College Football 2011: Will Muschamp and the Top 10 Coaches in the SEC
The Southeastern Conference has some of the premier coaches in all of college football.
Coaches like Les Miles, Nick Saban and Gene Chizik have all brought home the BCS Championship in the last five years.
Dan Mullen from Mississippi State and Steve Spurrier from South Carolina have led their respective programs back into college football relevancy.
Although the SEC has these high-profile names, the conference has other teams that are in a transition period with their coaches.
Will Muschamp will be entering his first season as head coach of the Florida Gators in hopes of duplicating the success of former Gator coach Urban Meyer.
And as the 2011 season approaches, fans are eagerly awaiting to see how these coaches perform.
However, until the season starts, this is my list of the top 10 coaches in the SEC.
10. Derek Dooley: Tennessee
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Even though the Tennessee Volunteers struggled in 2010, one can clearly see that Derek Dooley has the Vols headed in the right direction.
Many felt like Dooley did not deserve the Tennessee job after only leading Louisiana Tech to a 4-8 record in 2009. But the Vols gave the job to Dooley after former coach Lane Kiffin left for USC.
The Vols finished with a below .500 record of 6-7, but they finished the season on a high note after winning their last four regular season games.
It is tough for Dooley to have instantaneous success at a program that is on its third coach in three years, but he has given the Vols hope.
His laid-back, country gentleman-like personality is a far cry from that of Lane Kiffin and a breath of fresh air for Tennessee fans.
Dooley is the son of former Georgia coaching legend Vince Dooley and has also served on Nick Saban's coaching staff for the Miami Dolphins in 2006.
If he can get the Vols back to relevancy on the recruiting trail, it won't be long before the Vols are back in the SEC picture.
9. Will Muschamp: Florida
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I believe Will Muschamp will do great things at the University of Florida.
However, because it is his first year, it is tough to put him any higher on this list for now.
But Muschamp has hit the ground running at Florida.
He managed to hold together a solid number of prospects from the 2011 recruiting class and also received commitments from high-caliber players like Marcus Roberson.
Roberson was the top cornerback prospect in the nation according to Rivals.com.
Muschamp is also completely changing the system at Florida from Meyer's spread option.
The Gators will now be running a pro-style offense and mainly a 3-4 style of defense.
Like Dooley, Muschamp comes from the Nick Saban coaching tree.
Muschamp was the defensive coordinator for LSU when Saban led them to a national championship in 2003.
Then he was the defensive coordinator for Mack Brown at Texas and was named the coach in wait for Brown until he took the job at Florida.
Muschamp is known for his fiery demeanor and tough defenses. He'll bring a physical brand of football to Gainesville and hope to get Florida back to its championship-caliber football.
8. Houston Nutt: Ole Miss
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Houston Nutt has been all around the SEC with coaching jobs at Arkansas and now at Ole Miss.
Ole Miss struggled in 2010 with a 4-8 record, but Nutt has led the Rebels to a couple of 9-4 seasons in 2008 and 2009.
He is an experienced coach and knows how to get the best from his players.
But Nutt will continue to struggle without a legitimate quarterback option.
And with the competition in the SEC West getting stronger every year, Nutt will have to make sure his Rebels are able to keep pace.
Nutt is not the strongest recruiter either. But besides Spurrier, Nutt could be the most experienced coach in the SEC.
It will be interesting to see how Nutt and the Rebels will progress in the next few years without a reliable quarterback and going through the rigors of an SEC schedule.
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7. Mark Richt: Georgia
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Richt has been the head coach of Georgia since 2001, making him the SEC coach with the longest tenure at his current school.
Before 2010, Richt led the Bulldogs to nine straight winning seasons, including two Sugar Bowl victories in 2001 and 2007.
He has also groomed stars like Knowshon Moreno, Matthew Stafford and A.J. Green during his career at Georgia.
Despite the disappointing 6-7 record in 2010, Georgia kept Richt on as head coach.
But he has been on the coaching hot seat for a while and will lose his job soon if he does not post more winning seasons very quickly.
Richt is still a relentless recruiter and consistently brings in top recruits like running back Isaiah Crowell in 2011.
He'll have to lean heavily on the arm of Aaron Murphy if he wants the Bulldogs to have another successful season.
6. Dan Mullen: Mississippi State
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Dan Mullen made his mark in college football as Urban Meyer's quarterbacks coach at Utah and offensive coordinator at Florida.
