It might not be the best time to be an SEC offensive play-caller.

I say that knowing that the majority of them covet 7-figure salaries and will likely have a chance to work in football for a living. Life could be worse.

But for nearly half the SEC’s offensive play-callers (and maybe more), it feels like a change is coming. You’ll notice that I said “offensive play-caller” and not “offensive coordinator.” That’s a key caveat because we know that at places like Texas A&M and Mizzou, it’s the head coach calling the plays, for better or for worse (it’s been for worse this year).

So with 2 weeks left in the regular season, I thought it’d be an interesting time to dig into which SEC teams could be on the hunt for a new offensive play-caller:

Alabama

2022 offensive play-caller — Bill O’Brien

Why I think they’ll move on — It’s not simply because Alabama could have a GoFundMe to raise money for his buyout that would be met faster than you can say “run the damn ball.” It’s because of the inconsistencies we’ve seen, especially on the road. With the Heisman Trophy winner at QB, Alabama ranks No. 51 in yards/pass attempt and a successful ground game (No. 8 in yards/carry) ranks just No. 89 in attempts/game. My guess is that O’Brien leaves for another job and that it’s not an official firing. He’s still highly respected in the industry, and if he were to become the Patriots’ new offensive coordinator, it wouldn’t surprise me.

Who I think they could target — Nick Saban has typically liked going after offensive play-callers with NFL experience, but I wonder if Saban would pursue an up-and-coming offensive play-caller like Oregon’s Kenny Dillingham, who was Gus Malzahn’s OC at Auburn in 2019 and has worked wonders with Bo Nix in 2022. Or perhaps Saban would go full savage mode and pluck Charlie Weis Jr. from Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss. Saban having a millennial offensive play-caller would be quite the development.

Alternatively, perhaps we’ll see him make a hard sell to Dan Mullen, who could undeniably crush it calling plays with Alabama’s talent level. Mullen and Saban sharing a sideline would pour some cold water on the “dynasty is dead” narrative.

Auburn

2022 offensive play-caller — Eric Kiesau/Bryan Harsin

Why I think they’ll move on —  Um, because they already did, you idiot. If we include Austin Davis, who served as Auburn’s OC for roughly 6 weeks, the rotating door of play-callers has been all over the place:

  • 2018: OC Chip Lindsey
  • 2019: HC Gus Malzahn
  • 2020: OC Chad Morris
  • 2021: Mike Bobo
  • January 2022: Austin Davis
  • Rest of 2022: Eric Kiesau
  • 2023: TBD

So yeah, without even including interim staff, this will be Auburn’s 7th offensive play-caller since the start of 2018. If we just include games played to exclude Davis, that’s still 6 offensive play-callers in as many seasons. That’s wild. It’s not a surprise that Auburn has only had 1 top-25 offense in the Playoff era.

Who I think they could target — I’m not breaking any news here, but if Lane Kiffin or Hugh Freeze get the head coaching job, we know that offensive play-calling duties will largely fall on them. Given the recent offensive struggles on The Plains, it’s not surprising why they’re so high on the wish list. If they were to hire a head coach without that offensive play-calling background (a certain Deion Sanders comes to mind) then I’d be curious if that person would be able to pluck a respected Power 5 offensive coordinator like UNC’s Phil Longo or Baylor’s Jeff Grimes, though obviously Grimes’ name has been linked more for the head coaching position than the potential OC.

Kentucky

2022 offensive play-caller — Rich Scangarello

Why I think they’ll move on — See “Commodores, Vanderbilt.”

Against the worst Power 5 passing defense, Will Levis had 109 passing yards, 0 touchdowns and he took 4 sacks. Yuck. It’s not just the Vandy game, or the fact that the offensive line has been a total disaster. Kentucky has the nation’s No. 94 scoring offense, and against Power 5 competition, the Cats averaged 18 points per game (you have to take away the pick-6 against Florida for that total). Woof. The hope when Scangarello arrived was that it would be a seamless transition within the Kyle Shanahan/Sean McVay coaching tree after Liam Coen returned to the Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams. Instead, we’ve seen reminders of why the pro-style concepts don’t always resonate with college players, especially with true freshmen receivers starting on the outside.

It’s a tricky spot for Mark Stoops because obviously, his offense had to modernize after 2020, and it did that successfully in 2021. It helped land Wan’Dale Robinson and Will Levis. But it’s clear that there’s been frustration with Scangarello, and after the Vandy debacle, it seems like his days could be numbered.

Who I think they could target — Someone like SMU’s Casey Woods would be interesting with his SEC background and his rising stock, or perhaps Stoops would go back to the Air Raid and bring in someone like TCU’s Garrett Riley to get full autonomy of the offense after working with former Kentucky assistant Sonny Dykes. Whatever the case, changes are coming. It’s just a question of whether Stoops wants to stay within this scheme or perhaps shake things up again.

