This year is a changing of the guard in the SEC.

Gary Pinkel and Mark Richt, hired by the University of Georgia and the University of Missouri prior to the 2001 season, both are giving way to new coaches.

Steve Spurrier, who first became an SEC head coach in 1990, resigned from South Carolina.

Entering the season, Derek Mason seemed to be coaching for his job. Richt and Les Miles seemed to be under some pressure as well, but there was no obvious candidate for the chopping block outside of Nashville. But change in the SEC is inevitable.

Since 2001, at least one SEC coaching office has changed nameplates — except for 2006. Considering seven jobs changed hands in the league after the 2012 and ’13 seasons combined, pressure seemed to be building for 2016, especially if no jobs changed hands this year.

Instead, we nearly had four coaching changes.

Take a look at the full list of SEC head coaching changes since the Richt and Pinkel tenures began:

2002

Florida: Hired New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Ron Zook as head coach after former head coach Steve Spurrier took a job with the Washington Redskins.

Vanderbilt: Hired Furman head coach Bobby Johnson to the same position after Woody Widenhofer resigned from the position.

2003

Alabama: Hired Washington State head coach Mike Price to the same position after Dennis Franchione resigned from the job. Price would coach Alabama’s 2003 spring practice but his contract was rescinded over the summer after he was caught in a strip club with a strange woman charging more than $1,000 to his room. The Tide then found Mike Shula to take over as head coach.

Kentucky: Hired former Oregon head coach Rich Brooks to the same position after former head coach Guy Morriss took a job at Baylor.

2004

Mississippi State: Hired Green Bay Packers running backs coach Sylvester Croom as head coach after Jackie Sherrill retired following 13 years on the job. This hire made Croom the SEC’s first-ever African-American head coach.

2005

Florida: Fired Ron Zook and hired Utah head coach Urban Meyer as Florida’s next head man.

LSU: Hired Oklahoma State head coach Les Miles to the same position after former coach Nick Saban left to take a job with the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.

Ole Miss: Fired David Cutcliffe after seven seasons and hired USC associate head coach and recruiting coordinator Ed Orgeron to same position.

South Carolina: Hired former Florida and Washington Redskins head coach Steve Spurrier to same position following Lou Holtz’s second retirement from coaching.

2006

N/A

2007

Alabama: Fired Mike Shula and brought Miami Dolphins head coach Nick Saban back from the NFL to coach the Tide.

2008

Arkansas: Replaced Houston Nutt (who resigned after posting an 8-4 record in his 10th season on the job) with former Atlanta Falcons and Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino.

Ole Miss: Fired Ed Orgeron after three losing seasons and hired Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt to the same position.

2009

Auburn: When Tommy Tuberville “voluntarily resigned” (per AD Jay Jacobs) after his 10th season in 2008 (a 5-7 season) Auburn hired Iowa State head coach Gene Chizik as his replacement.

Mississippi State: Fired Sylvester Croom after five seasons and hired former Florida and Utah offensive coordinator Dan Mullen as his replacement.

Tennessee: After Tennessee and longtime coach Phillip Fulmer parted ways, the Vols hired former Oakland Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin to the same position.

2010

Kentucky: Promoted offensive coordinator and head coach in waiting Joker Phillips to head coach following Rich Brooks’ retirement.

Tennessee: Hired Louisiana Tech head coach Derek Dooley to same position after Lane Kiffin departed to coach USC.

Vanderbilt: Promoted Robbie Caldwell to head coach on an interim basis when former head coach Bobby Johnson retired a mere two months before the season.

2011

Florida: Filled the vacancy left when Urban Meyer stepped down by hiring Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp as the Gators’ head coach.

Vanderbilt: Replaced one-year interim head coach Robbie Caldwell with Maryland associate head coach and offensive coordinator James Franklin.

2012

Arkansas: Parted ways with Bobby Petrino following his controversial motorcycle crash scandal and replaced him with former Louisville and Michigan State head coach John L. Smith.

Ole Miss: Fired Houston Nutt after four seasons and hired Arkansas State head coach Hugh Freeze to the same position.

Texas A&M: Fired Mike Sherman after four seasons and hired Houston head coach Kevin Sumlin to the same position.

2013

Arkansas: Fired John L. Smith after one season and hired Wisconsin head coach and Rose Bowl champion Bret Bielema to the same position.

Auburn: Fired Gene Chizik following a 2-10 season in 2012 and hired former Auburn offensive coordinator and Arkansas State head coach Gus Malzahn to lead the Tigers.

Kentucky: Fired Joker Phillips and hired Florida State defensive coordinator Mark Stoops as his replacement.

Tennessee: Fired Derek Dooley and brought in Cincinnati head coach Butch Jones to fill the same role in Knoxville.

2014

Vanderbilt: Filled vacancy left by James Franklin by hiring Stanford defensive coordinator Derek Mason.

Florida: Fired Will Muschamp, hired Colorado State head coach Jim McElwain to the same position.

2015

South Carolina: SEC legend Steve Spurrier, the all-time wins leader at South Carolina, resigned abruptly after a rough start to the season. The school eventually hired Will Muschamp, the defensive coordinator at Auburn for one season after getting fired by Florida.

Missouri: Announced that Gary Pinkel would retire, citing his diagnosis of non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. The Tigers replaced him with first-year defensive coordinator Barry Odom.

Georgia: After 15 seasons, the school parted ways with Mark Richt following a 9-3 year. The Bulldogs hired away Kirby Smart, defensive coordinator at Alabama and coach Nick Saban’s right-hand man for many years.