2016 SEC Football Coaches Hot Seat

[jbcarol]

AL.com sports ‏@aldotcomSports 1h1 hour ago

"It's likely that if [Gus] doesn't win at least 8 games in 2016, he might be headed out the door." – @CregStephenson http://ow.ly/Yo4HQ

Dameyune Craig's departure for LSU earlier this week was the latest move in a forgettable football offseason for the Auburn Tigers.

Craig was the best remaining recruiter on the Auburn offensive staff, largely responsible for the Tigers landing one of the best receiver recruiting classes in the country earlier this month. He's also a beloved former player — probably one of the top 5 quarterbacks in school history — and an Auburn graduate.

Malzahn has had to replace five coaches on his staff this offseason, and it's likely that only two of the new hires were upgrades over their predecessors. Herb Hand was a good hire as offensive line coach, as was Wesley McGriff as secondary coach.

However, defensive coordinator Kevin Steele, linebacker coach Travis Williams and wide receivers coach Kodi Burns are not as accomplished as the men they are replacing. And Williams and Burns are basically entry-level hires, with Burns less than three years removed from being a graduate assistant and Williams a first-time college coach on a full-time basis.

So there's no question that Malzahn's seat is getting hot in Auburn? It's likely that if he doesn't win at least eight games in 2016, he might be headed out the door.

But is his seat the hottest among the SEC's football coaches?

[jbcarol]

Here are the other candidates for SEC football coaches hottest seats in addition to Coach Malzahn:

Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M: The Aggies have faded badly in October and November the last two seasons, and two highly touted quarterbacks left the program in December. If Oklahoma transfer Trevor Knight isn't the answer under center, Sumlin might be out on the street next winter.

Les Miles, LSU: Miles might have survived the worst after a near firing last November, or he could have been given merely a one-year reprieve. The Tigers should be loaded at just about every position next season, though as always, it will come down to quarterback play.

Mark Stoops, Kentucky: Like Texas A&M, Kentucky has gotten off to strong starts in each of the last two seasons before fading in the second half. The expectations are somewhat modest in Lexington, but the Wildcats can't afford another collapse in October and November.

Will Muschamp, South Carolina: It's not often you see a first-year coach on a list like this, but Muschamp was a questionable hire from the very beginning after failing spectacularly in a better situation at Florida. Muschamp will be given a very short leash in Columbia.

Based on that list, I think I might slot Malzahn in at No. 2 after only Sumlin, though I might be talked into putting him in the top spot.

[jbcarol]

Michael Carvell ‏@Carvell_AJC 6h6 hours ago

3 SEC coaches that need to win big in 2016 http://sec.news/1RQ7OAo

Here are the SEC coaches that need great seasons the most in 2016:
Butch Jones — Tennessee

It would seem the work of rebuilding Tennessee is over, and that's saying something. Former coach Derek Dooley treated the program the way a traveling salesman treats a rental car. The Vols were so beaten up that Tennessee fans were willing to extend a rare commodity to Dooley's successor — patience...

Gus Malzahn — Auburn

It's hard to believe Auburn won the SEC as recently as 2013...

Les Miles — LSU

Sometimes, when a person manages to avoid a terrible fate at the last moment, it's referred to as "getting a call from the governor."

[jbcarol]

ESPN SEC hot seat: Is Kevin Sumlin in trouble at A&M

A&M will fire Sumlin if: Like Malzahn, there is not a magical number of wins Sumlin needs to obtain this season to keep his job. He could win eight games, but if the Aggies lose all of the games that matter then his future still could be in jeopardy.

All told, Sumlin needs that signature win. He's 1-7 against the likes of Alabama and LSU, with the only win coming in Tuscaloosa his first year, and he also has lost to Ole Miss two years in a row. Texas A&M is never going to win a division or conference title if it can't beat those teams at the top of the SEC.

And at some point, shouldn't that be the expectation? To win the SEC? To play in a bowl game outside the state of Tennessee?

[jbcarol]

ESPN SEC ‏@ESPN_SEC 3h3 hours ago

SEC hot seat: Is Gus Malzahn in trouble at Auburn?  http://es.pn/1TyNmEm

Eight wins should be enough for Malzahn to keep his job, right? It wasn't enough for Mark Richt, but Richt had been at Georgia for over a decade and things had grown stagnant. This is only Malzahn's fourth season at Auburn.

