Greg McElroy answered a fan question that is annual fodder around the SEC: Name the current top 5 coaches in the SEC.

On his “Always College Football” podcast, McElroy said the top 2 are fairly interchangeable depending on the timeframe used. McElroy chose Alabama’s Nick Saban because of his breadth of success, most notably the 7 national championships and consistently coaching his team to play at a high level.

McElroy has Georgia’s Kirby Smart at No. 2 in a “closer margin than probably ever before.”

McElroy listed LSU’s Brian Kelly at No. 3, and indicated that he was on a broadcast for an LSU game 6 times last season, including Week 1 and Week 13.

“To see how much that team improved over the court of the season was remarkable,” he said.

McElroy also pointed to 2 freshmen offensive tackles, a freshman defender who was arguably LSU’s best, and he also had a wide receiver who was a “headache.”

Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin checked in at No. 4 for McElroy, and he noted how the Rebels bounced back from the roster losses off of the 2021 team.

“I think Lane is able to replenish his roster as good as just about anybody,” McElroy said.

McElroy put Tennessee’s Josh Heupel at No. 5, and said like Kiffin, it’s one thing to break through, and another thing to sustain.

“I am cautiously optimistic he’s going to be able to sustain into the upcoming season,” McElroy said.