As spring practice kicks off across the Southeastern Conference, we take a look at 10 players, coaches, and teams looking to improve upon their performances from last season.

Jeremy Johnson, QB, Auburn

The 2015 season was a disaster for Auburn quarterback Jeremy Johnson, who lost his starting job to redshirt freshman Sean White in Week 4 as the result of poor decision-making that led to 6 interceptions in his first three games.

Johnson entered his junior season full of confidence spending two years as the primary backup to Nick Marshall. Others were optimistic about Johnson as well, as evidenced his presence on the covers of multiple preseason magazines and his place among the top 10 Heisman Trophy candidates according to Las Vegas oddsmakers. Some even added to the hype by comparing the 6-foot-5, 240-pound Johnson to Auburn legend and eventual NFL MVP Cam Newton.

However, the hype was too much for a player that had attempted just 78 career passes in 11 games – only three of which he played significant minutes. Johnson sat out three full games, then saw limited duty in losses to Arkansas and Ole Miss before White went down to injury.

While Johnson didn’t exactly play like a Heisman candidate in the second half of the season, he did show significant improvement – including just one interception over his final 98 pass attempts of the season, a 5:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio and 4 rushing touchdowns during that period.

Johnson must fight this spring and fall to win his job back from White (who started the Birmingham Bowl), as well as junior college transfer John Franklin III, who offers a Marshall-like running ability the Tigers missed desperately in 2015. However, if the strong-armed senior can find his rhythm on the practice field, he has all the tools to not only win his job back, but also the talent to put up huge offensive numbers in 2016.

Greyson Lambert, QB, Georgia

Georgia quarterback Greyson Lambert was a bizarro Jeremy Johnson of sorts in 2015 – setting an NCAA record for completion percentage in a 52-20 victory over South Carolina early last year, completing 63.3 percent of his passes with just 2 interceptions all season, and leading his team to 10 wins. However, Lambert was painfully inconsistent (he completed fewer than 50 percent of his passes against Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky), and lost his starting job midway through the season.

Also like Johnson, Lambert will face a stiff challenge in the competition to return as the starting quarterback from the Bulldogs. Five-star recruit Jacob Eason is already on campus, will go through spring practice, and has the tools to start immediately. But, new head coach Kirby Smart may not be in a rush to throw his young true freshman into the fire – especially with the experience Smart has had the last two seasons at Alabama watching senior quarterbacks led the Crimson Tide to the College Football Playoff.

Despite Eason’s huge upside, experience gives Lambert the edge in the competition this spring and fall, and he may take the first snap of the 2016 season for the Bulldogs against North Carolina. And, if Lambert shows more consistency and continues his winning ways, he might be able to hold off Eason all season.

Nick Chubb, RB, Georgia

One of the best ways for Lambert to bounce back from an up-and-down season is to hand the ball off to a healthy Nick Chubb and let the junior running back work his magic. Of course, it’s too early to tell whether Chubb will be fully healthy to begin the ’16 season following a gruesome knee injury that cost him the final seven games of 2015 – but reports out of Athens say Chubb is back in the gym, and hopes are high that he will be full-speed when the season kicks off in September.

When healthy, Chubb is an All-American-caliber player and a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate. Prior to tearing his PCL, other ligaments and cartilage in his knee on the first carry of the game against Tennessee last year, Chubb had averaged 149 yards across the first five games of the season with 7 touchdowns, surpassing the century mark in each contest and pushing his streak to 13 consecutive games rushing for more than 100 yards.

Prior to Chubb’s injury, Georgia averaged 452.8 total yards per game. Without him, the Bulldogs gained 330.0 total yards per game.

Tony Conner, DB, Ole Miss

Like Chubb, Ole Miss hybrid defensive back Tony Conner has All-American talent, but was sidelined for a significant portion of the 2015 season due to a knee injury he suffered against Alabama that required in-season surgery. Conner suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee as the result of a low collision with running back Derrick Henry, and sat out the next six games for the Rebels – which lost two of those contests.