But what happens if the Tigers get blown out by Alabama in the Iron Bowl? Would eight wins be enough then? Or would fans grow tired of getting beat up by their rival and turn on Malzahn? More important, would the administration turn on him? And you can tell yourself that one game won't make or break a coach, but Gene Chizik...

[jbcarol]

Izzy Gould ‏@IzzyGould 24h24 hours ago

For Auburn and Gus Malzahn, the time to 'earn it' is now http://fb.me/16vMLeDjD

Auburn's motto in 2016 is simple: earn it.

"Earn your teammates' respect, earn your coaches' respect, earn it every day on the field and off the field," fourth-year Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said.

Malzahn calls the vindictive approach "very healthy."

"Last year, we had an inexperienced team and we had some close losses, but these guys, a lot of them are coming back and they're looking forward to getting out there and redeeming themselves and I think that's important moving forward," he continued.

The players are not the only ones motivated by the disappointment last season. The Tigers went from No. 6 nationally to nearly losing to FCS foe Jacksonville State. Jeremy Johnson was deemed the next big thing at quarterback but never panned out, paving the way for redshirt freshman Sean White to be thrown into the fire earlier than expected.

Auburn lost four games by one score. Malzahn believes part of the problem was inexperience on offense and defense.

Whatever the issue, nothing seemed to be in Auburn's favor last season and changes were made after falling short of SEC championship goals. Five assistants, including defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, left Auburn for other jobs and Malzahn opted for familiarity in his off-season hires. He hopes the decision breeds success.

As for that cliche -- the chip on the shoulder -- Malzahn can relate to his players.

"There's no doubt," Malzahn said. "That's why I'm excited to get out there. It's a new year. From a coaching standpoint, especially a head coach's standpoint, you evaluate the things from last year that you need to improve on, and we know what they are and we are going to go out there and redeem ourselves. Me, personally, I'm excited to get on the practice field."

[jbcarol]

UK AD Barnhart: Bowl or bust?

Kentucky's combined record in the second halves of 2014 and 2015 was a staggeringly bad 1-11. So is it bowl or bust for Stoops in 2016?

"You know me well enough to know I'm never going to say 'have to' do anything. What we want to do is we want to get to postseason play," athletic director Mitch Barnhart told The Courier-Journal on Wednesday during a wide-ranging, one-on-one interview. "That's the goal. There is no mystery in that. We talk about that all the time: What do we have to do in all of our sports to get to postseason play? Postseason play in football is bowls. We want to get to a bowl game."

The Cats have not done so since the 2010 season and have not finished with a winning record since 2009.

"It is a real important part of the growth of this program. It's extra practice for our guys. It's our young guys getting reps. It's being able to see your physical effort rewarded in other areas off the field," Barnhart said. "Those pieces are really, really important to us. Getting to a bowl, it's absolutely important. So is it bust (if not)? No. But we've got to find our way through."

There are valid reasons Barnhart doesn't want to paint himself into a corner, in addition to Stoops' enormous buyout were UK to fire him after this season.

"Football is a really tough game and lots of things can happen," Barnhart said. "You could be cruising along really good and have 14 injuries in one weekend and all of a sudden you find yourself with no offensive line or no quarterbacks or something like that. Then all of a sudden people say, 'Well you didn't make it and you said ...' We're not going to get into all that."

Stoops signed another highly rated recruiting class in February – his fourth in a row –

[jbcarol]

There will be 2 (and possibly 3) SEC coaching changes by season's end

We had three SEC coaching changes last season, though two were retirements by veteran coaches nearing the end of the line (South Carolina's Steve Spurrier and Missouri's Gary Pinkel). Only Georgia's Mark Richt was dismissed for performance-related issues. We might see multiple firings this year, though I believe LSU's Les Miles is safe for now. Unless Texas A&M jumps back into contention this season (highly unlikely given the chaos that continues to swirl around that program), Kevin Sumlin is almost certainly cooked. So that's one. I don't have any faith in Mark Stoops' ability to avoid another late-season collapse at Kentucky. There's two. The third?

If Gus Malzahn doesn't win at least eight games this year, he's done.

