Power Ranking SEC Football Coaches Heading into 2015
SEC star power is on full display this week as coaches, players and media members gathered at the Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Alabama, for the 2015 version of SEC media days.
Sure, the SEC has more talented players than other conferences, but the true prestige of SEC football is rooted in its coaches. No other conference in college football has the same depth and overall quality of head coaches as the SEC does.
But while ranking the SEC's frontmen against other conferences seems fairly easy, putting them up against one another is much more difficult.
In professional sports, coaches are often judged on their level of success based on their team's talent level. That formula doesn't work in college, though, because coaches are responsible for assembling their own talent.
Here is a ranking of all 14 current SEC head coaches. Coaches are ranked by overall success, recruiting prestige and the current direction of their program.
No. 14: Derek Mason, Vanderbilt
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Derek Mason may have been the only Vanderbilt coach in recent memory to have expectations to live up to in his first season.
James Franklin managed back-to-back nine-win seasons at Vanderbilt before bolting for Penn State. Mason wasn't able to keep the trend going, as the Commodores went 3-9 in 2014, including an 0-8 conference run.
No quarterback could take control of the job, the skill players didn't step up to help, and the defense offered little resistance against SEC offenses.
2014 was simply a disaster for Mason and Vanderbilt.
If Mason wants to show that he can still be the guy to continue Franklin's success, he might want to start by getting at least one win in SEC play in year two.
No. 13: Mark Stoops, Kentucky
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2014 was quite literally an up-and-down season for Mark Stoops and the Kentucky Wildcats.
The Wildcats started the season 5-1 and had already picked up multiple conference wins. That's when things went downhill.
Kentucky closed the season by going 0-6 on the back end of its schedule and missed out on its first bowl game since the 2011 BBVA Compass Bowl.
Obviously, Kentucky doesn't the carry the same prestige in football as most of the other teams in the conference. But even though last season seems like a disaster, there were still flashes in the early season to show that Stoops is the best man to lead the rebuilding effort.
He has Kentucky recruiting at a higher level than ever and currently has a top-25 class for 2016.
He may have things headed in the right direction, but Stoops hasn't done anything yet to be ranked higher on this list.
No. 12: Jim McElwain, Florida
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Florida made it clear that it wanted an offensive-minded coach after parting ways with Will Muschamp. That's exactly what the Gators got in Jim McElwain.
He was able to turn around the Colorado State Rams in three seasons and led them to an impressive 10-2 record in 2014.
This will be McElwain's first season as a head coach in the SEC, but he's certainly no stranger to the conference. He was the offensive coordinator on Alabama's national championship teams in 2009 and 2011.
He inherited plenty of talent in Gainesville, but there's uncertainty at quarterback and holes in the offensive line.
In year one, McElwain will work to improve the Gators team and assert himself as an SEC coach.
No. 11: Butch Jones, Tennessee
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This is where the real depth of head coaches starts to come into play.
It doesn't feel right to have a coach like Butch Jones rank this low, but that's probably the best testament to how many quality head coaches the SEC has.
After going 5-7 in his first season in Knoxville, Jones began the turnaround in 2014. The Vols closed the season by winning four of their final five games and reaching a bowl for the first time since 2010.
The work that Jones did with such a young team last season was remarkable and is one of the reasons why Tennessee has become the trendy pick to win the SEC East this season.
He has also brought Tennessee back to the recruiting forefront and assembled the talent to make the Vols and SEC contender.
There are no excuses for Tennessee this season. Jones has done everything right to make Tennessee competitive in the SEC; now the Vols have to go out and do it.
No. 10: Bret Bielema, Arkansas
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Bret Bielema was successful before entering the SEC, taking Wisconsin to three consecutive Rose Bowls.
But the Arkansas program that he inherited was nothing short of a disaster, and Bielema was forced to adjust his expectations for his team.
In just two years, he already has things looking up for the Razorbacks. Arkansas closed 2014 with wins over top-15 teams in LSU and Ole Miss. After blowing out Texas in their bowl game, the Razorbacks are riding into the 2015 season with high expectations.
Bielema's tenure at Arkansas has been fairly similar to Jones' at Arkansas. Both coaches struggled in their first year before turning things around late in the second half in 2014, and they carry a lot of momentum into 2015.
The biggest difference is that Bielema has done so in the much tougher SEC West and has more quality conference wins through two years than Jones does.
No. 9: Dan Mullen, Mississippi State
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Dan Mullen has led a consistent improvement since coming to Starkville in 2009 and took the Bulldogs to a previously unfathomable level in 2014.
Mississippi State went 10-3 last season and also reached the first No. 1 ranking in program history. The Bulldogs faltered a little down the stretch, but the job that Mullen has done to bring them to this point is incredible, especially when you think about where the program was when he took it over.
The biggest question for Mullen now is consistency. He was able to take a veteran team with a Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback and make it an SEC contender. But was 2014 just lightning in a bottle, or do the Bulldogs have staying power?
Mullen's coaching abilities will be put to the ultimate test this season as his team returns only seven starters. But there's no doubting the impressive job he has done at Mississippi State.
No. 8: Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M
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Kevin Sumlin made a splash when he entered the SEC. In his first season, the Aggies won 11 games including an upset of No. 1 Alabama and a thrashing of Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl.
Things have cooled down a little bit for Sumlin since then. The Aggies took a step back in 2013 and 2014, going 9-4 and 8-5, respectively, in those two seasons.
Sumlin's prolific offense has lit up a few SEC defenses, but Texas A&M has seemed stuck in the middle of the pack in the SEC West the last two years and hasn't made the jump to SEC elite that some thought it would after 2012.
The consistent weakness for Texas A&M has been the defense, but Sumlin made one of the biggest moves of the offseason by hiring John Chavis away from LSU.