The rising senior returned to the field for limited duty in the 53-52 loss to Arkansas that cost the Rebels a shot at the SEC Championship Game, but was forced to sit out the regular season finale against Mississippi State and the Sugar Bowl against Oklahoma State. In five games, Conner recorded 17 total tackles, 4 tackles for a loss, and a quarterback hurry – a far cry from the 69 tackles, 9 TFLs, 1 sack, 1 interception, 2 pass breakups and 3 QB hurries he recorded as a sophomore.

Cam Cameron, Offensive Coordinator, LSU

In 2013, his first season with the Tigers, Cameron directed the first offense in SEC history to feature a 3,000-yard passer, 1,000-yard rusher and two 1,000-yard receivers. LSU averaged 35.8 points per game and 453.3 total yards per contest on its way to a 10-win season.

Understandably, the Tigers took a step back in 2014 all four players – quarterback Zack Mettenberger, running back Jeremy Hill and receivers Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham, Jr. – left Baton Rouge for the NFL. However, dropping to No. 13 in the SEC in scoring offense (27.6 points per game) and seeing the team’s offensive production slump to 387.5 total yards per contest was tough to swallow.

Production was up again in 2015 to 437.3 total yards per contest, but that figure was inflated by the historically strong start of running back Leonard Fournette, who led the nation with an average of 162.8 rushing yards per game and feasted on non-conference competition with an average of 209.8 rushing yards in four contests outside the SEC.

More to the point, Cameron has taken flak for a lack of growth by quarterback Brandon Harris and for failing to utilize Harris’ strengths as a mobile quarterback. While Harris did a good job of holding onto the football early in 2015 (he didn’t throw an interception in any of LSU’s first seven games), he averaged just 156.9 passing yards and 19.4 rushing yards per game across the Tigers’ 7-0 start. Once the competition improved, Harris improved to 213.4 passing yards in the final five games, but ran for just 18 yards on average and threw 6 interceptions – at least one in each game.

With Fournette and Harris both back for their junior seasons, as well as wide receivers Malachi Dupre and Travin Dural, the offensive roster has the talent to produce numbers similar to those of Cameron’s ’13 unit – but only if the offensive coordinator improves his performance grooming Harris in the offseason and calling plays on Saturdays.

Will Muschamp, Head Coach, South Carolina

Things didn’t work out for Will Muschamp as the head coach of the Florida Gators. In three seasons in Gainesville, Muschamp posted a 28-21 overall record with only one great season – the 11-2 2012 campaign in which Florida finished ranked No. 9 in the AP poll. Adding salt to the wound, after the Gators fired Muschamp following two especially disappointing seasons, Jim McElwain replaced him, immediately taking the roster Muschamp assembled and winning the SEC East.

Meanwhile, Muschamp suffered through one of his toughest seasons as a defensive coordinator. In six seasons as a coordinator in the SEC, Muschamp led his unit to a top-10 national ranking in scoring defense and total defense five times. However, Auburn finished in the middle of the pack in the SEC in scoring defense (27.5 points allowed per game) under Muschamp’s direction in 2015, and the Tigers ranked No. 13 in the league in total defense (405.2 total yards allowed per game). The only unit that fared worse was South Carolina (429.8), which hired Muschamp as its new head coach in December.

Now, as Muschamp prepares for his first spring practice in Columbia, he has a chance to turn around his reputation as a head coach, as well as make a major impact and improve the SEC’s worst defense from a season ago.

Kentucky Wildcats

More than any one player, or even head coach Mark Stoops, the Kentucky Wildcats football program is looking for redemption in 2016 following back-to-back second-half collapses that left them one win shy of a bowl game in both ’14 and ’15.

It’s been six years since the Wildcats last went bowling, but Stoops has created excitement in Lexington thanks to improved recruiting that has increased the talent level on the roster. The team has been competitive as well, improving from 2-10 in 2013 to 5-1 to begin the ’14 season before falling apart in the second half.

