Is it too early to begin talk of the hot seat? Possibly.

But coaching in the SEC isn’t easy, and someone’s always on the hot seat. So heading into Week 7, SDS is going to rank some of the SEC’s head coaches based on who has the hottest seat.

Hottest Seats

1. Will Muschamp: Muschamp’s Gators are on pace to surpass last season’s 4-8 disaster, but it sure doesn’t feel like this year’s Gators are improved. Muschamp frustrated fans by sticking with quarterback Jeff Driskel amid some terrible performances, and then after making a change under center (a change that won UF its game against Tennessee) backup Treon Harris was suspended following accusations of sexual assault. Two more of his players, including another backup quarterback, got in a fight this week and the authorities had to get involved. The Florida program appears to be crumbling around Muschamp, and his future in Gainesville is uncertain at best.

2. Derek Mason: It’s tough to judge Mason’s performance through six weeks, as the first-time head coach took over a talent-depleted program in the wake of James Franklin’s departure to Penn State. Mason is still learning how to be a head coach, and he’s doing so with the least talented team in America’s most talented conference. However, the ineptitude Mason and his staff have shown in managing his quarterback situation has fans wondering whether he’s in over his head. It might not be fair, but Mason has already reached a point where he must prove to Commodores fans he can build this program from the ground-up if given time.

Much Cooler

3. Steve Spurrier: Let’s get one thing clear — South Carolina is not likely to fire Spurrier. With that said, the Head Ball Coach might be reaching the end of the line of his coaching career, and he may step away from the job following what looks to be his worst season with the Gamecocks. South Carolina began the year ranked in the top 10 and considered the favorite in the SEC East. Now. the Gamecocks are a mere 3-3 and have virtually no shot at winning the East. Spurrier has to be frustrated by the current season, and it remains to be seen how many more years he’ll give to South Carolina before calling it a career.

4. Butch Jones: Jones’ Tennessee team has shown improvements in a lot of areas, and the Vols have been a part of some close games against some of the SEC’s best teams, including Georgia. However, until Tennessee learns how to finish games it will be moot, and Jones is running out of moral victories to lean on before fans in Knoxville begin demanding real victories. The head coach said he was saddened to find out no one on his current roster has been to a bowl game as a Volunteer, but unless his squad can begin finishing off close games, Tennessee won’t be bowling this year, either. Expectations are high at UT, and Jones needs to begin achieving some of his goals or risk going the way of Derek Dooley.

5. Les Miles: Like Spurrier, let’s get one thing clear — LSU is not going to fire Les Miles. However, amid a tremendous amount of roster turnover created by 18 NFL draft picks the last two seasons, his Tigers are at a low point in his tenure, and it happens to come around the same time Miles’ alma mater, Michigan, is about to have a job opening. Miles has turned the Wolverines down before, but it’s a lot easier to walk away from the current LSU Tigers than it was when they were loaded with talent a few years ago. Both LSU and Michigan are in rebuilding mode (although LSU is much further along than Michigan), and if Miles is going to be laying a foundation either way, he may choose to do it up North. We won’t know until the season is over, but the possibility is alive.

6. Bret Bielema: Bielema is in a situation comparable to Jones in that his team has shown great improvements but has yet to finish off a win in two close SEC games. Razorbacks fans are willing to be patient, for now, considering how difficult this year’s SEC West has been. But if Bielema wants to stick around in Fayetteville long-term, he needs to start winning some of those close games to please the fans and to give his program some national notoriety. Right now, Arkansas may be the least recognizable program in the West, and if Bielema can’t change that in the next couple of years, his future in Fayetteville will remain uncertain.

7. Mark Richt: Richt has been at Georgia for what feels like forever, and he’s accomplished a great deal as coach of the Bulldogs. But Richt also has a history of discipline issues within his program, and not a season goes by where Georgia does not have at least a few players suspended. Richt has coached through those suspensions pretty well in the past, but the recent suspension of Heisman contender Todd Gurley will not do Georgia any favors against Missouri this weekend. If the suspensions begin catching up with Richt, his time in Athens could be running out in the coming years.