Via Twitter, @BarrettSallee asked a very good question:
Aside from Mark Richt (who’s obviously on the hot seat), which SEC coach(es) will be looking for work in 2012?
I promptly responded back with “Will Muschamp, Houston Nutt, Les Miles and MAYBE Steve Spurrier”, as far as being on the Hot Seat. I immediately realized that Barrett was asking about coaches that may be looking for new work in 2012, not who’s on the Hot Seat. Florida would be foolish in firing Will after one season (even though he’s got HUGE shoes to fill), so I corrected my post, leaving Will off the list.
CAVEAT: As I compile the list below, I need to be fair to my tens of readers and let you know that I have an avowed hatred of ALL things Houston Nutt. I have a complete and venomous hatred for the man personally and professionally. With that being said, I will do everything within my power to remain neutral when it comes to addressing the Arkansas Razorbacks and the Ole Piss Miss (sorry) Rebels.
Let’s break down the entire SEC coaching ranks and discuss:
ALABAMA – Let’s face it. Nick Saban ain’t going anywhere for a while. He’s got Alabama situated to get 9+ wins year in and year out. Coming off a 2009 season BCS NCG win, the man can flat out recruit and bring big time talent wherever he needs it.
My Hot Seat Ranking: Bear Bryant has GOT to be grinning with pride.
ARKANSAS – With Bobby Petrino at the helm, the Razorback football program has undergone a very drastic transformation in three short years. After Houston “Dork” Nutt left the cupboard threadbare and devoid of tangible talent (there were a few bright stars like Mitch Petrus, DJ Williams, etc), Petrino essentially had to rebuild the program from the ground up. Luckily, Petrino didn’t have to look far for people to help him recruit that talent in (Coach Tim Horton is personally one of my all time favorite coaches/people, and was retained (thankfully!)). The fact that the Hogs managed to muster 5 wins in 2008 and go to the second best BCS bowl in 2010′s season is nothing short of a miracle.
My Hot Seat Ranking: Chuck Norris is afraid of Bobby Petrino.
AUBURN – One of Barrett’s followers stated that I lost all credibility when I said that I couldn’t see Chizik remaining at Auburn after this upcoming season. Maybe I’m biased, but with all of the controversy regarding Cam Newton, I cannot see Auburn escaping this mess that they are in, especially since the crap that tOSU pulled is a LOT less damaging. BCS NCG win or not, if you or your staff are responsible for bringing NCAA sanctions against your school, simple fact of the matter is this: Your job isn’t as secure as you think it is.
My Hot Seat Ranking: If the NCAA gets the balls to actually investigate this, Chizik’s lukewarm seat is so hot that not even Satan would touch it.
FLORIDA – Will Muschamp has some insanely huge shoes to fill. Urban Meyer left a legacy to be reckoned with (two BCS NCG and two SEC CG championships). I think the pressure is on for Muschamp (especially with Meyer having an office right down the hall) to step up his game. With as tough as the competition is in the SEC, I think Muschamp essentially has three years to restore Florida back to where it was.
My Hot Seat Ranking: Not hot, but not cold. Will get hotter over the next two years if Muschamp doesn’t perform.
GEORGIA – Wow. After recording his worst season record EVER in his career at UGA, Richt is on the Hot Seat, BIG TIME. While Richt is 2-1 in BCS Bowl appearances (all Sugar), his record has consistently declined from the 2007 season. He needs to do everything in his power to get Georgia back to the SEC CG in 2011 (and win it) to have any chance of saving his job. Steve Spurrier and Derek Dooley, though, may thwart those plans.
My Hot Seat Ranking: To quote Jim Carrey’s character from “Mask”, Ssssssssssssmokin’! BCS Berth or he’s GONE.
KENTUCKY – Joker Phillips, unfortunately, leads a program that’s in the shadows of another vaulted program. Kentucky Football, unfortunately is not a true SEC powerhouse; oft settling comfortably in the middle. With that said, the fact that Joker took Kentucky to a bowl (even if it was the Compass bowl) his first year in is pretty impressive, especially with the talent heavy SEC at play. If Joker can do the same or better season record, while improving his conference record to 3-5 or 4-4, that should be more than enough to make the smattering of KY football fans happy.
My Hot Seat Ranking: Not even lukewarm. Joker’s got a good thing going right now.
LSU – Les Miles is a rather, uhh, unique individual. Doesn’t strike me as the brightest bulb in the bunch, however, the man is a damn good recruiter, so his teams and talent level on the field consistently keeps him in the 8-11 win category per year. He needs to find a way to consistently beat Arkansas, Alabama and Auburn, though. Add Mississippi State into the mix this year, and he’s going to be hard pressed to see that 8-9 win mark. The LSU fan base is starting to smell and taste blood. While small, the group of unhappy fans seems to be growing.