[jbcarol]

Sumlin hot-seat talk has ramped up this offseason following the abrupt transfers last December of Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray – each the starting quarterback at the time – and the Aggies overall failing to build upon their 11-2 record in their first season in the SEC in 2012

Sumlin, who earns $5 million annually and has four years remaining on his contract, said his program made some big changes at the beginning of the offseason that improved its stability. He parted ways with offensive coordinator Jake Spavital and replaced him with Noel Mazzone, who held the same position at UCLA.

Sumlin also fired offensive line coach Dave Christensen and replaced him with Jim Turner, a highly regarded assistant under the previous A&M regime of Mike Sherman. He also brought onboard David Turner from Mississippi State to coach the interior defensive line, after Mark Hagen returned to his alma mater.

"We hired three veteran coaches, and anybody who watched spring practices or the spring game can see that there's already a difference," Sumlin said.

[Inhogswetrust]

I have to wonder how safe Mason is at Vandy if they take a step back.

[jbcarol]

Mandel: I feel like half the SEC's coaches are on the hot seat already

Someone like Kentucky's Mark Stoops could possibly get a quick hook. Based on last year's soap opera it's safe to assume Les Miles can't afford for his likely preseason-top-5 LSU team to implode. Beyond that, it would likely be something that comes out of nowhere like South Carolina/Spurrier last year.

[jbcarol]

Paul Finebaum ‏@finebaum May 23

"Texas A&M's biggest home SEC win at Kyle Field is over Vanderbilt in 2013. That's why Sumlin is on the hot seat" - @BarrettSallee

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/PeterBurnsESPN/status/738004831202349056

https://twitter.com/SECbooger/status/738031693467095040

[jbcarol]

Auburn's vote of confidence for Gus Malzahn

"He's our coach, and he'll be our coach for a long, long time." — Auburn athletics director Jay Jacobs

At first glance, Jacobs' recent quote bears the look of a powerful, caveat-free endorsement of Auburn coach Gus Malzahn, regardless of his 2-6 SEC record in 2015 or the Tigers' 10-11 overall mark in their last 21 games.

It also creates the perception that Jacobs — Auburn's AD since December 2004 — has zero interest in pursuing other candidates to run the football program. Within that narrative, Malzahn has always been the right man for this high-pressure job.

But here's the unspoken reality of the situation:

Jacobs and Malzahn shall remain joined at the hip for at least two more years, citing dual reasons:

1) Auburn has momentarily run out of trump cards with prospective head coaches (read: natural successors).

2) Alabama's ongoing dynasty (four SEC titles, four national championships since 2009) has a way of turning rational-thinking Auburn alums (full disclosure: I married one) into irrational, hot-tempered zealots

...

What could possibly motivate a big-time coach to accept the Auburn job ... knowing the last two leaders were (hypothetically) shown the door after four years and how the 64-year-old Saban might choose to remain in Tuscaloosa for another 5-7 years?

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/aldotcomSports/status/740195381913526272

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Carvell_AJC/status/742723660696432640

In the SEC East, stakes are high. Keeping a job is so difficult in this conference that no current coach has completed even four seasons at his respective school.

Mark Stoops, Kentucky
It's hard to deny the kind of talent that Mark Stoops has brought to Kentucky, but results have not yet followed in Lexington. The Wildcats have not qualified for a bowl game since the 2010 season, Previously, the Wildcats qualified for five straight bowl games under coaches Rich Brooks...
Verdict: 6 wins

Barry Odom, Missouri
Verdict: 4 wins

Butch Jones, Tennessee
Three of the team's four losses were against ranked teams — Alabama, Oklahoma and Florida, who defeated Jones' squad by a combined 13 points. If Tennessee can't capitalize and win the SEC East, Jones' seat could get warm quickly. That is the price of being the longest-tenured coach in the division.
Verdict: 9 wins

Derek Mason, Vanderbilt
Verdict: 4 wins

[jbcarol]

Kevin Sumlin to his players: Don't listen to the noise (but adds it's hard not to hear it)

BRYAN – The so-called "Talking Season" is shifting to full throttle with mid-June nearly upon us, and on Thursday night Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin visited with the Brazos County A&M Club for Coach's Night at the Expo off Leonard Road.

The Aggies are coming off successive 8-5 seasons, and following the December transfers of two starting quarterbacks in Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray, plenty of questions about the program's direction have persisted.

Sumlin, entering his fifth season at A&M, insisted things are headed the right way, with the Aggies opening against UCLA on Sept. 3 at Kyle Field.