He has two national championships with Florida and Fiesta Bowl victory at Utah.
But Mullen has been able to take his talents to Mississippi State and bring the Bulldogs back to relevancy.
They seem like a team on the rise behind Chris Relf and Vick Ballard on offense. Mullen continues to improve their record, eventually bringing them to a 9-4 record in 2010.
Mullen clearly has Mississippi State playing more competitively and could possibly contend for an SEC Championship with the talent they possess.
He seems to want to be there for the long-term and the Bulldogs will benefit greatly from him as the head coach.
5. Gene Chizik: Auburn
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The hiring of Gene Chizik at Auburn in 2008 came with much criticism.
The year before he left for Auburn, he coached Iowa State to a 2-10 record.
But it only took Chizik two years to prove his critics wrong by winning the 2011 BCS National Championship behind the play of Cam Newton.
Chizik has Auburn headed in the right direction and benefiting greatly from the national championship season with better recruiting classes and more national spotlight.
In his two years, he has brought in stellar recruits like Newton, Michael Dyer and newly transferred Mike Blakely.
For his efforts, Chizik's salary was just raised by $1.3 million, making him the fourth-highest paid coach in the SEC.
He is quickly rising in the coaching ranks and will be keeping Auburn in the national title hunt for years to come.
4. Bobby Petrino: Arkansas
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Under Bobby Petrino, the Arkansas Razorbacks have become an offensive force in the SEC.
In 2010, the Razorbacks were fourth in the nation with 333.7 passing yards per game and 17th in points per game with 36.5.
He spreads the offense out and breaks down defenses with the passing game then catches them off guard with his talented running backs as well.
Petrino coached the SEC rushing leader in Knile Davis in 2010 as well.
He may not entice the commitments of some of the high-profile recruits that other SEC schools do, but Petrino gets the right players for his system, and it shows on the field.
Quietly, he is one of the most consistent coaches in the SEC and gets the most talent out of his athletes.
He'll keep Arkansas a top contender in the SEC for as long as he is the head coach.
3. Les Miles: LSU
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Known as the "Mad Hatter," Les Miles is one of the most unorthodox coaches in the SEC.
He has garnered the reputation of taking a lot of risks like the fake field goal in Gainesville last season, which set up the game-winning touchdown.
Regardless of his methods, Miles gets the job done at LSU.
He consistently brings in top recruiting classes, and his teams always boast an intimidating defense.
He led LSU to a national championship in 2007 with a team that led the nation in total defense and had players like Glenn Dorsey and Tyson Jackson anchoring the defensive line.
Since then, Miles has led LSU to a 28-11 record.
Once again, Miles has LSU entering the college football season as top-five team and will rely on quarterback Jordan Jefferson to lead the team.
Call him lucky, but Miles always LSU near the top of the SEC and is arguably one of the top coaches in the nation.
2. Steve Spurrier: South Carolina
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Steve Spurrier finally got South Carolina over the hump and into its first SEC Championship game in 2011.
Although they lost to the eventual national champion, Spurrier has finally gotten the Gamecocks into the top-tier of the SEC football programs.
It's been a long time coming for Spurrier, who has not had great success since his days at Florida.
But Spurrier has slowly built a tough football team at South Carolina, and they will be in contention for another SEC Championship berth again this season.
An additional highlight for Spurrier was convincing the top recruit in the nation, Jadeveon Clowney, to stay in-state and commit to South Carolina.
Spurrier is 66 years old, so he might not coach for too much longer. But once he retires, he will go down as one of the top coaches in SEC history, if not one of the best coaches in all of college football.
1. Nick Saban: Alabama
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Once riddled with NCAA sanctions, Alabama has been brought back to the top of college football by Nick Saban.
Since 2008, Alabama has posted an impressive 36-5 record.
Saban also coached the school's first Heisman Trophy winner in running back Mark Ingram back in 2009.
The Crimson Tide have been a force to be reckoned with under Saban and continue to reload with talent year in and year out.
Along with his impressive coaching record at Alabama, Saban is the only coach in college football history to win two national championships with two different SEC schools. He won with LSU in 2003 and Alabama in 2009.
Alabama rewarded Saban with a statue outside of Bryant-Denny Stadium after winning the BCS Championship.
It is very to difficult to argue the immense success that Saban has had throughout his entire coaching career and the amount of talent that has gone through Alabama during his tenure.
Without a doubt, Nick Saban is the top coach in the SEC and arguably the best coach in all of college football.
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