O’Gara: Wait … no SEC coaches were fired in 2024? Here’s what to make of that

It’s been a chaotic first year in the new SEC.

Upsets, wild finishes, a wide-open conference title race … this year has had it all. I mean, we had Vanderbilt upset No. 1 Alabama. “Chaos” is an understatement.

You know what it hasn’t had, though? A single SEC coach firing. That in itself might be the most chaotic thing that happened all year.

(OK, nothing will beat the fightin’ Diego Pavias taking down Alabama, but you get it.)

As of this writing (Wednesday afternoon), with the regular season over and the Early Signing Period here, no SEC coaches got the pink slip. That hasn’t happened since the end of the 2018 season. If you recall, 9 of 14 SEC teams finished with at least 8 wins that year. Four teams that didn’t had coaches in Years 1-3, and the other was Vanderbilt, which reached a bowl game in Year 5 of the Derek Mason era.

In other words, that year was unique. The same is true of this season. The 4 SEC coaches who probably faced the most long-term questions entering the season were Clark Lea, Billy Napier, Shane Beamer (don’t forget AD Ray Tanner stepped down in early September) and Sam Pittman. The first 3 coaches finished in the SEC Coach of the Year discussion and Pittman had a multi-win improvement that included a win against top-10 Tennessee.

Outside of that? Look at your most disappointing SEC teams based on preseason expectations:

• LSU (8-4), Year 3 Brian Kelly
• Oklahoma (6-6), Year 3 Brent Venables
• Auburn (5-7), Year 2 Hugh Freeze
• Kentucky (4-8), Year 12 Mark Stoops*
• Mississippi State (2-10), Year 1 Jeff Lebby

*has a $44 million buyout and has the most wins in program history

Yeah, you can see why nobody was fired this season. Maybe Venables was saved by the Alabama win to get to bowl eligibility, but a $39 million buyout for a guy who just got an extension in the summer wasn’t likely in the cards.

So what should we make of this? After all, multiple SEC coaches were fired each of the previous 5 seasons.

I’ll disagree with the notion that teams are reluctant to pay big buyouts because of the imminent revenue-sharing model that’ll begin pay-for-play, coming as soon as next year. Will that impact some decisions? It could. Every athletic department’s budget is changing drastically. At the same time, funding buyouts will still be all about booster momentum. If boosters are cutting fewer checks for NIL/collective purposes in the revenue-sharing era, couldn’t you argue that they have more money to spend on buyouts?

Just keep that in mind.

Also keep in mind that while no coaches have been fired yet, it doesn’t mean that the coaching carousel won’t touch the SEC. Nick Saban retired last January, and that set off a chain reaction in the sport. The same could happen if Ohio State moves on from Ryan Day if and when the Buckeyes’ season comes up short of a national title. That could mark the first time an SEC coach leaves for a job outside the conference since James Franklin left Vanderbilt for Penn State after the 2013 season.

For now, though, any sort of firing would feel like an off-field issue more than a performance-based issue. The hay is in the barn with that.

Are SEC athletic directors showing more grace? I’d push back on that for the aforementioned unique dynamics in the 16-team super conference, wherein a 12-team Playoff exists and contending feels more obtainable than it did in years past.

If that happens next year, then we can talk. But let’s talk about next year because if 2018 was any indication, next year is setting up for chaos. What happened after 2019? Arkansas, Mississippi State, Mizzou and Ole Miss all had vacancies. Four of 14 is a lot.

Nobody would be surprised if that happens next year. Pittman, Napier, Venables and Freeze could all be in jeopardy. And if LSU tanks following a disappointing end to 2024, we should never that out, though I wouldn’t bank on that. More likely than not, a coach not mentioned in that group could be in jeopardy of losing their job. That’s been more common in the SEC than the alternative. This year is the alternative.

Chaos could unfold at this time next year. It’s inevitably in the new era of the SEC. The stakes are too high to assume that everyone is content with their coach’s performance.

Sure, maybe we’re past a point in which we see a team shell out Jimbo Fisher money, but there’ll still be SEC buyouts paid that are well into the 8-figure range. It’s just a matter of who and when they’re paid. This year is unique in every way.

It’s best to treat it that way and don’t assume the SEC has gone soft on coaches.

Connor O'Gara

Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Down South. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.