[jbcarol]

Scarblog: Who coaches more Iron Bowls in his career? Gus Malzahn or Dabo Swinney

Because if Alabama's smart, when Nick Saban retires, Mama's (sic) first call will go to Swinney, who played there, coached there and grew up there in so many ways.

What if the Auburn defense shocks the world and slows down Deshaun Watson and Kevin Steele has his revenge? Or what if Watson does to Auburn what he did to Alabama and Auburn fails to find the right answer at quarterback? What if Auburn loses to Clemson for the the third straight time as it did in 2011 and 2012?

Either result will have an impact on the narrative surrounding Malzahn's future. Swinney's, too.

If Clemson wins, he'll be 3-1 against Auburn with three straight wins. That's the kind of thing that would appeal to the Alabama fan base when the program next goes in search of a coach.

As far as we know, Malzahn will turn things around and prosper at Auburn for a decade while Swinney keeps rolling along at Clemson. But...

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Carvell_AJC/status/744153235359948800

Gus Malzahn, Auburn

Auburn was a popular pick to win the SEC last season after introducing QB Jeremy Johnson and returning several key pieces on both sides of the ball... Auburn fans place an extremely short leash on their coaches. Gus Malzahn led the Tigers to a championship game, but could soon follow Chizik's fate should his team struggle again next season.

Verdict: 8 wins

Les Miles, LSU

Les Miles is a survivor.

Verdict: 10 wins

Kevin Sumlin, A&M

The talent is in place, and excuses are running out...

Verdict: 9 wins

Coaches for Life?  Saban, Mullen, and Bielema

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/wildcatnews/status/744340517018800128

Two weeks ago, Mac Jones changed his mind. The highly regarded Jacksonville, Fla., quarterback flipped his commitment from Kentucky to Alabama. While this was a big deal in terms of talent, it wasn't nearly as big a surprise.

Then this past Thursday, Russ Yeast changed his mind. A UK commitment for nearly a year, the Greenwood, Ind., cornerback/receiver announced via Twitter that he was withdrawing his pledge and hitting the restart button on his recruiting. Though not as big a deal in terms of talent as the Jones reversal, it was a bigger surprise. After all, Russ Yeast is the son of Craig Yeast.

And Craig Yeast was one of the greatest receivers in Kentucky history. In fact, you could argue the former Harrodsburg star was UK's greatest receiver, certainly in the top five. As good as Tim Couch was during his two-year run as Kentucky's quarterback in the Air Raid offense, Couch's numbers were boosted by Yeast's speed. A three-yard Couch-to-Yeast bubble screen often became a 30-yard gain. Or longer.

Kentucky coach has recruited well his first three years on the job. Most of that has been based on the promise of what Kentucky would do under the former Florida State defensive coordinator, however, not on what it had done — just 12-24 overall and 4-20 in the SEC.

That faith-based approach only lasts so long. At some point, a program has to deliver victories. This isn't a decade or three ago when coaches came equipped with five-year plans and athletic directors preached patience. The landscape has changed, and so have the dollar signs. So have the fan bases. Higher ticket prices have done a number on fan loyalties. Gone are the days of the guaranteed sellout.

Still, achieving the program's first winning season since 2009 won't be easy. The schedule includes trips to Florida, Tennessee, Louisville and defending national champ Alabama. Stoops has a new starting quarterback in Drew Barker and plenty of spots to fill on his defensive line and at linebacker. A recent poll of the league's sports information directors didn't exude confidence. It picked UK to finish sixth in the East.

Recruiting is still the lifeblood, of course. And to this point, UK's recruits have seen the financial investment put into a renovated stadium and a new practice facility. They've heard the talk of great things ahead. What they haven't seen is success on the field. Not yet. And what we're seeing is the latter is starting to matter.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Carvell_AJC/status/745409541555249152

ATMORE, Ala. — When Gene Chizik fell, he fell hard at Auburn.

Two years removed from winning a national championship, he went winless in the SEC and was fired in December 2012. The quick pull of the plug has, fairly or not, cast a shadow on fourth-year coach Gus Malzahn as he tries to right a ship that has been headed south since he led the Tigers to a national runner-up finish in 2013.