Texas A&M is a powerhouse program with all the resources and capabilities of being an elite team in the conference and the nation every year. But as long as the Aggies are stuck in the middle of the SEC, Sumlin will be stuck in the middle of the coach rankings.
No. 7: Mark Richt, Georgia
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Mark Richt has been remarkably consistent at Georgia, but in some ways that isn't such a good thing.
He has always had good teams at Georgia but has earned the title of a coach who can't win "the big one." In 14 seasons, he's won two SEC championships without reaching a national title game.
Georgia seems to be in the mix every year but also tends to drop a game or two to an inferior team that keeps the Bulldogs from reaching Atlanta, such as the loss to Florida last season, or seriously contending on the national level.
Obviously, any program could do much worse than where Richt has the Bulldogs, but thriving in the SEC is about trying to get to the next level of competition, and Georgia has been stuck for a while now.
Still, Richt always keeps the Bulldogs competitive in the SEC, and that's nothing to scoff at.
No. 6: Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss
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Hugh Freeze was one of several coaches in the SEC who led his program to a much improved season in 2014.
The Rebels went 9-4 in 2014 and were in the conversation for the College Football Playoff up until November.
Freeze inherited an Ole Miss team that went 2-10 the year before his arrival and has managed a winning record in all three seasons in Oxford.
He's recruited well enough to keep his program moving forward. Ole Miss took the next step in competing for an SEC title last season and should remain near the top of the SEC West this year.
The Rebels return 17 starters including the entire offensive and defensive lines from 2014. Controlling the line of scrimmage is everything in the SEC, and veterans of both sides of the ball should help Ole Miss in that regard.
Now that Freeze has proved capable of competing in the SEC, winning it is the next step.
No. 5: Gary Pinkel, Missouri
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Missouri gets about as little respect as you can give a repeat division champion in the SEC. But even if you're not ready to think of Mizzou as a top-flight SEC program, you have to respect the job that Gary Pinkel has done.
In three seasons as an SEC coach, Pinkel has won two division titles and led Missouri to two 11-win seasons. Some like to attribute Missouri's success to a fairly easy SEC schedule, but the Tigers have eight wins over ranked teams in the last two years.
Missouri has some talent to replace in 2015, especially on the defensive line, but there's no reason to believe the Tigers won't contend in the East division for a third straight year.
Pinkel and Missouri have entrenched themselves as a legitimate SEC contender, and whoever disagrees just isn't giving the head coach the respect he deserves.
No. 4: Gus Malzahn, Auburn
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Gus Malzahn took Auburn from worst to first in the SEC in his first year as a head coach and had the Tigers just 13 seconds away from a national championship in 2013.
Last season was a step back as Auburn finished with a disappointing 8-5 record, but Malzahn still deserves credit for his remarkably quick turnaround on the Plains after Auburn went 3-9 in Gene Chizik's final year.
Malzahn is known for his hurry-up, no-huddle offense and has done a great job of re-implementing his offensive system at Auburn. He has earned a reputation as one of the nation's top play-callers.
The defense has been the Achilles' heel for Auburn, so Malzahn did his best to rectify that situation by hiring former Florida head coach Will Muschamp.
For Auburn, the question is if last year's slide is just a bump in the road or a sign of things to come. Auburn won't have trouble scoring points under Malzahn, but it's time to find out if the Tigers can stop other teams from scoring on them.
No. 3: Les Miles, LSU
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LSU had a down year by its own standards in 2014, going 8-5 and losing to Notre Dame in the Music City Bowl.
The dip in success might have some fans in Baton Rouge concerned, but it shouldn't so long as Les Miles is still at the helm.
He has been a model of consistency for LSU during his 10-year tenure. The program has not skipped a beat since he succeeded Nick Saban in 2005.
The Mad Hatter has a national championship to his credit, as well as three SEC championships and a second national title appearance. He has also posted at least eight wins in each season at LSU.
His occasionally irrational play-calling and time management blunders will drive some fans crazy. However, Miles has had too much success for too long for any fans to doubt him after one subpar year.
No. 2: Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
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Steve Spurrier has done incredible things at South Carolina. As if winning six conference championships and a national title at Florida weren't quite enough, he also managed to make the Gamecocks a power in the SEC.
Three straight 11-win seasons at South Carolina is an accomplishment that Spurrier simple doesn't get enough credit for. Perhaps that's because it's overshadowed by his career at Florida.
The discussion of retirement seems to be brought up every season now, but he's still an elite head coach in the SEC.
South Carolina had a disappointing 7-6 season last year, and a rebuilding effort is certainly in order in Columbia.
Spurrier is one of the greatest offensive minds in college football history, and that prowess will be tested as the Gamecocks replace six starters on offense, including quarterback Dylan Thompson.
At this point in Spurrier's career, there's no reason not to expect him to have the Gamecocks competing once again before he decides to hang it up.
No. 1: Nick Saban, Alabama
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As hard as this list was to put together, the top spot could not have been easier.
Nick Saban is the king of the SEC, and another conference championship last season certainly didn't change that.
The resume speaks for itself. He's won four national championships, twice as many as the rest of this list combined. On two separate occasions he's taken an SEC program from mediocrity to the pinnacle of SEC football.
Saban has Alabama legitimately competing for a national title every season. A Crimson Tide team has only lost multiple conference games once since 2008. He's also dominated the recruiting trail to the point that most other schools seem to be competing for the No. 2 class every year.
Under Saban's watch, the standard at Alabama has become nothing short of a national title. While that's completely irrational, that standard is only there because of the success the program has experienced over the last seven years.
No other coach in the SEC has the same level of success, championships or consistency. Like him or not, Saban rules the SEC and doesn't seem to be giving up power anytime soon.
Follow Sami Harb on Twitter @SamiPHarb
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