My Hot Seat Ranking: His seat is warm, and getting warmer. I don’t see anything happening until 2012 or 2013 if he can’t get LSU back up to where they need to be.
Side note to LSU fan bois:Funny that you mention that LSU has the same number of championship/conference wins as Arkansas. What you may not realize is that some of your’s stems from the SIAA days, while Arkansas stems from their time in the SWC and SEC. In other words, it took LSU longer to get the same number of wins that Arkansas has.
MISSISSIPPI STATE – Dan Mullen is a beast. What an incredible turnaround he’s done at Miss State. Truth be told, I was scared about Arkansas @ Starkville in 2010. Let me say that I am happy that the game is in Little Rock, though this is still one of the two games that gives me great pause for concern this upcoming season. Coach Cullen’s got Mississippi State poised to be a solid 8-10 wins/year team.
My Hot Seat Ranking: If this seat was any colder, you’d see polar bears, penguines and liquid nitrogen.
Ole Miss – Is there ever a coach that has done less with more? Ole Houston Nutt certainly would be at the top of my list for that distinct designation. Known as the QB Killa, Ole Hootie sure knows how to run a program into the ground. Sure, he can come in and do a fantastic job when he joins a new team. The problem is that he has never taken coaching seriously. With the recent downward spiral of season records (See a side by side comparison between Nutt and Petrino HERE. See Nutt’s entire career nubmers HERE), and his oft lamented antics, the Ole Miss fanbase is growing *very* restless.
My Hot Seat Ranking: Ole Hootie’s on the Hot Seat BIG time. Lucky for him, Boone royally stuck it to Ole Miss with Ole Hootie’s contract; rendering it completely painful to let Hootie go. Nutt will bolt before he gets fired (par for the course). Boone, however, is on a seat that’s so flaming, even RuPaul is calling, asking for advice.
Side note to Ole Miss Fans:You guys bagged on us Arkansas fans, big time, for trying to warn you of what you were getting yourselves in, and called us a bunch of idiots for chasing him out of Arkansas. Guess what, guys? You wanted him, you GOT him… along with ALL the crap that follows him. You wouldn’t listen to our warnings; you now get to deal with the ramifications for not listening to us. Hope you enjoy the basement, cause you’re going to be there for as long as you have Boone as your AD and Ole Hootie as your coach.
SOUTH CAROLINA – If someone had asked me to write this a year ago, I would have said that Steve Spurrier’s Hot Seat status was pretty warm. The Old Ball Coach is very respected by many of his peers and even by his own players and other teams. South Carolina, as a whole, is pretty respected by the Arkansas Fan base, since we both joined the SEC at the same time. With Spurrier taking USCe to the SEC Championship game, this cooled his seat down considerably for this season. When you’re essentially living in the shadow of Tennessee, Georgia and Florida’s fertile recruiting grounds, you can’t expect to take the top recruits consistently. What the Old Ball Coach has going for him, though, is the fact that he’s been at the big dance (and quite successful at it: See THIS).
My Hot Seat Ranking: Lukewarm, but if he can’t get it done within the next couple years, he may hang it up and call it good. I think he wants to go out on top, in style.
TENNESSEE – After the royal screwing by Lane Kiffin, Tennessee brought Derek Dooley on board. Now entering his fourth year as a head coach (second as an SEC coach), Dooley’s got his work cut out for him. He’s got an uphill battle to restore some sanity to the Tennessee Football Program, though he seems to have it going on the right path. Once he gets the team comprised ENTIRELY of his players, he should be able to do some good things.
My Hot Seat Ranking: Given how much Lane Kiffin screwed over Tennessee, Dooley’s got some damage to undo. He’ll be okay at TN for the next few years.
VANDERBILT – Coming into the SEC as a first time Head Coach is going to be a daunting challenge for anyone. When you’re that head coach at Vanderbilt (a school more well known for its academics, rather than athletics), you have a serious uphill battle to fight. I can’t say much except that for Vanderbilt, a 6-6 record would be good as of late. Vanderbilt used to have a *very* impressive football program, and I hope they can achieve that prominence again. As I posted on Twitter recently (under @GridironHistory, “Hey, Vandy! The 1909 Vandy team called and asked how they could help!” Vandy was undefeated that season.
My Hot Seat Ranking: As long as Coach Franklin finishes this year 5-7 or better, and one of those wins is against Ole Miss, he’ll be on a good path and could set up nicely for him in the future.
There’s my Hot Seat breakdowns!
Next blog post (in the next week or two), I’ll talk about where I see the 2011 season shaking up for the SEC.
Feel free to comment (via here or via Twitter; just mention me (@BearlyDoug)), and I’ll respond.
Also, gotta do a shameless plug for you to follow @GridironHistory too!
Thanks for stopping by!
