Ranking the SEC’s head coaches entering spring practice
What have you done for me lately?
That’s unfortunately how head coaches are ranked in this wild college football landscape.
With LSU removing the interim tag on Ed Orgeron, every SEC head coach is returning. Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Tennessee all suffered coordinator changes that will surely positively or negatively impact teams.
The landscape around the SEC has certainly changed over the past few years, and a major reason the Big Ten and ACC are catching up is coaching. Both the Big Ten — Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh — and the ACC — Dabo Swinney and Jimbo Fisher — boast at least two elite head coaches. The SEC? It boasts one in Nick Saban.
Here’s how the SEC head coaches rank heading into spring practice:
The King
1. Nick Saban, Alabama
No wonder no other elite head coaches want to coach in the SEC. Nick Saban’s 10-year career at Alabama has produced crooked numbers, championships and win totals. Five SEC Championships; four national championships; seven consecutive No. 1 recruiting classes. There’s never a rebuilding; it’s just reloading. He’s on a whole other level. Although the Tide will lose several players to the NFL Draft, Saban’s club will reload and will be the 2017 preseason favorite. Why? Saban. He’s 114-19 at Alabama and counting.
A … distant No. 2
2. Jim McElwain, Florida
While there are questions regarding Jim McElwain’s recruiting prowess, you can’t argue with his on-the-field results. McElwain has led the Gators to back-to-back SEC East division crowns in his first two years. Sure, the SEC East is weak, but Mac hasn’t had a difference-maker at quarterback for a year and a half. The recent staff hires and the National Signing Day finish have Florida fans becoming increasingly optimistic that he’s finally starting to get it in Gainesville. Now, it’s time to develop a starting quarterback.
Egg Bowl coaching rivalry
3. Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss
4. Dan Mullen, Miss State
Before you start complaining that Hugh Freeze is ranked No. 3, just take a look at his career at Ole Miss. He finished with 7 wins, 8 wins, 9 wins and 10 wins, respectively, in his first four seasons. Remember, Freeze has beaten Saban two of the past three seasons, won a Sugar Bowl and proven he’s an elite recruiter. When the dust settles in Oxford from the NCAA’s cloud, I’d be willing to bet Freeze’s program will begin to build momentum again.
Say what you want about Dan Mullen, but the guy can coach some football. He has a long history of developing stellar quarterbacks. While several are saying Mullen may have missed the window for “getting out of Starkville,” you can bet he’ll put a quality product on the field no matter the perceived lack of talent on the roster. The cigar-toting, Yeezy-wearing Mullen has an overall record of 61-42 in Starkville, and he took the Bulldogs to No. 1 in the country in 2014.
Middle of the pack
5. Gus Malzahn, Auburn
6. Butch Jones, Tennessee
7. Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M
8. Bret Bielema, Arkansas
Here’s where things get weird. Gus Malzahn is 23-16 in his past three years, and his lack of developing quarterbacks is puzzling. The 2013 championship run was largely made with Gene Chizik’s players. He’s had two years to find and develop a quarterback and build the offense the way he wants. That hasn’t happened, and it’s fair to ask if it ever will.
Butch Jones is the champion of lame cliches, but he can win a living room and sell his product; give him that. However, he’s going to have to eventually win the SEC East if he wants to keep fans happy. The loss to Vanderbilt just left an ominous feel to the program, but had the Vols been able to stay healthy throughout the year, things could have been different. Is a nine- or 10-win Tennessee team the ceiling under Jones?
Kevin Sumlin is in an interesting situation. He has one of the most talented rosters in the league, but his teams can’t put together a championship run, especially in November. Over the past three years, the Aggies have finished just 5-10 starting Nov. 1. Sumlin can put together an offense, and he can recruit. Now, it’s time his program took the next step. …
The 2017 season could be a make-or-break year for Bret Bielema. A lot has happened since he started at Arkansas in 2013. Alabama has won another national championship. Auburn played for a national championship. Mississippi State was ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll. Meanwhile, Bielema is 25-26 overall, including his not-so-stellar 10-22 SEC record, and he’s just not getting it done … yet. Fans are starting to get restless.
A newby duo
9. Kirby Smart, Georgia
10. Ed Orgeron, LSU
Kirby Smart is the toughest coach to rank of the 14. He can certainly recruit, and we know he can coach defense. He’s a Saban disciple, and we’re convinced he knows how to prepare. But like Muschamp, the offensive side of the ball is the weakness. UGA will likely open the 2017 season as the SEC East favorite, and Athens is a pressure cooker of a job. I would venture to say that Smart will be a good head coach, but on-the-job training is tough at a program that demands 10 or more wins per season.
Ed Orgeron is saying all the right things. He’s learned under Pete Carroll, Les Miles and, uh, Lane Kiffin. All kidding aside, we know Orgeron will put elite talent on the roster, but what we don’t know is if he and his staff can put them into a position to succeed. But there’s no doubt his team was night-and-day different than Les Miles’. You could just see the pulse the program had after he took over. Now, it’s time to build upon that.
