The SEC Coach of the Year honor is suddenly an interesting debate as the last few weeks of the regular season have yielded surprising results across the league.

At the end of Rivalry Week, host Dari Nowkhah and SEC Network analysts Chris Doering, Benjamin Watson and Takeo Spikes engaged in the topic.

Spikes went with Georgia’s Kirby Smart, and explained that Georgia’s the first team to go undefeated in back-to-back seasons since Alabama in 2008-09. He added that it’s hard to do, but building a culture where new faces fall into line is impressive.

Watson agreed, but Doering said Smart may suffer from the Nick Saban Syndrome where Smart gets overlooked because people assume that the team will be really good already.

Doering pointed out the Steve Spurrier First-Year Coach of the Year award, which he is involved with, named Tennessee’s Josh Heupel and South Carolina’s Shane Beamer last year. Heupel won 10 games this season, and Beamer has delivered 2 monumental upsets against Tennessee and Clemson in recent weeks.

Watson also said to not overlook LSU’s Brian Kelly.