Mizzou

2022 offensive play-caller — Eli Drinkwitz

Why I think they’ll move on — There are 2 things I want to know about Drinkwitz’s 2-year extension he signed. One is whether the buyout changed, or if it was similar to what we saw with Dan Mullen’s post-Year 3 extension/raise at Florida that kept the buyout the same while raising the base salary. I’d also love to know if the contract was signed with an agreement that Drinkwitz will bring in someone to call plays. I bet it did. Drinkwitz can see the writing on the wall. His offense isn’t working. He has yet to develop a quarterback, and if not for the heroics of Larry Rountree and Tyler Badie, his offense would’ve been Vandy levels of awful through 3 years.

Who I think they could target — I think the aforementioned Casey Woods would be interesting given that his current boss (Rhett Lashlee) and his potential future boss (Drinkwitz) both come from the Gus Malzahn coaching tree. We could also see Drinkwitz go back to Appalachian State to get first-year offensive coordinator Kevin Barbay, who worked with Jim McElwain at Central Michigan and was also Stephen F. Austin’s play-caller in 2018. Barbay’s Texas roots would line up well with the way Mizzou has liked to recruit in the Lone Star State. Drinkwitz needs to make an aggressive move if his team is ever going to rise above mediocrity.

South Carolina

2022 offensive play-caller — Marcus Satterfield

Why I think they’ll move on — Well, there are more #FireSatt mentions than I can count. Public support doesn’t always dictate these things, but there have been far too many play-calling/quarterback development issues for Satterfield to retain his job.

With arguably the most talented quarterback in program history, on paper, anyway, the Gamecocks have 5.5 yards per play against SEC competition and Spencer Rattler ranks No. 11 in quarterback rating in the SEC. Satterfield’s only way to get the best offensive play-maker the ball (Jaheim Bell) is by turning him into a running back and valuable, versatile weapons like DK Joyner can barely see the field. Shane Beamer needing to tell Satterfield at halftime of a game “get the ball into the hands of our best players” tells you everything you need to know about that disconnect.

It’ll be the first real big fire/hire for Beamer in Columbia, and it seems like an awfully important move for his next 3 years. Fortunately, he has a pretty wide network with all of his stops the past decade-plus, and we know he can offer total autonomy on that side of the ball.

Who I think they could target — Former Dan Mullen right-hand-man Brian Johnson is a name to keep in mind from the NFL ranks. He’s highly regarded at the college level — he was a crucial member of Mullen’s staff at Florida — and after 2 years helping develop Jalen Hurts as the quarterbacks coach with the Philadelphia Eagles, I’d love to see Beamer get him a $1.5 million deal to return to the SEC. The well-traveled Kevin Johns has been phenomenal this year running the Duke offense, and he could be a nice fit if he’s looking to go to a place with deeper pockets and better resources. There’s a good sell for Beamer to make as an empowering, not overbearing CEO-type coach.

Texas A&M

2022 offensive play-caller — Jimbo Fisher

Why I think they’ll move on — I don’t know that Fisher could name a single Taylor Swift song, but I have to think that at some point this year, he looked in the mirror and said “It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me. At tea time, everybody agrees.” Fisher, with his roughly 685 sheets of paper he holds on the sideline, has now gone 12 consecutive games without hitting 30 points against FBS competition. Mind you, there are 44 FBS programs that average 30.0 points against FBS competition. Fisher’s days an elite play-caller are long gone, and if you don’t believe me, tell me why he has just 1 top-25 scoring offense in the past 9 seasons.

Stick a fork in Fisher as a play-caller. Shuffling the offensive staff at the start of fall camp didn’t work, and neither did any of Fisher’s 3 starting quarterbacks in 2022. If he doesn’t hire somebody to run his offense, he’s going to either waste that historic recruiting class or he’s going to watch it walk out the door.

Who I think they could target — We know that when it comes to hiring coaches, money isn’t an issue. If I’m Fisher, I’m going up to Tennessee and dropping a $2.5 million annual contract on the desk of Alex Golesh. One of Fisher’s biggest shortcomings as a play-caller in this era is that he can’t call an up-tempo offense. Golesh can. He and Josh Heupel have a system similar to what we’ve seen with Lane Kiffin and Jeff Lebby or this year, Kiffin and Charlie Weis Jr.

If Fisher can’t get Golesh, who at the very least has a raise/extension coming his way, there are 2 swing-for-the-fences options with potentially $3 million annual salaries — Dan Mullen and Joe Brady. Mullen’s next step will be fascinating after spending a year away from coaching. While he could desire a chance to run a lesser Power 5 program again, he could get extremely similar compensation to perhaps be the savior in College Station. And while it’s no secret that Brady’s lack of passion for recruiting could keep him in the NFL, what if Fisher kept those duties at a minimum and he got Brady back on the fast track he was on a couple of years ago? Nobody should be off the table given the high stakes in College Station.

For my money, there’s not a more fascinating assistant hire this offseason than Fisher’s next play-caller.