Things are not dire at Auburn, but losing nine of its last 11 SEC games certainly doesn't build confidence. The perception is Auburn administrators could easily make a quick decision and look for a new coach if things spiral out of control again —

"This entire league is about winning, but right now what we need is stability," Jacobs said outside the Escambia County Auburn Club. "We need somebody here who stands for the right things like Gus does, the best offensive mind in the nation, taken us to two national championships — which very few in this league can say that's happened to them; only two, I believe. So that's what it's about. It's not about perception. It's not about what the past is; it's about what we need right now moving forward. We need him to be our coach for a long time, and we're going to provide him with the resources to get that done. We've got to produce on the field."

Again, there's the caveat: Auburn has to win on the field.

Chizik was fired 17 months after receiving a new contract worth $3.5 million per year. Malzahn's deal calls for $4.75 million per year through July 2020. Chizik's firing came after a historical fall from grace in 2012. No team had lost as many games (9) within two years of winning a national title since the Associated Press poll launched in 1936.

Auburn has yet to have a losing season under Malzahn, whose last sub-.500 season was in 1992 as a small-town high school coach in Arkansas. Tigers, however, barely managed an overtime win against FCS foe Jacksonville State last season and avoided a losing record by beating Memphis, 31-10, in the Birmingham Bowl.

[NoNC4Tubs]

When Malzahn gets turned loose, Jacobs will be following him out the door...

[jbcarol]

Coaches on the hot seat

Charlie Strong, Texas --- The former Gator defensive coordinator and Louisville coach has been the victim of a passionate fanbase with unrealistic expectations. But Baylor's fall from grace could open the door for Strong to lead the Longhorns to a breakout season. Strong is 11-14 in two seasons at Texas...

Les Miles, LSU -- Don't forget, Les was left twisting in the wind last November before being brought back to campus. Expectations will be high with running back Leonard Fournette back, but the Miles era could end if LSU fails to develop a passing game to complement Fournette, can't beat Alabama and stumbles to three or four losses.

Derek Mason, Vanderbilt -- Nobody doubts Mason can coach defense. He put a scare in Florida's quest for an SEC East crown by holding the Gators to single digits in UF's eventual 9-7 win over the Commodores last November. But in two seasons, Mason has led Vanderbilt to just a 4-17 record against FBS teams and 2-14 record against SEC opponents. Mason will need to develop a more dynamic offense...

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/bmarcello/status/748607423800283136

Tigers' strength of schedule ranks first nationally, according to the Fremeau Efficiency Index's strength of schedule ratings. FEI is a rating system developed by Brian Fremeau that is based on opponent-adjusted drive efficiency.

What do all of the numbers mean? Well, nothing until the season begins...

An elite team would average 2.41 losses against Auburn's schedule, a good team would average 5.22 losses and an average team would average 7.73 losses.

In other words, an average team facing Auburn's schedule would finish with a 4-8 record, according to the FEI. A good team would finish with a 7-5 record, which is nearly on par with the Tigers' 7-6 mark last season.

Malzahn enters a critical year for the Auburn football program, which has failed over the last two years to match the first-year success of a 12-2 record, SEC title and runner-up finish in the BCS National Championship. Auburn opened the 2015 season No. 6 in the nation but has lost nine of its last 11 SEC games, including an 0-4 mark last season at home.

Auburn also is rebuilding on offense after a sub-par season with quarterbacks Jeremy Johnson and Sean White sharing the reins.

[jbcarol]

Malzahn's seat is not as hot as some might think, but the fact remains the Tigers need to win some big games this season to keep Jordan-Hare Stadium filled on Saturdays. Considering Auburn has lost nine of its last 11 SEC games and failed to win a conference game at home last season, fans are already starting to wonder about the future.

There are five new members on the staff, but the biggest change is a philosophical one for Malzahn, who seemed to get caught up in the off-the-field matters rather than focusing on coaching last season.

"There's a lot of moving parts to be a head coach in our league and at my core I'm a football coach," Malzahn said in May. "That's what I do best and so sometimes you can get distracted with other things and I think the easiest way to answer that is I'm not going to be distracted with the other things when the season gets here. And I'm going to coach football."

Simply put, expect Malzahn to go back to his roots as an offensive coordinator as he tries to turn around a program — and an offense — that was taking on water in 2015.

[jbcarol]

Jared Stillman ‏@JaredStillman Jul 6

. @AdamSparks tells us that the temperature on Derek Mason's chair is "very cool".

