Florida coach Will Muschamp became the first SEC head coach to lose his job in 2014 when the Gators informed him he would not be retained after this season following a Week 12 loss to South Carolina. Muschamp will coach his final game at UF on Saturday against Florida State, and defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin will coach the Gators in their bowl game later this winter.

With “Coach Boom” now off the hot seat and onto the unemployment line it doesn’t appear there are any other head coaches in the conference in jeopardy of losing their jobs after the season.

Nevertheless, let’s talk about a couple of the coaches who might find themselves on the hot seat early next season if they can’t turn things around at their respective programs:

1. Derek Mason: Vanderbilt’s first-year head coach deserves more than one season to lay a foundation for his program in Nashville, but he’ll need to start yielding some more promising results next season to validate himself as a coach in the SEC.

Vanderbilt has been among the worst teams in the entire country this season, not just the SEC. It’s lost all seven of its SEC games by at least double digits, and lost 51-0 last week to Mississippi State (which only beat FCS foe UT Martin 45-16 earlier this season). Speaking of FCS opponents, Vanderbilt only beat its FCS cupcake (Charleston Southern) by one point earlier this year, which isn’t blowing anyone way. It’s also worth noting Vandy lost by 30 at home to a Temple team that won two games a season ago.

So while fans had to expect a regression following former coach James Franklin’s departure for Penn State, they couldn’t have seen this significant of a regression coming this abruptly upon Mason’s arrival. The head coach isn’t going anywhere after this season, but he’ll need to at least remain competitive in a handful of games next season to show he has the Commodores headed in the right direction.

2. Mark Stoops: Kentucky is far better off today than it was two years ago when it hired Stoops as Joker Phillips’ replacement, but the Wildcats have hit a snag in 2014 that Stoops must prove he and his team can overcome.

After beginning the year 5-1 (topping UK’s win total from the last two years combined) the Cats have lost five straight SEC games by double digits to fall from the top of the SEC East to the brink of missing a bowl game altogether. If Kentucky loses to Louisville on Saturday and finishes the year 5-7, there’d be a negative stigma about the program entering the offseason despite the early-season success. If Kentucky is blown out by Louisville (which, based on the LSU, Georgia and Tennessee games is very possible) the perception of the program would be even worse.

Stoops won’t have to worry about his job security following this season, and with two contract extensions in his first two years on the job it appears UK has plenty of faith in its head coach moving forward. But Stoops must continue to move the program along the way he did in his first year-and-a-half on the job if he wants to remain in Kentucky’s good graces.

He can begin by beating Louisville on Saturday, and if that game doesn’t go in the Wildcats’ favor he must open next year the same way he opened this year to remind fans he’s the right man for the job. Kentucky has plenty of young talent on its roster and plenty more on the way, but that talent must begin translating into bowl berths in Year 3 of the Stoops era next year if he hopes to remain Kentucky’s head man long-term.

Earlier this week, Saturday Down South took a closer look at some of the assistant coaches from around the SEC who may be on the hot seat when the regular season comes to a close. You can view that story here.