No SEC Coaches Are on the Hot Seat in 2015, but What About 2016?
Unlike last offseason, when former Florida head coach Will Muschamp was sitting on the hottest seat in America, the summer of 2015 has been quiet on the coaching carousel front.
Newer coaches are still building programs, veterans have them cooking at a high level and the ones who don't still have plenty of time to turn things around.
But what if they don't?
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The 2015 season will serve as the opening act to 2016, which could be one in which several head coaches within the SEC are coaching for their jobs.
Who could be wading into treacherous waters (this is a Mark Richt-free zone...he's not going anywhere)?
LSU Head Coach Les Miles
Let's get this out of the way as quickly as possible—I like Les Miles. The 11th-year head coach of the Tigers is always entertaining in press conferences, is honest and has a much better grasp on the English language than anybody else in American sports.
But if LSU struggles to another mediocre season after last year's 8-5 debacle, the 2016 campaign is going to get very interesting for Miles in Baton Rouge.
LSU's offensive struggles have progressed from being simply a liability to a full-fledged epidemic. The Tigers haven't finished higher than sixth in the SEC in total offense since 2008, have struggled to find stability at the quarterback position—save for Zach Mettenberger's senior season in 2013—and have become far too reliant on their defense carrying the load.
That caught up to them last year, when the defense failed to generate consistent pressure and was soft up the middle, as the Tigers sputtered to a .500 record in the conference.
If there's more of the same in 2015—and that's a distinct possibility considering the quarterback situation is essentially the same and the defense is undergoing a transition to new defensive coordinator Kevin Steele—Miles will and should be coaching for his job in 2016.
This is the same LSU team that's finished in the top six in the 247Sports recruiting rankings in each of the last three seasons, has virtually no in-state recruiting competition in a talent-rich state and is consistently sending players to the NFL through the draft.
There's simply no excuse for prolonged mediocrity at LSU.
Texas A&M Head Coach Kevin Sumlin
I'm pretty high on Texas A&M this year and think that the combination of John Chavis coordinating the defense and an offense that's loaded with veterans should keep the Aggies in SEC West contention into November.
What if I'm wrong, though?
If Chavis isn't the magic potion for the defense and the Aggies slide further into divisional anonymity, head coach Kevin Sumlin should get some heat in 2016. After all, the program has regressed every year in the win column—from 11 to to nine to eight—since he took over prior to the 2012 season.
After the Aggies' 59-0 loss to Alabama last year, ESPN.com's Travis Haney wrote that Sumlin's honeymoon is over in College Station.
That's fine, and likely accurate.
But just because the honeymoon is over doesn't mean that you can't have a successful marriage. Keyword being "successful."
If the Aggies aren't successful in 2015, the following season could be big for the future of the marriage.
Vanderbilt Head Coach Derek Mason
To be fair to Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason, he inherited a different kind of Vanderbilt.
Off back-to-back nine-win seasons under former head coach James Franklin, suddenly there were "expectations" in Nashville, and not the kind that end in the cellar of the SEC East. It was unfair to Mason to expect that kind of season in Year 1 in 2014, but it was also a little reckless to assume that he can get the Commodores back to bowl eligibility after his inaugural season at the helm.
The 'Dores rotated four starting quarterbacks, never settled into a groove and Mason looked like he wasn't prepared to coach in the SEC. Self-awareness showed in the offseason, when he bid farewell to both coordinators, took over the defense himself and hired accomplished offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig after he wasn't retained by the new Wisconsin staff.
That's a nice start to turning things around, but what if it spirals out of control in 2015 similar to 2014's struggles? I don't think Vandy would look for a new coach following this season, but Mason would certainly be on the hot seat entering 2016.
Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of cfbstats.com unless otherwise noted, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports' composite rankings.
Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on Sirius 93, XM 208.
Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.
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