The regular season isn’t even over yet, but half the headlines in the SEC today revolve around coaching searches at Florida and Tennessee.

The Gators quickly fired Jim McElwain after a 42-7 loss to rival Georgia in Week 9, while the Volunteers finally handed a pink slip to Butch Jones following a 50-17 defeat to Missouri in Week 11. Needless to say, both are high-profile openings.

Whomever eventually gets hired in Gainesville and Knoxville, respectively, he’ll have serious work cut out for him trying to catch up to Kirby Smart at Georgia. In just his second season back at his alma mater, he has the Bulldogs at 10-1, champs of the East — that title was wrapped up weeks ago — and still in the discussion for the College Football Playoff.

Florida and Tennessee, two traditional powers, can only hope to achieve that level of success in such a short period of time.

To be fair, Smart returned to Georgia at the perfect moment because the division was up for grabs. The East didn’t have a dominant team by any stretch of the imagination. Even Florida, the reigning East champion at the time, was flawed.

Now the Bulldogs are in position to go on a sustained run and get to the SEC title game regularly. Their quarterback, Jake Fromm, is only a true freshman and should provide real stability at the game’s most important position — whether or not former 5-star signee Jacob Eason decides to transfer — for at least the next two seasons.

While highly decorated running backs Nick Chubb and Sony Michel are seniors, Georgia has an embarrassment of riches in the backfield.

Brian Herrien and Elijah Holyfield have flashed at times as sophomores, plus freshman D’Andre Swift looks to be special as a runner and receiver. That trio is more than capable of supporting Fromm next year.

Even if they aren’t, Smart has a commitment from the top tailback in the 2018 recruiting cycle, Zamir White. Fromm is still going to have plenty of competition at QB, too — with or without Eason on the depth chart. The No. 1 prospect in the entire country, Justin Fields, is a gifted dual-threat passer and also committed to the Bulldogs.

If Georgia is similarly stout on D next year after those defections, then Athens should be renamed "Tuscaloosa East."

According to the composite rankings at 247Sports, Smart is on pace to ink the No. 5 class in America on National Signing Day.

On the other side of the ball, everyone knows that Smart learned his trade under Alabama coach Nick Saban for more than a decade. No matter who Saban loses to the NFL, the Crimson Tide are always an elite unit defensively.

Naturally, that’s the blueprint for Smart. Starting defenders John Atkins, Davin Bellamy, Lorenzo Carter, Aaron Davis, Malkom Parrish and Dominick Sanders are all seniors and soon out of eligibility, plus juniors Trenton Thompson and Roquan Smith — he’s a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy — could declare early for the draft.

If Georgia is similarly stout on D next year after those defections, then Athens should be renamed “Tuscaloosa East.”

Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

More often than not, this division is a three-horse race between Georgia, Florida and Tennessee. Although Kentucky, Missouri, South Carolina and Vanderbilt can deliver some upsets here and there, none can consistently compete on a regular basis.

The Bulldogs have separated themselves from the Gators and Volunteers by a country mile, evidenced by an aggregate score of 83-7 against them this season — neither one was played in the friendly confines of Sanford Stadium, by the way. Georgia crushed Florida at neutral-site Jacksonville and blanked Tennessee on Rocky Top.

The Gators are broken offensively and have more competition for in-state recruits -- not just from Florida State and Miami, but now UCF, USF, FAU and FIU -- than ever before.

Both the Gators and Volunteers appear to be going for broke and can pay whatever’s necessary to put a star on their sideline.

Florida is targeting Chip Kelly, who had crazy success at Oregon before graduating to the pros with the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers. Even when he was coaching on Sundays, he was rumored to be in the mix for several big-time Saturday opportunities.

Tennessee is dead set on Jon Gruden, who has ties to the program — he began his career there as a graduate assistant in 1986 — and has always been fond of it. Like Kelly, Gruden is currently working as an analyst for ESPN. Unlike Kelly, who only joined the Worldwide Leader this season, Gruden has been a TV personality for nine years.

Even if the Gators secure Kelly, he’s not necessarily a home-run hire. He isn’t a recruiting monster, which is mandatory in this conference.

As for the Volunteers, the rumor mill has been so unhinged that anything less than Gruden saying yes would be considered a huge disappointment. Nobody seems to care that his last gig at the collegiate ranks was as the tight ends coach at Pacific in 1989.

No question about it, Florida is a Top 10 job in America. Still, the Gators are broken offensively and have more competition for in-state recruits — not just from Florida State and Miami, but now UCF, USF, FAU and FIU — than ever before. McElwain arrived with a strong résumé, yet he never developed a field general and had some issues recruiting.

While Tennessee isn’t a Top 10 job, it’s Top 20. But the Volunteers have gone trophy hunting before and come up empty.

With Jim Mora Jr. now gone from UCLA, that stops any Kelly-to-Florida momentum. He has no reason to be in a hurry since he would be the first choice on most any school’s list. Until Gruden actually leaves the booth, his candidacy must be taken with a grain of salt.

Much like some jobs out West may be less attractive than they were 10 years ago due to Saban’s presence — who wants to start every campaign 0-1? — that might soon by the case in the East. Again, Smart took over Georgia when none of its six divisional foes were to be feared. What he’s done with the Bulldogs is scary, though.

The Gators getting Kelly would certainly change the SEC conversation, as would Tennessee landing Gruden. But these days, Smart is doing the majority of the talking.