleveland Browns, was promoted to head coach in 1963, and led the team to the NFL Championship in 1964.

David Cutcliffe, Ole Miss, 1998-2004

  • Record as a Head Coach: 44-29 (92-82 overall)
  • Best Season: 2003; 10-3, No. 13
  • Notable: 2003 SEC Coach of the Year, has coached Duke to four consecutive bowl games

The longtime offensive coordinator for Phil Fulmer at Tennessee, Cutcliffe finally earned his shot to be a head coach at Ole Miss in 1998 following Tommy Tuberville’s jump to Auburn. The Rebels posted five consecutive winning seasons under Cutcliffe – a feat that hadn’t been accomplished since Johnny Vaught was pacing the sidelines in Oxford.

Galen Hall, Florida, 1984-89

  • Record as a Head Coach: 40-18-1
  • Best Season: 1984; 9-1-1 (8-0 as head coach), No. 3
  • Notable: Ineligible for SEC Championship in 1984 and 1985

Hall’s tenure as the head coach at Florida began when Charley Pell was fired three games into the 1984 season due to heavy NCAA rules violations. It ended with another set of NCAA sanctions after Hall was forced to resign midway through the 1989 campaign. Under Hall’s direction, the “best in the SEC” Gators finished atop the league standings and ranked in the top five of the final AP poll in both 1984 and 1985, but were ineligible for the conference title or postseason play. Hall later led Florida to bowl games in 1987 and 1988.

Dan McGugin, Vanderbilt, 1904-1934

  • Record as a Head Coach: 197-55-19
  • Best Season: 1904; 9-0, SIAA Champions
  • Notable: 9 SIAA Championships, 2 Southern Conference Championships, Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951

Though McGugin is far and away the most successful coach in Vanderbilt football history, only two of his teams played in the SEC and neither finished higher than sixth in the league standings.

Ray Perkins, Alabama, 1983-1986

  • Record as a Head Coach: 32-15-1 (34-24-1 overall)
  • Best Season: 1986; 10-3, No. 9
  • Notable: 3-0 in bowl games

Perkins had the unenviable task of replacing Bear Bryant at Alabama, and suffered a great deal of criticism for coaching the Crimson Tide to its first losing season in 28 years in 1984. However, Perkins recovered to lead Alabama to 19 wins over the following two seasons before leaving Tuscaloosa for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He earns a slight edge over Red Drew, who went 54-28-7 in Tuscaloosa from 1947-54 as the best Alabama head coach never to win a national championship.

Bowden Wyatt, Tennessee, 1955-62

  • Record as a Head Coach: 49-29-4 (99-56-5 overall)
  • Best Season: 1956; 10-1, SEC Champions, No. 2
  • Notable: 1956 SEC Champions, 1956 SEC Coach of the Year and AFCA Coach of the Year, Inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1972 (as a player) and 1997 (as a coach)

Though his tenure at Tennessee ended unceremoniously with a 10th-place finish in the SEC in 1962, which marked a fifth consecutive season without a bowl bid, Wyatt came incredibly close to a national championship as the head coach of the Vols. The 1956 Tennessee squad went 10-1, won the league title thanks to a thrilling victory over Georgia Tech and finished No. 2 in the final AP poll.

CLOSE ONLY COUNTS IN HORSESHOES, HAND GRENADES — AND COLLEGE FOOTBALL BEFORE THE BCS

Doug Dickey, Tennessee 1964-69; Florida 1970-78

  • Record as a Head Coach: 104-58-6
  • Best Season: 1967; 9-2, SEC Champions, No. 2
  • Notable: 1967 and 1969 SEC Champions, 1965 and 1967 SEC Coach of the Year, Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2003

Finding a place for Doug Dickey on this list was difficult because of his 1967 Tennessee squad that finished 9-2 overall, won the SEC with a perfect 6-0 record and finished No. 2 in the final AP poll. While both the Associated Press and the coaches named 10-1 USC national champion, the Vols earned national title recognition from Litkenhous and officially claim the 1967 national championship.

