The landscape changes every single year, and it’s interesting to look back through time and see where coaches came from.
Thirteen of the SEC’s 14 coaches held on-field assistant coaching positions a decade ago; the only one who didn’t is Hugh Freeze, who was Ole Miss’ assistant athletic director for football external affairs.
To see how far former high school coaches Freeze and Gus Malzahn have come has been fun to watch.
Here’s where every current head coach was 10 years ago:
Bret Bielema (Arkansas): Entering his second year as Wisconsin’s defensive coordinator
Hugh Freeze (Ole Miss): Entering his first year as Ole Miss’ Assistant AD for Football External Affairs
Butch Jones (Tennessee): Entering his first year as West Virginia’s wide receivers coach
Gus Malzahn (Auburn): Entering his fifth year as Springdale (Ark.) High School’s head coach
Derek Mason (Vanderbilt): Entering his first year as Ohio’s wide receivers coach
Jim McElwain (Florida): Entering his third year as Michigan State’s wide receivers coach and special teams coordinator
Les Miles (LSU): Entering his first year as LSU’s head coach
Dan Mullen (Mississippi State): Entering his first year as Florida’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach
Gary Pinkel (Missouri): Entering his fifth year as Missouri’s head coach
Mark Richt (Georgia): Entering his fifth year as Georgia’s head coach
Nick Saban (Alabama): Entering his first year as Miami Dolphins’ head coach
Steve Spurrier (South Carolina): Entering his first year as South Carolina’s head coach
Mark Stoops (Kentucky): Entering his second year as Arizona’s defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach
Kevin Sumlin (Texas A&M): Entering his third year as Oklahoma’s special teams coordinator and tight ends coach
The SEC’s head coaches entering the 2005 season (a decade ago):
- Alabama: Mike Shula
- Arkansas: Houston Nutt
- Auburn: Tommy Tuberville
- Florida: Urban Meyer
- Georgia: Mark Richt
- Kentucky: Rich Brooks
- LSU: Les Miles
- Mississippi State: Sylvester Croom
- Missouri: Gary Pinkel
- Ole Miss: Ed Orgeron
- South Carolina: Steve Spurrier
- Tennessee: Phillip Fulmer
- Texas A&M: Dennis Franchione
- Vanderbilt: Bobby Johnson
A graduate of the University of Florida and founder of Saturday Down South, Kevin is a college football enthusiast.