An interesting trio
11. Will Muschamp, South Carolina
12. Mark Stoops, Kentucky
13. Derek Mason, Vanderbilt
It’s amazing what a QB will do for you, isn’t it? My stance all along is that Will Muschamp will be a good head coach at some point in his career. He’s an elite defensive mind, and he can recruit with anyone in the country. The lack of development of offensive players has been a concern, but with a firm starting quarterback in Jake Bentley returning, there’s a positive trend. Leading South Carolina to a bowl game in 2016 was no joke; that defense looked lost at times, and the offense struggled early. But after Bentley took over, the team rallied and finished strong. Everyone likes Muschamp, and he’s in a place where he can continue to grow, develop and hone his head coaching skills.
Hello, Mark Stoops. Don’t look now, but Kentucky will contend for the SEC East next season, again. Stoops just beat Louisville and signed his best recruiting class ever, and thanks to improved quarterback play with Stephen Johnson, the Cats are trending up. But before we get carried away, Stoops is still 19-30 overall and 8-24 in SEC play.
Derek Mason earned respect in 2016 by leading the Commodores to a win over rival Tennessee and clinching a bowl berth. That marks improvement that had to be made. Mason can coach a defense, but if the Commodores are going to contend in the East — like James Franklin’s Commodores, the recruiting has to improve.
Bringing up the rear
14. Barry Odom, Mizzou
Barry Odom’s Mizzou team has to show a pulse. Not only does the on-the-field product have to improve, but the recruiting does, too. Thankfully, the Show-Me State has a nice crop of very talented players in the 2018 recruiting cycle, a nice change from the past few cycles. Odom needs to somehow get to a bowl game this coming season.
I think the only two spots that aren’t debatable are first and last.
Snowflake, you still angry Mizzou is in the SEC? Go have a cookie you’ll feel better.
What are you trying to say?
I get it now. You are butthurt and trying to attack me personally because I commented on another article that I didn’t think Missouri was the best choice for the SEC. How cute.
Mizzou and Arkansas should join the Big XII…neither is destine to do anything in the SEC….oh tht’s right…Mizzou already did the Big XII thing…maybe
Tony you made ginger snap
You’re not lying!!
You can flip flop Freeze and Mullen but the top 5 is how I would rank them.
Saban we don’t know because he has always had talent. Mwain has not done what Freeze and Mzahn have done and all three have had lots of talent. All the rest belong in the middle of the pack…. Odom is the most unproven for sure but this is not the same as bottom coach on the ability list.
Saban you don’t know? WTF….. Each post you make gets worse.
I don’t understand your post. The main things a head coach does are bring in talent and hire the best assistants, so if a team has “lots of talent” that is an excellent indicator that they have a great coach. Right now, Saban has reached the point where he is not only the best coach in the SEC, but the best in the country. If he stays much longer, he is going to start losing some of that, however. History is replete with coaches who stayed too long.
I believe he was saying he’s not necessarily the best Xs and Os coach. He can recruit and build a program, but he would be luck to win 50% of the time by out-scheming his opponents. Both are valid points. And frankly, Mullen is rated so high because of his ability to develop less talent and compete. Because MSU hasn’t won anything since he’s been there.
Yes, but also, these deep thinkers forget that Alabama had Recruiting programs frequently before Saban, not to mention proximity.
Not sure what you’re trying to say wolfman but you need to go and actually look at bama’s recruiting classes in 247 prior to Saban. Bama was not out recruiting anybody and in a lot of cases was between 20-50 range with their classes. You are diffenitly not a deep thinker as I don’t think you put any thought into your dribble.
What has Freeze accomplished that Mcelwain hasn’t other than beating Alabama……. in the regular season. Mac has made it to the conference championship twice in a row, and has the 2nd best conference record in those 2 years.
I’m definitely biased, but there’s only one coach in the SEC that’s won the conference or played for a national championship not named Saban. Some how y’all placed him 5th? Show me a better resume.
Resumes can be misleading. If coach “A” gets a top 5 class every yr and averages 9 wins for 10yrs, can you definitively say he’s better than coach “B” who averaged 8 with outside top 25 classes? Only way to strictly use resumes is if the talent is the same. Otherwise you need to look beyond the numbers. Gus’ resume is def top 2 but he wouldn’t be among my top 5 HCs if I had to hire one tomorrow.
Can’t be. ‘Our version of Stoops’ beat Louisville. lol.
McElwain isnt a good HC at this level, which seems obvious to me–and that is a bigger indictment on the state of the East as a whole, not a personal jab–no one is scared of FL anymore, yet they still win the East (w/Muschamp’s recruits, basically). Don’t get me wrong, I’m not biased. I’d place Butch squarely @ 13/14 based on coaching ability alone, but he can at least beat MCElwain, Ihnlike most every other coach in the conference that he simply gets out coached against.
Butch is 1-1 against Mac. Doesn’t mean he’s a McElwain beater lol. How is it obvious that Mac isn’t a good coach. Yes, a lot of the defense was Muschamp’s recruits, but Muschamp never won the east with those recruits. Most of the offense, although not world beaters, was his recruits. The LSU game, the one that clinched the east, most of the defense were his recruits too because of so many injuries. Say, what you like about his recruiting, which is getting better, but his on the field coaching is really good. He just needs to improve his personnel, namely QB.