10. Jackie Sherrill, Mississippi State, 1991-2003

  • Record as a Head Coach: 75-75-2 (180-120-4 overall)
  • Best Season: 1999; 10-2, No. 13
  • Notable: 1998 SEC West Champions

Jackie Sherrill came extremely close to winning multiple national championships when he was the head coach at Pitt. Sherrill posted a 50-9-1 record with the Panthers from 1977-81, including a 33-3 mark across his last three seasons. In 1980, the Panthers finished No. 2 in the final AP poll following an 11-1 season. Pitt added a third consecutive 11-1 season and No. 2 ranking in the final coaches poll (No. 4 in the AP) in 1981 and Sherrill was named Walter Camp Coach of the Year.

Sherrill left for Texas A&M in 1982, which was then a member of the Southwest Conference, and led the Aggies to three conference titles across seven seasons before resigning following in 1988.

In 1991, Sherrill landed at Mississippi State and immediately led the Bulldogs to their first winning season in five years, and just the second winning campaign in a decade. In his first 10 seasons in Starkville, State posted seven wining records, including an 8-5 squad that won the SEC West in 1998.  The team managed its second 10-win campaign in school history in 1999.

With 75 career victories at Mississippi State, Sherrill remains the school’s all-time wins leader.

9. Ray Graves, Florida, 1960-69

  • Record as a Head Coach: 70-31-4
  • Best Season: 1969; 9-1-1, No. 14
  • Notable: Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1990

A former player and assistant coach at Tennessee, Ray Graves entered the coaching profession full-time in 1951 as a member of Bobby Dodd’s staff at Georgia Tech and helped the Yellow Jackets win two SEC titles and the 1952 national championship.

In 1960, Graves left Atlanta to become the head coach and athletic director of the Florida Gators. In 10 seasons on the sidelines, Graves posted nine winning records, won a total of 70 games and won four of five bowl games. Three of Graves’ teams won nine games and the Gators were ranked in the final Coaches Poll Top 20 four times.

Graves was Florida’s all-time leader in wins until 1996 when his former quarterback, Steve Spurrier, passed him. Following his retirement from coaching Graves continued to serve as athletic director until 1979.

8. Houston Nutt, Arkansas, 1998-2007; Ole Miss, 2008-11

  • Record as a Head Coach: 75-48 at Arkansas, 24-26 at Ole Miss (135-96 Overall)
  • Best Season: 2006; 10-4, SEC West Champions, No. 15
  • Notable: 2001, 2006 and 2008 SEC Coach of the Year, 2002 and 2006 SEC West Champions

Prior to becoming the butt of countless internet jokes, Houston Nutt established Arkansas as one of the premier programs in the SEC West, then led division rival Ole Miss to consecutive Top 20 finishes for the first time in nearly three decades.

After back-to-back losing campaigns under Danny Ford, and eight straight years without appearing in the final AP Top 25, the Razorbacks won a share of the division title in Nutt’s first season and ended the year ranked No. 16 in the nation. Arkansas went to a bowl game in each of Nutt’s first six seasons and represented the SEC West in the SEC Championship Game in 2002.

Following disappointing campaigns in 2004 and 2005, the Razorbacks rode a 10-game winning streak to an outright SEC West title in 2006, and climbed as high as fifth in the polls before finishing at No. 15. However, a rocky 8-4 follow-up caused Nutt to leave for Ole Miss.

In his first two seasons with the Rebels, Nutt won 18 games, including back-to-back Cotton Bowls, and landed Ole Miss in the final edition of the AP Top 25 for the first time since 1970-71. Though he won only six more games with the Rebels, Nutt owns an impressive 99 career victories as an SEC head coach.

7. Gary Pinkel, Missouri, 2001-15 (2012-15 as a member of the SEC)

  • Record as a Head Coach: 118-73 (33-19 from 2012-15; 191-110-3 overall)
  • Best Season: 2013; 12-2, SEC East Champions; No. 5
  • Notable: 2013-14 SEC East Champions; 2014 SEC Coach of the Year

Former Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel spent just four seasons in the SEC, but his two division titles over that period as well as his strong track record when the Tigers were a member of the Big 12 are enough to make him one of the best SEC coaches never to win a national championship.

