It’s always an exciting day when a new coach is hired. Expectations are sky-high, plans look brilliant, strategies are unbeatable. Then the season comes and lots of hires don’t look so brilliant.

But here are some examples of schools getting it right. Sometimes, it meant latching on to an established coach and refusing to let go. Sometimes, it meant giving a mid-major coach or an assistant his first shot at the big time.

Our 10 best SEC coaching hires of the 21st century:

1. Nick Saban, Alabama

Sure, it’s obvious in retrospect, but give Bama’s decision-makers credit for sticking to their guns and getting their man.

The four coaches who preceded Saban posted a combined record of 67-55 (and that includes the 16 wins vacated by the NCAA). The fact that Saban, who won a title at LSU, was then the head coach of the Miami Dolphins meant nothing to Alabama, which refused to hear no.

Tide fans have been grateful for that temporary hearing loss ever since.

2. Urban Meyer, Florida

This wasn’t necessarily a slam-dunk at the time.

Sure, Urb had won games at Bowling Green (17-6) and Utah (22-2). But Jim McElwain won games at lower-tier schools too.

Florida was coming off the short-lived and disastrous Ron Zook era, thus Meyer proved one of the axioms about taking a coaching job: You don’t want to follow the legend (in this case, Steve Spurrier), you want to follow the guy who follows the legend.

Six years later, Meyer was 65-15 at Florida with a pair of national titles.

3. Les Miles, LSU

On the other hand, when Nick Saban heeded the call of the NFL after the 2004 season, the Tigers promptly went out and hit another home run (and yes, if you are keeping score, Saban would have been on this list twice, but LSU hired him in November 1999).

There wasn’t really a ton to recommend Miles, who was 28-21 at Oklahoma State when he took the LSU job. He hadn’t eclipsed nine wins in a season at OSU, but he did so seven times at LSU, including a national title season in 2007.

He was fired in early 2016 with a 114-34 mark, including a better win percentage than Saban had at LSU.

4. Steve Spurrier, South Carolina

Much like Saban, Carolina identified its man and refused to be turned down.

The three USC coaches who had coached the team in the SEC combined for a career record of 81-96. They had also gone 37-66 in SEC play.

Enter the Old Ball Coach, who went 86-49 and managed a 44-40 mark in SEC play, including Carolina’s first (and thus far only) SEC Championship appearance.

5. Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M

Credit: C. Morgan Engel-USA TODAY Sports

We could have Fisher too high … or too low.

There are some significant parallels to Spurrier, in that A&M, by ditching Kevin Sumlin, was sending a clear signal that they didn’t want to be merely okay. They paid a high price, but they got a coach who went 83-23, won a national title, and finished four of his eight seasons ranked in the top 10.

Perhaps more than anything else, in a season when West teams hired Matt Luke, Joe Moorhead and Chad Morris, A&M sent a message that it was tired of being middle of the pack.

The Aggies are going after the big dogs.

6. James Franklin, Vanderbilt

It didn’t last long, but it was a great time to be a Commodore.

Franklin was a fairly unknown offensive coordinator from Maryland and Kansas State whom Vandy nabbed in December 2010. Apparently, he blew the Vandy search team away in interviews, and proceeded to win more than Vandy had in many a moon.

Franklin’s 24-15 record at Vandy was the best winning percentage for a VU coach since Henry Russell Sanders, who had left the team during World War II but returned to end his coaching career there in 1948. Franklin has since pulled a similar resurrection job at Penn State.

7. Mark Richt, Georgia

This may be the most controversial name on this list.

Georgia hasn’t won a national title since 1980, and had been through Ray Goff (46-34-1) and Jim Donnan (40-19) between Vince Dooley and Richt. Richt had never been a head coach, but had spent a decade at Florida State, first as QB coach then as offensive coordinator.

With Bobby Bowden firmly entrenched at FSU, Richt took the Georgia job and went 145-51. UGA won two SEC titles and six division titles, but never nabbed the national title under Richt.

Despite his career winning percentage being better than Vince Dooley’s, Richt was sent packing, and has since turned Miami into a title contender.

8. Dan Mullen, Mississippi State

Mullen went 69-46 in Starkville, including a 10-win season in 2014. The last Bulldogs head coach to finish his tenure with a better than .500 record was Darrell Royal, who coached the team in 1954 and 1955.

Mullen had no prior head coaching experience, but had run high-scoring offenses with Urban Meyer. Mullen finished his time at State as the second winningest coach in school history.

9. Dan Mullen, Florida

Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

After some blundering with Will Muschamp and some offensive stumbling with Jim McElwain, the Gators are counting on the offensive guru from the SEC West to right the ship.

Mullen was at Florida during the Meyer glory days and has earned his chops making potent offenses out of 2-star and 3-star recruits in Starkville.

Mullen has had the occasional PR stumble, so there is some fear that the kitchen might ultimately get a little hot for a guy who has lived under the radar thus far, but he’s a wise choice who may work out better than Chip Kelly would have.

10. Kirby Smart, Georgia

Some day Kirby Smart may listen to people insist that he walked into a loaded team in a weak division and enjoyed the fruits of Mark Richt’s labors. But he may also listen to people say that hiring him was the best move Georgia made in the 21st century.

The expectations at Georgia are high — but reaching them with a CFP spot and an SEC championship in year two means that Smart has a lot going on besides inheriting talented players.

Because of how high the expectations are, this position is incredibly dynamic. In three years, Smart might be second on this list, or he might be hunting for a new job. But right here, right now, he’s taken some big steps to proving that he’s the guy to get Georgia over the hump and back to the promised land.