Feel free to explain to us the reasoning behind rating moron Ed Orgeron ahead of guys that have have won bigger before (Muschamp) or just did fine seasons with minimal talent.
You seem seriously worried about Orgeron. That’s good stuff.
Mullen at 2 or 3 and Mason at 10. I know it’s all about wins and losses but all rosters (expectations) aren’t even. These two have done the most with the least amount of talent. They’re racing against Ferrari’s & Lamborghini’s using Mustangs.
How many other coaches could win with Mullen’s roster? He has the least roster talent in the West yet is competitive. If Mason had even a middle of the pack SEC East roster he’d own the div.
Aside from Freeze, the others are largely indistinguishable. O shouldn’t even be considered until he gets a full yr under his belt. If you’re using past results, he’s no better than 13. However I expect him to be in the top 10 at yrs end. At least I hope so.
Who recruited Mullen’s roster? Oh yeah, Mullen did. Should he get a pass for not having as talented of a roster as others?
Interesting point – it just depends on which aspect of coaching you value more and which translates to more success on the field. Is recruiting more important? Player development? X’s and O’s? Coordinator management? Mullen’s success seems to indicate that player development and X’s and O’s matter more to a program, since he has won consistently with easily the least talented roster in the West. Freeze is unquestionably a better recruiter, but does that alone make up for his failings in other areas? I think there’s a good argument for either coach to be ahead of the other. I think Mullen is better in-game and better at player development but Freeze’s success on the recruiting trail has translated to more on-field success (outside of State’s six-week stretch at No. 1).
The way I would rank the coaches is if I needed to hire a HC to lead my “Nobleman U” tm, who would be the targets? Again, you don’t expect Vandy to win like UF or even Arky and Ole Miss. Having said that, my list would be
1. Evil Genius
2. Mullen
3. Sh*t, I missed on my 1st two?? Flip a coin between Freeze and McElwain
4. Coin toss loser
5. Bielema– if we suck at least it’ll be entertaining
6. Mason– no real faith in the others so take a flier on a great Def coach who’s had success with the worst roster talent in the SEC. Plus, Nobleman U has top 5 classes to offer
7. Not sure I want any of the others above non SEC guys but………I’m on the Gus bus here
8. Stoops — got a feeling
9. Smart– he can recruit, that’s for sure.
10. Muschamp– can recruit and knows how to build a def. Won’t allow him anywhere near my offense though.
11. O. — Butch has too many definitions of “champions” and Sumlin’s offense makes the tm soft
12, Butch, just in case we don’t win the playoffs, we’re guaranteed to be “champions” of something every yr. Gotta pacify the fans
13. Sumlin–don’t like soft tms
14, got to improve.
Again, I wouldn’t just use wins and losses. 8 wins at UF, LSU or UGA is NOT as impressive as 8 wins at MSU, SC, UK, or Vandy.
14 would be Odom, in case I lost anyone. Lol.
Stoops three spots ahead of Butch who has blown out Kentucky every year? I realize the talent gap between the two schools, but if Stoops was a better coach than he would have beaten or at least kept one of the four games against Butch close. Coach O did well for half a season at USC and LSU, but his track record as a head coach is worse than everybody except maybe Odom. Even Smart in his one year provided more promise than O ever did in Oxford.
Not saying Smart is a bad coach, just saying he has only had one year, but seems to be better than Orgeron ever was as a head coach.
You talking about Coach O at Ole Miss has nothing to do with today. Not sure why people bring that up.
You could be right. Too early to tell. He was badly out-coached by Mac late in the season. My main point is that there is no way Stoops should be put ahead of Jones.
Coach O is still learning. He and his team did blow the UF game, and there is no excusing that. The learning curve needs to be short though. The time to win is now.
This isn’t about who has fared better in head to head matchups. You have to look at the big picture. That being said, I’m not ready to say stoops is better than jones. I also think jones being at 5 is wrong. I’d have him somewhere around 10.
Why would head-to-head not count? Its coaching ability v coaching ability. Like I said, there is a large talent gap but Stoops has had four chances at Jones and hasn’t come close in any of those chances. And Butch is at 6 not 5, but I think that they are saying those coaches in the “Middle of the Pack” are more or less on the same level as each other.
Coach O will poop the bed. Yaw yaw yaw football! Mark my words.
Nobleman, just my opinion, but I’d say your pretty spot on with your list.
Every position on this list could change next season other than the top spot. Only Saban is solid in his ranking. If Orgeron and Smart can get their teams to 10 wins, they will move way up.
As much as I dislike Sumlin, he should be ahead of Hugh Freeze and Butch Jones. However, Saban, Mullen, Malzhan, and MeElwain are better.
I agree. Sumlin has had more success than Butch, and I also agree about Saban(Obviously), Mullen, and Malzahn over Butch. But I think McElwain and Butch are more or less even. Mac has won the East twice, but also doesn’t have to play Bama every year either, like UT.
Guess this guy hasn’t heard about the Gamecocks awesome WR corp and now RB corp. If they can fix the OL problems and field a decent D, they’ll move up quick in the still unstable SECE.