Pinkel earned his first head coaching position at Toledo, where he went 73-37-3 from 1991-2000 and became the school’s all-time wins leader (a distinction he still holds). In his third season after taking over in Columbia, Pinkel led Mizzou to its first winning campaign in 13 years. The Tigers recorded 10 winning seasons in the next 13 years, including five in which Mizzou won 10 or more games.

Under Pinkel, Missouri represented the Big 12 North in the Big 12 Championship Game twice, including the 2007 squad that entered the title games as the top-ranked team in the country. It was the first time since 1960 that the Tigers had been ranked No. 1 in the AP poll, and the team’s No. 4 final ranking was the highest in school history.

As a member of the SEC, Pinkel posted a 33-19 overall record and guided the Tigers to the SEC Championship Game in both 2013 and 2014. The 2013 squad matched the school record with 12 wins and finished ranked No. 5 in the AP Top 25.

Pinkel retired following the 2015 season as Missouri’s all-time winningest coach.

6. Bernie Moore, LSU, 1935-47

  • Record as a Head Coach: 83-39-6 (95-51-9 overall)
  • Best Season: 1936; 9-1-1, SEC Champions, No. 2
  • Notable: 1935 and 1936 SEC Champions, Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1952

Former LSU head football coach Bernie Moore had a remarkable career in intercollegiate athletics. Prior to his 13-year stint as head football coach for the Tigers, Moore served as both the head football coach and basketball coach at Mercer University. Moore moved to Baton Rouge in 1929 as an assistant football coach and took over the school’s track and field program in 1930 – a post he held until 1947 while leading the Tigers to 12 conference titles and the 1933 national championship.

In 1935, Moore was promoted to head football coach and led the Tigers to an 83-39-6 record on the gridiron, including SEC championship seasons in 1935 and 1936. The 1936 Tigers finished the season 9-1-1 and were ranked No. 2 in the final edition of the AP poll (the first year of its existence). LSU won nine games four times under Moore, played in five bowl games, and earned a spot in the final AP poll four times, including three top 10 finishes.

Moore retired from coaching following the 1947 season and became the commissioner of the SEC, where he remained until 1967.

5. Allyn McKeen, Mississippi State, 1939-48

  • Record as a Head Coach: 65-19-3 at Mississippi State (78-25-3 overall)
  • Best Season: 1940; 10-0-1, No. 9
  • Notable: 1941 SEC Champions, 1940 Coach of the Year, inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1991

Mississippi State has entered one of the greatest stretches in program history since Dan Mullen took over as head coach in 2009, but Mullen and the Bulldogs have yet to end a 74-year SEC Championship drought that date’s back to Allyn McKeen’s 1941 squad.

Following a two-year stint at West Tennessee State (now known as Memphis), McKeen was hired as the head coach of the Mississippi State Maroons in 1939. State tied a school record with eight wins in McKeen’s first season, then broke it by going 10-0-1 in 1940, including a 4-0-1 mark in SEC play. That success earned the MSU only the second bowl bid in school history as well as its first ranking in the AP poll. The No. 9 final ranking in 1940 still stands as the highest for a Mississippi State team at the end of a season.

The following year, the Maroons posted an 8-1-1 overall record and won the SEC title. It remains the only conference championship in school history.

4. Tommy Tuberville, Ole Miss 1995-98; Auburn 1999-2008

  • Record as a Head Coach: 25-20 at Ole Miss, 85-40 at Auburn (155-91 overall)
  • Best Season: 2004; 13-0 SEC Champions, No. 2
  • Notable: 2004 SEC Champions; 2000 SEC West Champions; 1997 and 2004 SEC Coach of the Year; 2004 AFCA Coach of the Year, Paul “Bear” Bryant Award, Walter Camp Coach of the Year

In 1995, Tommy Tuberville took over as the head coach at Ole Miss as the program attempted to clean itself up following NCAA sanctions suffered earlier in the decade. Tuberville led the Rebels to a winning season in his first year, and won SEC Coach of the Year honors in 1997 after Ole Miss posted an 8-4 record and finished No. 22 in the final AP poll.

