SI.com writer lists two SEC coaches on his 2017 hot seat
Butch Jones and Kevin Sumlin will enter the offseason on the hot seat, according to Sports Illustrated’s Andy Staples.
Tennessee just missed out on a golden opportunity to win a downtrodden SEC East with an 8-4 (4-4) regular season record, giving Jones a 29-21 mark in four years with an opportunity to end on a winning note in a not-so-pressuring postseason event such as the TaxSlayer Bowl.
For the third straight season, Texas A&M started 5-0 and reached as high as No. 6 in the AP Top 25 rankings but suffered a second-half collapse to enter bowl season unranked. The Aggies have lost four games or more in each of Sumlin’s last four years to give him a 44-20 record with the program, but a mediocre 21-19 line in the SEC.
With the demanding expectations that each fan base presents — it’s hard to win in the SEC, but it’s also a requirement for head coaches a few years into their tenure — it’s apparent that both coaches have to make serious strides next year to remain contracted through 2018.