It’s inevitable.

Every year, the SEC loses assistant coaches who get head coaching opportunities. It comes with the territory.

What’s unique about the post-2023 cycle is that there wasn’t a single SEC offensive/defensive coordinator who took an FBS head coaching job. The only 3 SEC assistants who got FBS head coaching gigs were South Carolina special teams coordinator Pete Lembo (Buffalo), Georgia running backs coach Dell McGee (Georgia State) and Georgia defensive backs coach Fran Brown (Syracuse).

(That’s not including Oklahoma OC Jeff Lebby getting the Mississippi State job because the Sooners weren’t in the SEC at the time of his departure.)

Maybe that means we’re about to see a cycle in which a handful of SEC coordinators are poached. That feels likely with the candidates available.

Here are the 5 most likely to land an FBS head coaching gig at season’s end.

1. Glenn Schumann, Georgia DC

It’s fitting that Schumann is No. 1 on this list because, for my money, he’s the best defensive coordinator in the SEC. His play-calling chops have been evident the past 2 seasons with a UGA defense that somehow didn’t take a significant step back after it was historically good in Dan Lanning’s final season as the DC.

Schumann seems like he has a very Lanning-like path ahead of him. He just turned 34 and is widely regarded as one of the top up-and-coming assistants in the sport. The guy spent his entire career under the tutelage of the best coach in the sport, Kirby Smart. It’s just a matter of time before he gets that opportunity. It would be all sorts of interesting — and not that surprising — if the Florida job opened up and the Gators made a play for Smart’s top assistant. Perhaps a potential post-Mack Brown retirement move to UNC would make sense for Schumann, as well.

2. Kirby Moore, Mizzou OC

How much do I believe in Moore? On The Saturday Down South Podcast, we drafted SEC offensive coordinators and I took Moore with the No. 1 overall pick. That’s right. In his first season giving up play-calling duties, Eli Drinkwitz’s offense took off under Moore’s direction. Moore improved the Tigers by nearly 8 points per game and they went from No. 87 to No. 21 in yards/play. That’s for a team that broke through and earned its highest AP Top 25 finish (No. 8) in a decade.

The 30-something OC has the NFL ties to his brother, Kellen Moore, so that could be in his future. But Moore also learned under Kalen DeBoer on his staff at Fresno State. He’s well connected in this sport despite a relatively limited résumé. Moore would be a dream candidate for Fresno State if Jeff Tedford stepped down for health reasons, though he could have a “Core 4” market at a place like Arkansas or Iowa State if Matt Campbell finally left Ames.

3. Blake Baker, LSU DC

Speaking of reasons Mizzou completely turned things around in 2023, Baker was a huge part of that. Unlike Moore, however, he spent 2 seasons in Columbia after that unit was a doormat under Steve Wilks in 2021. Baker just had 5 defensive players drafted from a wildly improved unit, which was why Brian Kelly poached him and made him the highest-paid assistant in America.

Baker’s task feels challenging after LSU was horrific defensively in 2023. Early signs haven’t been particularly promising, and there’s concern that even with Bo Davis (Texas DL) and Kevin Peoples (Mizzou edge rushers) on board, LSU could have major issues up front. But if Baker exceeds those expectations and restores a once-proud LSU defense, an FBS head coaching market will await him. One would think it would have to be an elite Group of 5 job or an ACC job that could incentivize Baker beyond the $2.5 million he’s set to make in 2024.

4. Tim Banks, Tennessee DC

Hand up. I was dead wrong about Banks. After several candidates turned down Josh Heupel, I wasn’t crazy about the idea Heupel hiring Banks as his DC because I didn’t like the lack of reps with total autonomy on defense at Illinois and at Penn State. The knock on Heupel was that he wasn’t concerned about playing complementary football and he put his defenses in tough spots. Banks proved he was up for that task, most recently with a Tennessee defense that ranked No. 1 in the SEC in yards/rush allowed, No. 1 in the SEC in tackles for loss and No. 2 in the SEC in yards/play (behind just Georgia).

Banks has ties in the Midwest and in the state of Tennessee. He could be a candidate to return to his home state of Michigan if Jim McElwain endures a 3rd consecutive disappointing season at Central Michigan, and who knows? Maybe if Clark Lea puts up another goose egg in SEC play, Vanderbilt could come calling for someone who knows the Volunteer State well having spent time at Memphis and Tennessee.

5. Collin Klein, Texas A&M OC

After he led Kansas State to a top-10 offense in a post-Deuce Vaughn world, Klein was one of the best assistant hires of the offseason. Mike Elko got Klein to leave his alma mater to run an A&M offense that’s loaded with potential, most notably at quarterback with a healthy Conner Weigman. If Klein can turn Weigman into one of the nation’s top quarterbacks — something that’s very much on the table based on his limited sample size — he’ll have head coaching opportunities. You don’t leave your alma mater for the same position if that’s not a goal.

Klein would be an interesting target if Baylor parted ways with Dave Aranda or if Lance Leipold got another job and Kansas opened up. Alternatively, if GJ Kinne gets a bigger job and there’s a vacancy at Texas State, that would be an interesting fit for Klein to get his head coaching career started.

But don’t sleep on … Oklahoma OC Seth Littrell and Georgia DL coach Tray Scott

Littrell was a surprising firing at North Texas after the 2022 season. He took a page out of the Mike Bobo playbook and returned to his alma mater as an analyst, only to then get promoted to an OC role a year later. If Littrell can work well with decorated new QB1 Jackson Arnold and help the Sooners navigate a daunting schedule en route to the 12-team Playoff, he could get that opportunity to run a program again.

Scott needs to be mentioned on an annual basis, especially after we just watched 2 UGA assistants get FBS head coaching gigs without having an OC or DC title. UGA has a defensive line that’s once again loaded with talent, especially with promising game-wrecker Mykel Williams shifting to the edge. Scott would be a fantastic hire at East Carolina or in his home state at Arkansas State, where Butch Jones showed Year 3 improvement but is still searching for his first winning season heading into Year 4.

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