Following another winning season in 1998, Tuberville left Oxford for Auburn, where he roamed the sidelines for 10 seasons. Under Tuberville’s direction, the Tigers posted winning records in eight years, including six top 20 finishes and the 2004 SEC Championship team.

The 2004 Auburn squad came as close as possible to winning a national title with a 13-0 record that included a victory in the SEC Championship Game and a win in the Sugar Bowl. Unfortunately for Auburn and Tuberville, the Tigers were unable to pass either USC or Oklahoma in the polls and force their way into the top two of the BCS rankings for a shot at a national championship.

Since his departure from Auburn in 2008, Tuberville has a combined 45-31 record at Texas Tech and Cincinnati.

3. Charles McClendon, LSU, 1962-79

  • Record as a Head Coach: 137-59-7
  • Best Season: 1970; 9-3, SEC Champions, No. 7
  • Notable: 1970 SEC Champions; 1969-70 SEC Coach of the Year; 1970 AFCA Coach of the Year; Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1986

One of the most beloved coaches in LSU football history, “Cholly Mac” spent 18 seasons on the sidelines at Tiger Stadium – longer than any coach to date. An SEC lifer that played for Bear Bryant at Kentucky and served as an assistant at Vanderbilt before moving to Baton Rouge, McClendon won 137 games as the head coach of the Tigers, which still stands atop the school’s all-time leaderboard.

McClendon led 13 teams to bowl games at LSU, winning seven, and he coached only one team that failed to post a winning record. LSU won nine games six times for McClendon, including five consecutive years from 1969-73, and five of his squads finished ranked in the top 10 of the AP poll.

2. Pat Dye, Auburn, 1981-92

  • Record as a Head Coach: 99-39-4 at Auburn (153-62-5 overall)
  • Best Season: 1983; 11-1, SEC Champions, No. 3
  • Notable: 1983, 1987, 1988, 1989 SEC Champions; 1983, 1987, 1988 SEC Coach of the Year; Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2005

An All-American player at Georgia, Pat Dye began his coaching career as an assistant at Alabama in 1965. Dye worked under Bear Bryant in Tuscaloosa until 1973, when he was hired as the head coach at East Carolina. Following six years with the Pirates, Dye spent one year as the head coach at Wyoming before Auburn came calling.

In 12 seasons on The Plains, Dye won 99 games and four SEC titles. The Tigers posted 10 or more victories four times under Dye, and played in nine consecutive bowl games from 1982-90.

Dye’s greatest season was 1983, when Auburn won its final eight games of the season – including a perfect 6-0 SEC mark to capture the program’s first league crown since 1957 – to finish 11-1 with a No. 3 final ranking. Though Auburn reached No. 1 in the AP poll during both 1984 and 1985, and finished in the top 10 five times on his watch, Dye’s Tigers would never end a season ranked higher than they did in 1983.

1. Mark Richt, Georgia, 2001-15

  • Record as a Head Coach: 145-51
  • Best Season: 2002; 13-1, SEC Champions, No. 3
  • Notable: 2002 and 2005 SEC Champions; 2003, 2007, 2011, 2012 SEC East Champions; 2002, 2005 SEC Coach of the Year

The University of Georgia fired Mark Richt following the 2015 regular season in large part because Richt and the Bulldogs failed to live up to the lofty expectations placed upon them in recent years.

Georgia was loaded with talent under Richt. More than 75 players that played in Athens from 2002-14 went on to the NFL, including 13 first-round picks. The Bulldogs never signed a recruiting class ranked lower than No. 12 by 247Sports during Richt’s tenure, and Georgia landed a top 10 class in 13 of his 15 seasons, including three ranked among the top 5 in the country.

Richt did many great things during his time in Athens. He was one of just four coaches in FBS history to win 135 games in his first 14 seasons. Georgia won the 2002 SEC Championship and finished No. 3 in the final AP Top 25 with a school-record 13 victories. It was the first conference title for the program since 1982 and the highest final ranking since the 1980 squad won the national championship.

It took Richt just three seasons to win another SEC title, and the 2007 squad climbed to No. 2 in the final AP poll. Yet, Richt never led his team to a national title, or even a national championship game.