Let’s not be serious for a minute.

All of the nation’s talk about presidential candidates, debates and approval ratings got us to thinking about the parallels between a politician and a SEC head football coach.

Much like a politician often receives more than his/her fair share of criticism from citizens when things go poorly and more praise than deserved when things go well, so, too, do SEC head coaches for the performance of their respective football programs.

No matter what decision an SEC coach makes, he’s going to have sectors of his fan base that approve and others that criticize. This, too, mirrors the life of a politician.

While the fans may not have the ability to vote their head coach in and out of office (aside from a few influential boosters, perhaps), they still have ultimate power over the “policies” of their “football administration” with the way they choose to spend their money (tickets, donations) and time (attending games or staying at home).

And for those reasons, an approval rating for a football coach isn’t such a crazy idea to consider.

That’s why Saturday Down South polled readers to see just how much they supported conference coaches.

Here is what they decided, ranked from highest approval rating to lowest:

1. GARY PINKEL, MISSOURI

Approval rating: 88 percent

Things are going really well for the Pinkel administration. With back-to-back SEC East titles on his resume, he has left little for the Tigers contingency to complain about as of late. His detractors point to his inability to take down his opponent in the SEC championship as a failure, but most Mizzou fans see the big-picture success.

Just like any person with such a high approval rating, he’s one bad season away from a good 30 percent of the fan base deciding they don’t like him as much as they used to like him. Ahh, the joys of coaching.

2. BUTCH JONES, TENNESSEE

Approval rating: 74 percent

You have to give Butch Jones credit. He may be the best politician among the bunch here. Somehow he has turned a couple of really nice recruiting classes and promises of restoring the tradition of Tennessee football into a very solid approval rating in spite of his 12-13 record through two seasons.

There’s little doubting he has the program headed in the right direction among Volunteers fans, and much like a “Yes We Can!” slogan that helped a certain politician work his way into the White House, Jones has gotten plenty of mileage of the the “Brick by brick” mantra that has given a once restless fanbase a feeling of calm as he takes his time on the restoration project. That being said, Jones may fall victim to his own hype if for some reason Tennessee doesn’t make a significant step forward in the wins column this fall. Expectations are high again in Knoxville, and a seven-win season is likely to hurt his approval rating now rather than help it.

3. MARK RICHT, GEORGIA

Approval rating: 70 percent

Richt is like that 10-term senator that keeps getting re-elected by a comfortable margin, yet never really seems to light a fire under his base of supporters. There is no doubting the quality of human being here, and anyone that wants to nitpick at his consistency as the leader of the Georgia program is just looking for something to complain about. But some Georgia fans have grown weary of the nine or 10-win season.

For Richt to truly become a beloved figure and reach coach-for-life status in Athens, he needs to make the next step forward by winning an SEC championship and lifting the Bulldogs into the College Football Playoff scene. Maybe Nick Chubb will be his Herschel Walker, pushing approval ratings through the roof.

4. STEVE SPURRIER, SOUTH CAROLINA

Approval rating: 55 percent

If this poll was taken entering the 2014 season, Spurrier’s numbers would have been trending somewhere above the 90-percent mark. After three consecutive 11-win seasons, the Head Ball Coach had taken the Gamecocks program to previously-uncharted heights. But after a mostly disappointing 7-6 season last year, some questions about his age (70) and ability to coach at an elite level have started creeping into the conversation.

Spurrier still has more supporters than detractors, but not by as much as one might imagine given all that he’s done for South Carolina. Anyone voting against Spurrier at this point comes off as ungrateful, and no one wants to be that guy.

5. MARK STOOPS, KENTUCKY

Approval rating: 47 percent

Seeing is believing for the Kentucky fan base. Mark Stoops has done a wonderful job of breathing life into the recruiting process at Kentucky, bringing a caliber of player onto campus that just wasn’t coming to Lexington under the previous regime. Wildcats fans want to believe that he is the future of the program, but they fell hard for Joker Phillips, too, and are still a little scarred from that bitter breakup.

Stoops showed on-field progress last season, bringing the program up from two wins to five in his second season in charge. But for Kentucky football fans, which are a much more patient group than the basketball variety, to completely buy in, a trip to a bowl game is in order for Year 3 of the Stoops regime. If he wins seven or eight games this season, watch this approval rating shoot through the roof as some of those basketball fans suddenly remember where the football stadium is.

6. JIM MCELWAIN, FLORIDA

Approval rating: 38 percent

This one is a little puzzling. Usually, there’s nobody more popular with a fan base than a new head coach. Helped by the lack of on-field things to criticize, most new head coaches experience a honeymoon period with their new program. He has grand plans for national success and a complete restoration of the dormant Florida offense. Who wouldn’t want to get behind that? A couple of big wins this fall should push this approval rating well above the 50-percent threshold.

7. DEREK MASON, VANDERBILT

Approval rating: 11 percent

The honeymoon period ended very quickly for Derek Mason. No Vanderbilt coach ever arrived on campus with more expectations than the former Stanford defensive coordinator, and he came nowhere near meeting them in the eyes of most fans. What was an almost 100-percent approval rating at his post-hiring press conference in January 2014 fell to about 20 percent following the epic disaster of a 37-7 home loss to Temple in his first game as head coach. He did little to restore the faith of his fan base through the rest of his first season.

His willingness to shoulder the blame for 2014 and shake up his coaching staff in the offseason has bought him a second chance in 2015 from a few fans, but a slip-up in the season opener against Western Kentucky this season could send his approval rating plummeting to an all-time low.