[jbcarol]

Dodd placed five SEC coaches on the hot seat, ranking them from "win or be fired" to "untouchable."

The first name to appear on the list is LSU coach Les Miles, who was named to the "win or be fired" category. We all remember the Miles saga toward the end of last season...

Stoops is entering his fourth season in Lexington and has led the Wildcats to a 12-24 record thus far. Kentucky is coming off back-to-back 5-7 seasons.

Gus Malzahn is also entering his fourth season, coming off a 7-6 season. The Tigers finished 2-6 last season in the SEC last year, and enter 2016 without a clear-cut starting quarterback. Dodd writes, " The Auburn coach vs. expectations vs. Alabama. Every day of the year. Good luck, Gus. There are at least three teams better than the Tigers in the SEC West. Or is that just perception?"

Sumlin (3.5 rating) has turned the program in the right direction, but can he lead the Aggies to their true potential?

Commodores have played to a 7-17 record in two seasons under Mason, and will look to escape the bottom of the SEC East. Mason was given a "pressure mounting" grade...

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/matthewcstevens/status/752278620878540800

Gus Malzahn will likely get inducted into an exclusive club he never wanted to be allowed in: The hot seat fraternity.

Every year at least a few head coaches arrive at Southeastern Conference media days and are essentially forced to confront the following uncomfortable job security questions. These coaches are basically asked: So (fill in the blank) are you comfortable you'll be back at the Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Alabama next summer?

Malzahn, LSU head coach Les Miles, Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin and Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops appear to be the company entering SEC media days this week in this precarious situation.

Auburn opens up the four-day media event Monday in Hoover, Alabama with Florida, Vanderbilt and the annual speech from league commissioner Greg Sankey.

Despite back-to-back frustrating seasons, Auburn athletics director Jay Jacobs reaffirmed his commitment and confidence in Malzahn, who is 27-13 overall and 13-11 in the Southeastern Conference, just a few weeks after Auburn defeated Memphis 31-10 in the Birmingham Bowl last December.

"There's a bunch of schools in our league that would love to be in our position with a guy like him," Jacobs said. "It's a tough league. This league is tough every day. It doesn't matter what year it is. There's no doubt that he's the right guy for Auburn."

A week before announcing Malzahn's contract extension until 2020 that would force a total buyout payment of $8.95 million, Jacobs said at SEC spring meetings that he expected the Tigers current head coach to stay "for a long, long time". However, Jacobs has used that exact language about Tommy Tuberville and Gene Chizik a year before both of them were no longer employed at Auburn.

[jbcarol]

Dustin Dopirak ‏@TennesseeBeat 48s49 seconds ago

Malzahn: "It really comes down to, in our league, winning close games. The difference between last year and the year's before ... is that we didn't get it done."

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Carvell_AJC/status/752607715126550528

So which coaches are least likely to return next season?

1. Gus Malzahn Auburn

... if Auburn doesn't show drastic improvement this season, Malzahn's fate — despite his early success — will be no different than his predecessors.

2. Les Miles LSU

There are plenty of reasons not to fire Miles, but it's a good idea for him to beat Alabama

3. Dan Mullen Mississippi State

To listen to Mullen speak is to realize he sounds less like Mississippi than maybe anyone living in the Magnolia State.

His accent — earned while growing up in New Hampshire — seems to provide a clue that the South won't be Mullen's last coaching stop. He isn't a threat to be fired at Mississippi State, but it shouldn't come as a surprise if life after former quarterback Dak Prescott motivates Mullen to look for a job a little easier than trying to win games in the SEC West

4. Nick Saban Alabama

This will be Saban's 10th consecutive trip to SEC Media Days as Alabama coach.
Maybe this is the year Saban finally gets bored with winning national championships and decides to retire.

5. Kevin Sumlin A&M

Sumlin's team will play every coach ranked above him on this list, and if he doesn't win at least one of those games he may very well be at the top of this list

[hawginbigd1]

I think Sumlin is done after this season, because Trevor Knight might be average at best. Not keeping one of his QBs is going to cost him his job.

[jbcarol]

Gus Malzahn on the hot seat? Auburn players weigh in

Carl Lawson is not buying what some people are selling

Talk of Auburn coach Gus Malzahn being on the hot seat entering his fourth season is not on his mind. In fact, the defensive end is not sure why it's being discussed at all.

