There’s a lot of SEC football left to be played. Still, as we march toward the back end of October, it’s becoming clearer which coaches will deserve the most praise by the end of the season.

We set out to monitor and rank the most effective SEC coaches this year, regardless of position or title. That’s not an easy task. Ranking the head coaches alone leads to great consternation. It’s not a task for the thin-skinned.

Still, we feel good about our list. To this point in the year, we are touting just four head coaches in our estimation of the 10 best. Of the remaining six, five are defensive assistants. Rest assured that 2015 is not the Year of the Offense in the SEC. But part of that is because of how effective some of these coaches have been at doing their jobs.

Here are our top 10 SEC coaches as we transition to the second half of the season:

1. Les Miles, LSU head coach

A loud minority in Baton Rouge wanted him fired after last season, or at least wanted him to catch hell for going 8-5. In one year, Miles’ consistent history of winning was questioned. Could LSU do any better as long as Brandon Harris or Anthony Jennings were the options at quarterback? Was Cam Cameron better suited as an NFL coordinator, after all? It could only hurt losing John Chavis to Texas A&M, right? With teams like Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Arkansas seemingly on the rise, and Auburn potentially returning to playoff contender status, there’s no way LSU can win the West Division in 2015, right? Well, in between mouthfuls of grass, Miles has to be smiling right now. Leonard Fournette is the Heisman Trophy favorite, the defense is playing solid football and Harris has developed into a mostly-decent quarterback. Miles deserves heaps of credit for navigating the program to this level despite the turmoil — oh, and he continues to recruit as well as anyone, also.

2. Barry Odom, Missouri defensive coordinator

The Tigers have allowed 10 touchdowns in seven games. That’s incredible at face value. The 2011 Alabama defense, considered an all-time great in college football history, allowed 12 touchdowns in 13 games. This Missouri defense isn’t at that level, but it’s not all that far behind. Which is incredible considering the circumstances: a) the offense averages 16.6 points per game — more than just two of the 128 FBS teams; b) Odom is in his first year as coordinator after arriving from Memphis this offseason, and c) the team lost six of its top seven defensive linemen from last season, including coveted draft picks Shane Ray and Markus Golden. Yet here we are. Missouri arguably is the best defense in the SEC. If only the 2013 offense remained, this team would be a legitimate College Football Playoff contender.

3. Frank Wilson, LSU running backs

Let’s be honest: you could coach Leonard Fournette for the rest of the season and he’d still be the best running back in the SEC. But despite once-in-a-generation physical talent, Fournette was merely good for most of last season. Wilson should get credit for the huge gains that his player has made in 2015. LSU also has an outstanding run-blocking offensive line. But, even though Fournette gets more carries than any back in the conference, the other players in that backfield have been very productive when they’ve played.

4. Mel Tucker, Alabama defensive backs

I don’t want to oversimplify the narrative. But, in many respects, the Tide is a College Football Playoff contender because the secondary has transitioned from liability to asset. No longer are the defensive backs a flaw to hide in pass coverage. Alabama leads the SEC with 12 interceptions — many of those have been returned for touchdowns. No longer is Cyrus Jones the only man capable of locking down good SEC receivers in coverage. Minkah Fitzpatrick has been a good player as a true freshman, something we just haven’t seen from a touted Alabama corner in recent years. As the new element, Tucker can claim credit for developing the always-inherent talent.

5. Jim McElwain, Florida head coach

The Gators coach made an interesting point after a close road loss to top 10 LSU in Week 7. One of the nation’s best teams had to resort to a trick play to beat us in their own stadium, he essentially said. That’s pretty darned good for Year 1. Some thought that McElwain’s first team in Gainesville would have to scrap just to become eligible for a bowl game. That took precisely six games to accomplish. Beat Georgia and Florida will (almost certainly) win the SEC East. But he’s playing with house money at this point, likely looking at a nine-win season — at minimum. Has Florida found its next Urban Meyer?

6. Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M head coach

Alabama smacked some of the luster off of Texas A&M yet again. But, this time, the Aggies aren’t going 2-5 to finish the regular season. The defense is a work in progress, but the pass rush is much improved and the unit is more aggressive and physical overall. The offense slowly is becoming more balanced. Two steps forward, one step back. Texas A&M never was going to be a true College Football Playoff contender this year. Even now, the team only has one loss. So I guess anything is possible. But even if the Aggies lose to LSU and Ole Miss, this program should be ready to contend nationally in 2016. Sumlin appears right on track to regain the status he had when Johnny Manziel resided in College Station.

7. Geoff Collins, Florida defensive coordinator

McElwain made a smart decision hiring Collins away from Mississippi State. The Bulldogs had some good defensive talent in 2014. Even so, Collins is working with better tools in Gainesville. His aggressive nature plays perfectly with a strong secondary led by Vernon Hargreaves III and a balanced, athletic front seven. McElwain and offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier have done an outstanding job of manufacturing offense. But even though the margin is smaller than we all anticipated, the defense still is No. 1 for the 2015 Gators.

8. Nick Saban, Alabama head coach

He detests the lofty “outside” expectations, even among Tide fans. He’s made that much clear. But Alabama always seems to perform best as a doubted team (we can’t say underdog — that’s happened once since 2009). With the national media openly questioning whether the team’s window of consistent national contention had ended, and an early home loss to Ole Miss, Saban has the defense playing at a championship level and the offense figuring out what it does well with each passing week. Considering the pressure he’s under and how hard it is to stay at the top for this long, the fact that Saban’s Tide very well could be the SEC favorite right now deserves recognition.

9. Craig Kuligowski, Missouri defensive line

He has to be glad that he didn’t accept the co-coordinator job at Illinois. Tim Beckman, then the coach of the Fighting Illini, since has been fired. Meanwhile, without his two superstar defensive ends from ’14 (NFL) and without potential All-American Harold Brantley (car accident) and without projected starting defensive end Marcus Loud (dismissed from the team) and without veteran defensive tackles such as Matt Hoch (graduation) … the Mizzou defensive line remains one of the best in the SEC. Kuligowski should have his pick of coordinator jobs at big-time programs after this season, if he chooses to go that route.

10. Ed Orgeron, LSU defensive line

The team lost three of its best defensive linemen from a 2014 group that didn’t rush the passer all that well and couldn’t stop the run in the first half of the season. Oh, and the defense lost the aforementioned coordinator John Chavis. Coaching the defensive line at LSU is not slouch position, but Orgeron felt he deserved a good head coaching job after having some success as the interim coach at USC (think the Trojans are wishing they had handled that hire differently?). Instead of continuing to sulk, Orgeron has improved the pass rush while transforming this team into a proverbial brick wall against the run, continuing the ’14 progression.