Coaches want to control everything, including the narrative.

It’s no surprise that they’ve expressed concern over the rising number of college football players transferring. (Rising is relative; football still trails baseball and basketball by a wide, wide margin.)

Sorry. Their indignation is misguided and hypocritical at best and elitist at worst.

Do they not remember how they arrived at their multi-million dollar salaries and splashy offices overseeing SEC football empires?

They transferred … and transferred … and transferred again. They chased their dreams, many leaving years before the contract expired to sign a better one. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that — except the fact most coaches chastise players who transfer, question their loyalty and lament their unwillingness to stick it out.

Back in my day …

Somebody, please, hand these gentlemen a mirror. And a copy of their resume.

Keep in mind, most SEC head coaches are well established by now, veterans of the trade. Their pick-up-and-go days typically are decades in the past. But even a small snapshot of their past 10 years, in theory their most mature 10 years, usually shows the discrepancy between what they say about transfers and what they’ve actually done to further their career.

By and large, they don’t stay in one place long …

Alabama: Nick Saban

Number of jobs (2009-2018): 1

Skinny: Saban is entering 13th season at Alabama, which will match his previous head coaching stints combined. He spent 1 year at Toledo (1990), 5 years apiece at Michigan State (1995-1999) and LSU (2000-2004) and 2 years with the Dolphins (2005-2006). Because Saban is so publicly critical of transfers, it’s important to note that wasn’t fired from any of these jobs. He willingly left every one for something better. But Blake Barnett can’t?

Arkansas: Chad Morris

Number of jobs (2009-18): 5

Skinny: Morris has bounced around while working his way up the coaching ladder. In 2009, he still was at Lake Travis High, winning the second of back-to-back Texas state titles. Morris spent the 2010 season at Tulsa before leaving to become Clemson’s offensive coordinator in 2011. He spent 4 seasons at Clemson and left to become the head coach at SMU. After 3 seasons there, he became Arkansas’ head coach in December 2017.

Auburn: Gus Malzahn

Number of jobs (2009-18): 3

Skinny: Like Morris, Malzahn cut his teeth at the high school level before quickly climbing the college ladder. He had 3 jobs in his first 4 years as a college coach before settling in at Auburn for most of this decade. He left Tulsa — his second program — after the 2008 season to become Auburn’s offensive coordinator. He stayed in that position for 3 years, including the Tigers’ perfect 2010 season, before landing his first head coaching job at Arkansas State. He signed a 5-year contract but left after just 1 to return to Auburn, this time as head coach, in 2013.

Florida: Dan Mullen

Number of jobs (2009-2018): 2

Skinny: Mullen’s journey has stabilized considerably in the past decade, but the early years were wild: From 1994-2004, Mullen spent 1-2 years apiece at 6 programs before becoming Florida’s OC in 2005. He has spent the past decade as an SEC head coach, the first 9 years at Mississippi State and now at Florida.

Georgia: Kirby Smart

Number of jobs (2009-2018): 2

Skinny: Like Mullen, Smart didn’t stay in one place long during the early part of his career. He’s only been at Alabama (DC) and Georgia (HC) in the past decade, but was with 5 college programs and Saban’s Dolphins within a 8-year span (1999-2006). He followed Saban to Alabama, where he quickly established himself as a premier defensive mind before landing his first head coaching job at Georgia.

Kentucky: Mark Stoops

Number of jobs (2009-2018): 3

Skinny: Kentucky is Stoops’ 9th stop in a winding coaching career that touches just about every level of football. He finished the 2009 season as Arizona’s defensive coordinator before taking the same role under Jimbo Fisher at Florida State. He was Fisher’s DC for 3 years before landing his first head coaching job, at Kentucky, in 2013.

LSU: Ed Orgeron

Number of jobs (2009-2018): 3

Skinny: Coach O could have quite the jersey collection. He has spent time with 11 college programs and the New Orleans Saints since starting his career in 1984. He’s had various job titles in the past decade, but he’s been at 3 schools in that time (Tennessee, USC and now LSU).

Mississippi State: Joe Moorhead

Number of jobs (2009-2018): 4

Skinny: Like Stoops, Moorhead spent a lot of time at the lower levels of college football before working his way to a Power 5 head coaching job. Already a decade into his career, in 2009, he started as UConn’s offensive coordinator. He left after 3 years to become the head coach at Fordham. After 4 years there, he was off to Penn State, where he was OC for 2 seasons before replacing Dan Mullen as Mississippi State’s head coach.

Missouri: Barry Odom

Number of jobs (2009-2018): 3

Skinny: Odom has the smallest resume among SEC coaches. He has spent 12 of the past 16 years at Missouri, rising from grad assistant to defensive coordinator to head coach. He left Mizzou briefly in 2012, becoming defensive coordinator at Memphis, but returned after 3 season to the same role at Mizzou. After 1 year as DC, he replaced Gary Pinkel as head coach in 2016.

Ole Miss: Matt Luke

Number of jobs (2009-2018): 2

Skinny: Like Odom, Luke left home, but never stayed gone long. Most of his career has been spent in Oxford, where he was a starting center and former captain. He bounced around a couple of times before finding a spot on David Cutcliffe’s Duke staff in 2009. He returned to Ole Miss, where he had various roles before replacing Hugh Freeze as the full-time head coach.

South Carolina: Will Muschamp

Number of jobs (2009-2018): 4

Skinny: Muschamp could battle Orgeron for the title of best rebounder in the SEC. An accomplished defensive coordinator, he parlayed that success into the head coaching job at Florida. After that ended poorly, he revitalized his reputation with a 1-year stint as Auburn’s DC, which led to his second chance at South Carolina.

Tennessee: Jeremy Pruitt

Number of jobs (2009-2018): 5

Skinny: The SEC has an inordinate number of coaches who paid their dues as high school coaches. Pruitt is among them. He spent the better part of his first decade as a coach at the high school level. He joined Saban’s staff in 2007 and was at Alabama until becoming FSU’s DC in 2013. He spent 1 season there before taking the same job at Georgia (2 years) and then Alabama (2 years). All of that led to his first head coaching job, at Tennessee, in 2018.

Texas A&M: Jimbo Fisher

Number of jobs (2009-2018): 2

Skinny: Fisher has had a lot of great jobs and worked for a lot of great head coaches, including Saban at LSU and Bobby Bowden. He settled in at FSU, where was the OC before replacing the legendary Bowden in 2010. He won 83 games in 8 years as FSU’s head coach, including the 2013 national championship. Going 9-4 at Texas A&M meant that Fisher has won at least 9 games in 8 of his 9 years as a head coach.

Vanderbilt: Derek Mason

Number of jobs (2009-2018): 3

Skinny: Mason actually started his coaching career on the offensive side before riding his defensive acumen to the NFL, Pac-12 and ultimately the SEC. Like most on this list, he certainly paid his dues early in his career. He had 4 jobs in his first 8 years as a coach. In 2009, he was in his third season as a DB coach for the Minnesota Vikings. He spent the next 4 years at Stanford before being named Vanderbilt’s head coach in 2014.