It’s the head coaches who have the final call, who answer to the final record at the end of the season, but the offensive and defensive coordinators are the ones always in the trenches, always teaching, developing a closeness to the players on their side of the ball that the head guys often can’t duplicate.

A lot of times, the coordinators scream at their players after a bad play before they hear it from the head coach. And they’re usually the first to pat their players on the backside after a great catch, or block, or tackle, or interception.

It’s the in-your-face coaching lives they lead, and that cumulative impact through spring ball, fall camp and the actual season is too mind-boggling to ignore. It’s why their role is so crucial in building a cohesive unit, player by player, or failing to, or somewhere in between.

All 28 offensive and defensive coordinators in the SEC will have that lasting impact again during the 2017 calendar year. But we’ve browsed the conference, the expectations for each team, the talent situation each coordinator inherits, and picked out six of them, three offensive and three defensive, who could have the biggest impact on whether their programs succeed, fail or fall someplace in the middle this fall.

Offensive coordinators

Matt Canada, LSU: A lot of curious (and intense) Baton Rouge eyes will be glued to Canada’s every move, starting not in September but in the springtime. How does he use Derrius Guice? Does he maximize his potential greatness or does he lean a little more on Danny Etling, a guy he knows very well, and try to build the balanced offense the Tigers haven’t had in a long time?

For a decade since its last national title in 2007, we’ve seen LSU’s speed, its perceived top-notch weaponry not used quite right, falling short of its potential. Leonard Fournette was the latest to pass through the Bayou with phenomenal numbers but not the team success to match it. Matt Canada was brought from Pittsburgh to finally fix that. He has possibly the best running back in the country at his disposal, and that’s not a bad thing to inherit. He also walks into as passionate a fan base as you’ll find in the country, and that’s not an easy thing to inherit.

Brian Daboll, Alabama: Between Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian, it was a bit of a sideline circus for Nick Saban when it came to offensive minds. Off to FAU went Kiffin, off to the Atlanta Falcons went Sarkisian, and in comes Daboll, a seemingly low-key hire that an always re-loading Alabama program hopes produces high-end results. Saban has had his eye on Daboll for a long, long time, and so this would seem to make sense.

The interesting and potentially tricky part will be Jalen Hurts, after such an incredible freshman season, now having to undertake two offensive coordinators (three if you count Sarkisian at the end of last season) in two seasons. Will his transition from Kiffin to Daboll be smooth or will there be problems? Yes, Daboll coached at the highest level and won championships with the Patriots, but will his transition to college and the pressure-cooker that is Tuscaloosa go well? Like Canada, Daboll won’t have one minute of any honeymoon period.

Doug Nussmeier, Florida: Nussmeier isn’t trying to make any first impressions, like Canada and Daboll will be, but one could argue after two less-than-inspiring years in charge of the Gators offense that he’ll be trying to finally show the Florida fandom that he can direct something more than an ordinary unit. The heat will be on Nussmeier the third time around, after the Gators were good enough to get to the SEC title game in his first two seasons mostly because of a stout defense before an inefficient offense was exposed by Bama in Atlanta.

Nussmeier has Antonio Callaway and Tyrie Cleveland back this year, and the possibility that the Feleipe Franks era might finally be launched. Nussmeier has been around, and he’s confident that the third time will be the charm for his offense in Gainesville. But frustrated Gators fans, and Jim McElwain, want to see results from Nussmeier in 2017, so Bama isn’t entering the SEC title game as such a huge favorite as it has the past two Decembers.

Defensive coordinators

Paul Rhoads, Arkansas: After being promoted from defensive backs coach, Rhoads has entered a whole different galaxy of expectations at a program where the defense has been struggling to hold up its end of the deal. The Razorbacks gave up at least 30 points a staggering eight times in their 13 games in 2016, including 35 in a Belk Bowl loss to Virginia Tech. They gave up 28 in a loss at lowly Missouri in the regular-season finale. So Rhoads knows what he’s getting into with a unit that was 74th in total defense last year.

But will he be able to at least fix it to the point where Arkansas isn’t trying to outscore everybody like a Big 12 team? Ironically, Rhoads was a head coach in the Big 12, as the head man at Iowa State from 2009-15, so it’s not like he’ll be out of his element as a coordinator now (he ran Auburn’s defense in 2008) and it’s not like he hasn’t seen those Big 12 track meets. If Rhoads can turn it around even a little, with a possible switch to a 3-4 defense, then maybe the perennially explosive Hogs won’t be playing in the Belk Bowl this season.

DeMontie Cross, Missouri: The Tigers made one lasting impression last fall at the end of a 4-8 season: The offense under Drew Lock’s leadership and Josh Heupel’s direction was starting to gather steam, and so if that trend continues into 2017 then the onus will fall on Cross to revitalize his alma mater’s defense that gave up at least 40 points four times last season.

Cross was stripped of his play-calling duties at midseason last year and head coach Barry Odom said he will continue to make the defensive calls this year. But Cross will have heavy input and the motivation to make 2017 everything last fall wasn’t, as Missouri finished 112th in the FBS against the run. Cross didn’t get angry when Odom approached him about the play-calling last year, and that in itself shows Cross is a team guy who is capable of making an impact without even calling the plays.

Mel Tucker, Georgia: Jacob Eason won’t be a wide-eyed freshman in 2017. Nick Chubb and Sony Michel have both returned instead of chasing NFL riches, forming arguably the best running back tandem in the country. Expectations in Athens will be through the roof to unseat Florida as beast of the SEC East. And Tucker, in his second season and fresh off a raise, can be the guy who makes sure Georgia isn’t just making headlines on offense.

The Bulldogs finished fourth in the SEC and 16th nationally in total yards allowed in Tucker’s first year, and Georgia was second in pass defense in the SEC under Tucker, who also coaches the secondary. Tucker has 10 starters back from that dynamic 2016 defense that wasn’t the reason Georgia fell short of Atlanta last fall. If Chubb, Michel, Eason and Co. do their part, Tucker’s continued impact on the other side of the ball could finally get the Bulldogs back to the title game.