I understand the importance of confidence in football, but why poke the bear before even playing a snap? If you lose it'll just make you look like a dork. Auburn is going to be better than people think this year, but man don't give anyone extra motivation to outplay you in November.

That's kind of an old take on Leach. He really began to take the defensive side of the ball seriously when he hired Alex Grinch away from Missouri back at Washington State. Mississippi State was carried more by defense last year than offense, and he has a Rocky Long disciple coaching the defense, which typically spells success. Hopefully MSST takes a jump under Leach in Year 2.

I don't know if Leach really has much to worry about. The guy works wonders at places that don't normally win. If State is patient with him he will produce 9-4 type seasons regularly and occasionally have an elite team with the ability to make a run at the SEC title. At both his stops that took time though. He started at Wazzu in 2012, but it wasn't until 2015 that they finally had their breakthrough season. Year 3-4 under Leach will produce a breakthrough, and anything before that would be ahead of schedule in my opinion.

The defense was so atrocious in 2019 I was surprised to see Golding retained. It cost us big time because Mac didn't look bad in 2019 either.

Kirby Smart is trending down and Dan Mullen is trending up? This has to be some sort of bait for Georgia fans because I genuinely cannot understand how someone could come to this conclusion without having blue and orange glasses on. Kirby Smart has won the SEC East 3 out of 5 years, and is primed to win his 4th in 6. Dan Mullen has won the East once, and it was a against a quarterback-less Georgia squad and not much else. Don't get it confused Gator fans, Mullen is a fantastic coach, but the end of his 2020 campaign was embarrassing, especially after putting up such a great plan against Alabama. At least try to drop the bias Hayes; it really ruins the reading experience when you aren't honest with yourself.

Uh... what?

I thought it was a funny response to a pretty dumb question. Why would any coach say "Well, I am actually planning on always losing the SEC West to Alabama until he does retire, so next question please."? It's all in good fun, and nobody there needs Jimbo Fisher's comments to get hyped up for what always is a great opponent.

Yeah, definitely didn't sound encouraging, but that is to be expected. We all know Gus has zero quarterback development skills. Nix could still end up being a good quarterback, and he has some pretty great guys teaching him right now. Hope he succeeds this year, just not against us haha.

This gave me a really good laugh. The format was spot on.

Every time I remind myself of the head coaches in the SEC West it absolutely blows my mind. Saban, Kiffin, Leach, Fisher, Orgeron, and even a coach like Harsin who churned out 10-win seasons at Boise like clockwork. This division is going to be incredible to watch over the next several years. Mason is a great defensive mind, and he's going to give Harsin a very solid unit next season. Auburn will be dangerous if Bobo and Harsin can figure out their offensive identity sooner rather than later. I'm not sure what the folks at Auburn think, but I would assume they'd attempt to build the offense around Bigsby and control tempo. Not sure, but it'll be interesting to watch.

I don't shed any tears for McCarron. He's off in the NFL living the good life as a backup QB. I was simply stating that he should not be considered underrated due to his obvious success on a national level and within the SEC.

I don't think Fitzgerald, McCarron, and Shaw really count as underrated players. McCarron won two national championships, and he was a kick-six away from more than likely playing for a third in just as many years. Shaw was the most winning QB in South Carolina history, and I would argue Fitzgerald was overhyped throughout his tenure in the SEC.

I'm not yet sold on Emory Jones being a difference-maker SEC quarterback. He just hasn't looked good in mop-up duty when he has gotten the chance, but if anyone can develop a quarterback it's Mullen.

South Carolina has been an enigma to me, and with the Beamer hire followed by the seemingly mass exodus I have even more questions than before. I think he's going to build the right culture for winning, but it might take another guy who has more X and O's experience to build upon that solid foundation. I hope that Carolina can return to prominence. They were a staple in the early 2010s version of the SEC that completely dominated the college football world, and the more SEC teams that can compete at a high level every year the better.

Alabama is a beautiful state. I've enjoyed many places in SEC country. We're blessed down here y'all.

I truly get such a kick out of these. He's an institution at this point!

It's not as though there aren't other teams out there equally loaded and just as well-coached. If they don't win this year it's not because they aren't a good team. They will have a good defense, a difference-maker at quarterback, and some decent skill players to work with. I think they'll win the SEC East, but the West should be strong this year with Alabama, A&M, and LSU all looking as though they could stack up against the winner of the East.

Tennessee still holds the winners of life title if that makes y'all feel better.

This dynasty is unreal. It's hard to remember what it was like during the Shula days. That was a little over a decade ago, but it feels like centuries. We've been so blessed to have the opportunity to watch a dynasty unfold before our eyes.

Did you not get the joke? It was very funny haha.

Great hire. Obviously, SEC fans aren't the fondest of him because of his 2017 UCF National Champion debacle, but he's proven his ability to hire great coaches that fit into the culture of the university. Hope he does well, as I like to see all SEC schools do well across the board.

I hope he does well at Northwestern. With Ramsey leaving, he should probably win the starting job for what is a pretty solid team that has a serious shot at winning the BIG10 West next year. Too bad he couldn't make it work at South Carolina. He impressed me in the game we played him in last year.

Watching Tennessee from a safe, respectable distance is a never-ending rollercoaster of entertainment. In all seriousness, I hope that the Vols can finally find the coach that can turn their once great program into a consistent contender again. This hire will be extremely important, and will more than likely be a great litmus test to see how this next decade of Tennessee football will turn out.

They waited way too long to make this move. If there is no candidate in mind right now, then Tennessee might end up with another disastrous coaching search that ends with a head-scratching hire. Their best bet would be Freeze, but who knows if he wants to come back to the SEC so quickly.

Golden coming from the team that felt too entitled to play Oklahoma in a NY6 and effectively embarrassed the SEC on a national scale. A three-game losing streak to end your season really screams dominance, doesn't it?

Sark's a great coach, and he did well at Washington and decently well at USC before he had his bout of personal problems. He should do well at Texas, and I think we should all wish him luck moving forward. He did great things for this program, and instead of bashing him for taking a great opportunity, we should thank him for some of the most prolific offenses in Alabama's history. Saban will find solid replacements just like he always does, and life will go on. No need for all that negativity.

This is an interesting hire. Meyer hasn't failed anywhere he's gone, but plenty of legendary college football coaches can't recreate their success in the NFL because it's such a different beast. Everyone has great players, and those players are almost constantly shifting. I don't see him lasting long in the NFL, but that isn't because he isn't a legendary coach. It's because I think the NFL is infinitely more stressful than a college football job as things seem to constantly shift.

I think a better adjective to describe Tate Martell is entitled rather than embattled.

I would take Tua over Justin Fields any day. Fields doesn't have consistency against good teams. He did well against Clemson, but outside of that, I can't remember him having a monster game against another elite opponent.

This is probably the most impressive team Saban has ever fielded at Alabama, and it's certainly the one of the most dominant in program history. This team thumped four of the final top ten teams by double-digits this season. The offense was unstoppable, and the defense tightened up and played extremely well against teams not named Ole Miss and Florida. When I think of impressive, dominant Saban teams, I think of 2009, 2011, and 2012. This team blew all three of these out of the water and then some. It's incredible that we are able to watch college football history continue to unfold in front of our eyes every season. This is a dynasty nobody could have predicted in 2007, and the best part is that it doesn't seem to be slowing down. Roll Tide, and SEC!