SEC Football Q&A: Should Loser Between Les Miles and Hugh Freeze Be on Hot Seat?
With two weeks left in the regular season, one SEC division title has already been wrapped up thanks to Florida completing its SEC slate at 7-1 and claiming the SEC East championship.
Thanks to the win over LSU a few weeks ago and the Tigers' subsequent loss to Arkansas last week, Alabama is within shouting distance of claiming its second straight SEC West title.
How does that SEC Championship Game shape up? What do the struggles of LSU and Ole Miss mean for their head coaches? What's wrong with Auburn's offense?
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Those questions are answered in this week's edition of SEC Q&A.
This year, no, neither Ole Miss' Hugh Freeze nor LSU's Les Miles should be or will be on the hot seat with a loss in the Magnolia Bowl in Oxford, Mississippi, this weekend.
In fact, Freeze is fine for a few years.
No, this year hasn't gone according to plan, and the Rebels might have missed this window for an SEC West championship if several draft-eligible players—defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche, wide receiver Laquon Treadwell and offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil—move on to the NFL.
But since that great recruiting class in 2013, Freeze has consistently recruited well, which means the championship-level depth—which has been absent the last two years—is still being built. The Rebels will likely take a small step back next year due to the absence of its top-end stars, but that depth should vault them back into SEC West contention in a couple of years.
LSU's Les Miles, however, should be on the hot seat in 2016 if the 2015 late-season fade route continues.
As detailed after the Arkansas loss last weekend, Miles has had an infatuation with dual-threat quarterbacks despite not really showing that he knows how to properly use them throughout his decade in Baton Rouge.
That has to change, and he has a built-in safety net thanks to the expiring contract of offensive coordinator Cam Cameron. Either Miles has to change his own philosophy and find a pro-style quarterback who can operate within the offense like former Tiger Zach Mettenberger, or he has to find a coordinator who can properly use the quarterbacks currently on the roster.
If neither of those things happen, LSU's offense will continue to struggle, one of the greatest talents in a generation—running back Leonard Fournette—will be wasted by a coach who can't take pressure off him and discontent among the fanbase and boosters will continue.
Florida is going to have to alter its ideal game plan under first-year head coach Jim McElwain, because the Gators have no chance against Alabama's front seven if it utilizes a pro-style offense with a shaky offensive line against Alabama's defense.
Simply put, it would get really ugly in the Georgia Dome.
So McElwain will first have to follow the same game plan that Ole Miss used to beat Alabama earlier this year. The Gators have to open with short passes that get out of the hands of quarterback Treon Harris in a hurry and neutralize the Crimson Tide's biggest strength—its front seven.
Once that happens, McElwain and his staff need to keep the pedal to the floor, use tempo to keep the Tide defense vanilla and connect on the shots deep when they become available.
It'd also help to mix in more zone read, but given the fact that there's really nobody behind Harris to rely on if he gets hurt, testing that out against Florida Atlantic this weekend probably isn't the best idea.
Defensively, Florida is probably the team in the SEC best equipped to slow down the Derrick Henry express and certainly can take advantage of mistakes from Jake Coker if he's forced to do more than manage the game.
As a result, Florida shouldn't have to completely overhaul its offense. Several significant tweaks here and there, though, need to be made and need to be successful early against an Alabama defense that seems to be getting better by the week.
Good luck, Gators.
Without a doubt, Auburn needs a dual-threat quarterback to truly make this system click. That's not to say that head coach Gus Malzahn and offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee can't make it work with a signal-caller who can't run, but it's clear that it will work best as a system that uses a dual-threat quarterback.
Jeremy Johnson has solid straight-line speed, but he takes way too long to get going and struggles to make the proper decisions in the zone read—which is where former quarterback Nick Marshall thrived.
Could junior college commit John Franklin III be that guy next year? He might. After all, he did serve as Marshall on Florida State's scout team prior to the Seminoles' BCS Championship Game win over the Tigers in January 2014.
Think about Auburn this year for a second. Both Peyton Barber and Jovon Robinson have enjoyed success on the ground despite the absence of a running threat at quarterback and a passing game that's been more myth than reality.
If Auburn can add just a slight threat of something else working within the offense other than the running backs, it can get back into contention in no time.
Marshall showed Malzahn the path in 2013, and he needs to walk down it again in 2016. If he doesn't, he might be walking to the unemployment line instead.
Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Statistics are courtesy of cfbstats.com.
Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.
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