With recruiting over and spring practice around the corner, the time seems right to rank the Southeastern Conference football coaches 1-12. An inexact science at best, the task is compounded by the turnover in the coaching ranks in 2009 and the fact that the SEC is home to four coaches with national titles on their resumes. In addition, in the arms race that is college football these days, the SEC employs eight of the 25 highest paid coaches in the country. That said, here goes:
1. Urban Meyer, Florida—Two BCS championships in three years. Any questions? The 44-year old sports an 83-17 overall record in just eight seasons at three schools. Meyer shows no signs of letting up as he puts top 10 recruiting classes together annually.
2. Nick Saban, Alabama—More impressive than his 2003 BCS championship at LSU is the 12-0 regular season mark he posted in 2008. The Tide were among the youngest teams in the country and reeled off the 12 wins a year after losing at home to Louisiana-Monroe. The only question is how long will he stay in Tuscaloosa?
3. Steve Spurrier, South Carolina—The Ole Ball Coach faces an uphill battle in Columbia for sure, but he still ranks near the top for his dominance of the league in the 90's and the 96 national title at Florida. Spurrier managed to beat Florida, Tennessee, and Georgia once each during his first two years in Columbia. In the land of the Chicken Curse, that is an accomplishment.
4. Les Miles, LSU—The Hat ranks here on the strength of his BCS title in 2007. His critics say that he won with Saban’s players, but Meyer won his first with Ron Zook’s as well. Miles is proving to be an excellent recruiter, a requirement in this league. Sure, the guy is quirky and makes some inexplicable calls, but he is fun to have around.
5. Mark Richt, Georgia—With four division and two overall SEC titles in eight years in Athens, Richt has held his own with Florida and Tennessee in the East. The bar is incredibly high in this league, but marks of 82-22 overall, 46-18 in conference, and 6-2 in bowls bears merit. The only thing that separates him from the four coaches above is a BCS championship.
6. Houston Nutt, Ole Miss—Nutt moved up the list considerably with the job he did in his first year in Oxford. After a messy divorce from Arkansas, Nutt turned the Rebels into the surprise team of the year. In addition to knocking off the Gators in the Swamp, UM's thrashing of Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl opened a lot of eyes and has raised expectations for 2009.
7. Rich Brooks, Kentucky—The 1994 winner of numerous national coach of the year awards for taking Oregon to the Rose Bowl has eclipsed that achievement by leading the Wildcats to three consecutive bowl games. He is making Kentucky relevant again for the first time since at least Jerry Claiborne’s days—and some would say Bear Bryant’s.
8. Bobby Petrino, Arkansas—After a failed attempt at the NFL ala Spurrier and Saban, Petrino has taken his high flying offense to the Ozarks and is intent on duplicating his success at Louisville. Petrino took the Cardinals to new heights with 41 wins and four bowl appearances in as many seasons. He potentially has more tools to work with in Fayetteville, but he's not in the Big East any more.
9. Bobby Johnson, Vanderbilt—A 7-6 record and Music City Bowl win is not an enviable season on most SEC campuses. At Vandy it is a feat and the Commodore faithful may build a statue of Johnson. Such is the difference in expectations in Nashville and the size and number of the obstacles the Vandy staff faces in competing with the SEC’s top teams.
10. Lane Kiffin, Tennessee—Kiffin gets the nod over his fellow newcomers below him in the rankings due to his brief head coaching experience in the NFL. However, his 5-15 mark with the Oakland Raiders has many wondering how he merited a top flight SEC job.
11. Gene Chizik, Auburn—Chizik has a monumental task in front of him. First and foremost he has to compete with—and beat—Nick Saban. While he is doing that, he also has to heal a fractured fan base that was divided over the firing/resignation of Tommy Tuberville. Only at Auburn could a coach win six straight over his arch rival and lose his job after the first defeat.
12. Dan Mullen, Mississippi State—Well, someone has to be #12. Mullen earned high marks under Urban Meyer tutoring Chris Leak and Tim Tebow to BCS titles. He lands here because of his youth and lack of head coaching experience like Chizik, but he does not have the resources in Starkville that Chizik will enjoy in Auburn.
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