Kentucky suffered a similar fate last year. Looking to get over the hump in 2015, Kentucky started 4-1, which included two wins over SEC East rivals and a close loss to Florida for the second straight season. However, five consecutive losses followed. Then, after an easy 58-10 victory over Charlotte and with an opportunity to become bowl eligible with a win over archrival Louisville, the Wildcats couldn’t hold on to a 21-0 first quarter lead and lost 38-24.

Kentucky returns nine players that started seven games or more on offense last season, plus quarterback Drew Barker, who knocked Patrick Towles out of the starting lineup prior to the Charlotte game. However, there are concerns on the defensive side of the football as the Wildcats must replace six full-time starters on defense, as well as one of the team’s top pass rushers in Jason Hatcher, who was kicked off the team Monday.

Speedy Noil, WR, Texas A&M

A former five-star recruit that Texas A&M plucked out of LSU territory in New Orleans, wide receiver Speedy Noil quickly emerged as one of the most exciting freshmen in the SEC in 2014 with 583 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns on 46 catches. Noil also handled the bulk of the kick return and punt return duties for the Aggies, which helped him earn honorable mention All-SEC honors as an all-purpose player.

Injuries and suspensions limited Noil to 21 receptions for 226 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns in nine games as a sophomore, as well as limited duties in the return game as true freshman Christian Kirk stole the show early in the season. It won’t get any easier for Noil next year, either. Kirk, who led the Aggies in every major receiving category, Josh Reynolds and Ricky Seals-Jones will all be back in 2016, making the wide receiver depth chart more competitive than ever entering spring practice and fall camp.

However, the 5-foot-11, 185-pound Noil has a unique skill set, including explosive speed, that makes him a prime candidate to come back strong as a junior.

Trevor Knight, QB, Texas A&M

Sometimes, a fresh start can lead to a comeback performance, which is exactly what Trevor Knight hopes is in store for him in College Station.

Knight played lights out as the starting quarterback at Oklahoma late in his freshman season in 2013, leading the Sooners to a 45-31 upset victory over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl and entering the ’14 season in the Heisman conversation. However, Knight struggled as a junior as OU fell to 8-5, and he couldn’t beat out Baker Mayfield for the starting job in 2015.

The 6-foot-1, 205-pound San Antonio native threw for 305 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions in limited action as a junior and spent most of the season watching Mayfield excel while leading the Sooners to the College Football Playoff. With Mayfield coming back as a Heisman contender, Knight transferred closer to home to play his final season at Texas A&M – and the timing couldn’t have been better for Aggies head coach Kevin Sumlin.

Inexplicably, Sumlin watched two former five-star quarterbacks – Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray – walk out the door at the end of the 2015 season, leaving the quarterback depth chart extremely shallow. With Jake Hubenak as his only true competition for the job this fall, Knight should take over behind center for the Aggies, and he should excel. Since Sumlin became head coach, Texas A&M has averaged 307.4 passing yards per game.

Chris Black, WR, Missouri

Speaking of a change of scenery, wide receiver Chris Black expected to do big things at Alabama in 2015 following the early departure of Amari Cooper to the NFL. Instead, an ankle injury hampered Black and he caught just 2 passes for 23 yards (both coming against ULM in Week 4) in six games.

A former four-star prospect, the 6-foot, 192-pound wideout recorded 25 receptions for 290 yards and 2 touchdowns at Alabama. With a loaded receiving corps making it difficult to envision opportunities for playing time in Tuscaloosa, Black decided to play his final year of eligibility as a graduate transfer at Missouri.

The Tigers were dreadful on offense last season, finishing dead last in the league in scoring offense (13.6 points per game), total offense (280.9 total yards per game), rushing offense (115.3 rushing yards per game), and passing offense (165.5 passing yards per game). However, new head coach Barry Odom brought in talented play-caller Josh Heupel in as offensive coordinator, which should help give the unit a boost.

Quarterback Drew Lock also returns after a rough true freshman season in which he was pressed into early duty following the suspension of starter Maty Mauk. Lock completed only 49 percent of his passes and threw 8 interceptions and only 4 touchdowns, but with Black now on board, the Tigers quarterback has an exciting new weapon at his disposal.