Pressure Cooker: Houston Nutt, Other SEC Coaches Get Ready for 2009

Heading into 2008, many considered the coaches in the SEC to comprise one of the best collective groups of coaches in recent memory, and maybe ever in the SEC.

There was Urban Meyer, Les Miles, Steve Spurrier, Nick Saban, and Phillip Fulmer, all who previously won national championships, plus Tommy Tuberville, who had a 13-0 season to his record, and Mark Richt and his two SEC championships to form an incredible group of coaches in one conference at one time.

Fast forward to now:

Tuberville and Fulmer are gone after losing seasons in 2008. Les Miles is coming off a rare five-loss season for LSU. Richt is coming off a three-loss season in which they had a top-10 running back and quarterback and were preseason No. 1 in the country.  Plus, Spurrier is coming off a season in which they lost their last three games in blowout fashion.

So how have things changed in just one year in the best football conference in America?

All of a sudden there are a number of coaches in this conference that are really facing some pressure and are in need of a good season to really prove themselves. Not necessarily to the fans in all cases, but to themselves as well.

To help sustain a legacy, to begin to create a new one, and to get fans off their back are all reasons these coaches are facing pressure.

Who are the coaches in 2009 that need good seasons to relieve pressure and prove themselves in the face of critics?

The New Guys

From the first day he set foot on campus, Lane Kiffin has been a lightning rod of controversy. His comments accusing Florida of cheating, his remark about South Carolina recruits pumping gas for the rest of their lives, and his overall demeanor have really gotten under the skin of opposing teams.

The Vol nation seemed to feed off Kiffin's remarks, but privately I wonder if they wish Kiffin would tone it down a notch. At the end of the day, he's only putting undue pressure on himself and his program.

Kiffin will have to answer the question of whether his bark is worse than his bite soon enough, and who knew that we might actually be thinking Al Davis could have been right about Kiffin all along?

With a coaching staff that includes two former NFL coaches in Ed Orgeron and a Super Bowl-winning defensive coordinator in Monte Kiffin, the pressure is on Kiffin to take the Vols back to Atlanta, and a six-win season after a lot of talk will leave some underwhelmed.

Gene Chizik comes into Auburn with a career head coaching record of 5-19. That is reason enough to have the pressure of proving the doubters wrong starting in 2009.

Although much can be made of the program Chizik was in at Iowa State and the rebuilding job that was needed there, 5-19 is what it is, and it leaves some doubt in many Auburn fans' minds as for what to expect at Auburn.

Many believe Auburn may be a program that is bigger than what Chizik is ready to take on right now. Chizik has done a nice job of staying under the radar and not drawing undue pressure on himself, but we all know wins and losses are what make your actions and demeanor acceptable or not.

While most would agree that Auburn will lack depth in Year One, there is enough talent in the starters to win seven games or more. With eight home games as well, that is attainable.

Like Kiffin, a first-year coach like Chizik doesn't have to turn it around in Year One, but unlike Kiffin, Chizik's hire was faced with much criticism from Day One. So Chizik needs a successful season in Year One to convince fans that he is indeed up to the job in all facets of being a SEC head coach.

Maintaining the Legacy

You don't have to be a first-year head coach, though, to face pressure and feel the need to prove or re-prove yourself in the SEC.

Take Les Miles, for example. This guy has SEC and BCS national championships, yet still is working to prove himself to the LSU fans every day. Coming off a five-loss season in which Miles was playing with freshman quarterbacks, there is some legit reason to giving him a pass for a bad season, but LSU is a program that is above that at this point.

The Tigers are a premier program in the country and a five-loss season just won't cut it.

The other problem Miles has is a man named Nick Saban. Not only has Saban cast a shadow on the LSU program with his success there, but it has forced Miles to create his own legacy while people say he was winning with Saban's players. Alabama's new success has just put more pressure on Miles to make LSU fans embrace him.

For a coach that is right behind Meyer and Saban in pay, Miles can't afford another three-plus loss season in 2009, or any other year really.

Mark Richt and Miles are in similar boats: each an established coach that has won two SEC championships and averaged around 10 wins a season at Georgia.

So why would Richt be facing some pressure to prove himself again in 2009?

This is a classic case of "What have you done for me lately?" The Bulldogs are coming off a season in which they were preseason No. 1 in the country, had the No. 1 overall draft pick at quarterback, and another top-15 pick at running back, and proceeded to lose three games and not make a BCS bowl game. To most that is a good season, but not to a program that expects championships.

While Georgia fans and people that follow the program won't say it publicly, there has to be some concern about why Richt hasn't played for a national title yet with the talent pool he has to recruit from in Georgia every year. Richt has been an extremely successful coach in the SEC, but Georgia views itself on the same plane as Florida, LSU, and Alabama right now, and 9-3 records just aren't good enough.

The third in this category is Steve Spurrier. Now South Carolina is a program that has historically struggled so much that a 8-4 or 7-5 season every year is a thrill, but that's not what Spurrier expects wherever he goes.

The Gamecocks have an uphill battle to climb with Florida and Georgia right now, but they have recruited very well the last few years, so the time is now if Spurrier is ever to get over the hump and make an SEC title game in Columbia.

Maybe more importantly, though, are two other factors.

One is the recent incident at SEC media days in which Spurrier admitted to leaving Tim Tebow off the All-SEC first team at quarterback. Now the omission itself isn't a big deal, but what followed set off a real firestorm of talk about how inept and timid Spurrier looked in his explanation.

The old Spurrier wouldn't have apologized for what he did. He would have made a smart comment like Jevan Snead beating Tebow head-to-head last year, and gone on about his business. After watching Spurrier stumble over his answer, along with the thought of how Bobby Bowden acts these days, many felt he was a coach that's out of touch and not sure of himself anymore.

The other factor is Urban Meyer. Like the Saban and Miles dynamic, every year of tremendous success that Meyer has at Florida minimizes just a bit what Spurrier did in Gainesville in the '90s.

Obviously Spurrier was tremendous at Florida, but there's no doubt that Meyer's success at Florida has taken some shine off of Spurrier's overwhelming success there. Of course Meyer's success is built off the foundation Spurrier laid in the 90's.

Spurrier needs to finish strong at South Carolina, even if it doesn't result in an East title, to cement his legacy that he established so well at Florida and make people view him as the legendary SEC coach he is, and not the legendary coach that he was.

Who's under the Most Pressure?

Houston Nutt.

Ole Miss fans might tell you they will take eight wins every year, but that isn't the case this year. Ole Miss has 14 returning starters, a future first-round quarterback, defensive end, and maybe receiver, and in a league with Tebow and Snead as the only top-notch quarterbacks, the Rebels have a big advantage over most other SEC teams that they don't normally have.

Nutt has traditionally been a seven or eight-win coach, but now is his time to show he can be an elite SEC coach and not only one that has success under the radar.

Tommy Tuberville took that step in 2004 when he finally had the pieces together and went 13-0 and showed he could be an elite coach in the country. Before that, he was a coach that thrived on being under the radar and always seemed to get an upset a few times each year.

That is Nutt's goal in 2009. Prove to everyone that he is more than a good motivator, more than a Cotton Bowl-at-best coach. He has the talent, he has a big-time quarterback leading the team, and now we'll see if Nutt takes the next step and takes the Rebels to their first SEC championship in school history.