"What do I think about it?" he said. "I think the media put that up there."

Malzahn didn't answer questions about his job security Monday at SEC Media Days, but he was certainly open about past struggles and the need to correct course on the Plains. Auburn has lost nine of its last 11 SEC games, including an 0-4 mark at Jordan-Hare Stadium last season. The Tigers' record has also fallen in each of the two seasons following the improbable run to the SEC title in 2013.

"That's what comes with [the job]," receiver Marcus Davis said. "I know there were three-plus games we lost by one possession. And if we win those games, these questions wouldn't be brought up. It's things of that nature where, as players, we have to take advantage of those opportunities when we're put in those situations."

Defensive tackle Montravius Adams agreed with the assessment.

"As players we know that coaches come and go either for good or bad things," Adams said...

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Carvell_AJC/status/753952735666593792

HOOVER, Ala. — Call it the dreaded vote of confidence or a true showing of Auburn's long-term commitment with Gus Malzahn as head coach. Either way, one thing is certain from the coach's perspective: He doesn't want to go anywhere anytime soon.

Malzahn received a one-year extension in a restructured deal that will pay him more money on the front end of the contract than his previous deal...

Malzahn's contract, worth $4.725 million per season through 2020, could alleviate concerns on the recruiting trail as the coach enters his fourth season having lost nine of his last 11 SEC games.

"Well, I think it's important to every head coach," Malzahn said. "It shows that the administration has confidence in you. Like I said, I love coaching at Auburn, love being here and expect to be here a long time."

When asked specifically about the contract extension helping the perception of the program's stability as he traverses the recruiting trail, Malzahn said: "I think the big thing for me is it all works together."

Malzahn previously was scheduled to be paid $4.35 million in 2016 with raises in the following seasons that would result in $5.1 million in 2019. Malzahn's buyout remains at $2,237,500 for each year remaining on the contract should he be fired.

Auburn athletics director Jay Jacobs voiced his vote of confidence — and used the same exact words previously used to support former Auburn coaches Tommy Tuberville and Gene Chizik in previous years —

[jbcarol]

Josh Vitale ‏@AUBlog 3h3 hours ago

Malzahn on @SportsCenter
"It's an honor to be the coach at Auburn, and I really think the next 3-4 years are fixing to be some of our best."

[NoNC4Tubs]

https://twitter.com/bmarcello/status/748607423800283136

So they win the four cupcake games? 

[NoNC4Tubs]

https://twitter.com/Carvell_AJC/status/753952735666593792

Jay Jacobs is "All In"! 

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/SECfootball/status/755862885767655427

https://twitter.com/JohnLPitts/status/755863089371680768

[jbcarol]

Paul Finebaum ‏@finebaum Jul 28

What did he just say? @bobounds tells us he believes Arkansas could go 5-7 which would put Bret Bielema on hot seat entering 2017.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/matthewcstevens/status/759868646604869632

The choices are between chief operating officer Gus Malzahn and head football coach Gus Malzahn. The two men may look, talk and walk eerily similar but make no mistake about it, they think drastically different.

"My teams have taken on my personality in the past, and I think we sort of had four or five different personalities last year, all the different coaches' personalities," Malzahn said. "That's on me. That's my fault. You live and learn, and I learned the hard way last year."

Auburn CEO Gus Malzahn gave the impression of being a lot more hands-off with his assistants and coordinators during last year's preseason camp. The 2015 preseason practices began with the Tigers predicted to win the Southeastern Conference and expecting to be a national championship contender.

Malzahn stood in the back and observed more. He still shouted instruction when needed but for the most part, offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee and running backs coach Tim Horton were in charge of the offense.

"We're not reinventing the wheel here," Lashlee said. "We've had a lot of success for long periods of time. But it's a 'what-have-you-done-for-me-lately' kind of thing, and none of us feel good about coming up short about the things we wanted to achieve last year."

Will Muschamp, whom Malzahn referred to as "the best defensive mind in all of football" was seen as the defacto defensive head coach with Malzahn never being where the defensive players were operating.

"My No. 1 goal is to get our defense to play Top 10 defense. It's not offense," Malzahn said. "The way we're going to be good for a long period of time is defense, and that's just the bottom line."

A 6-6 regular season with a last-place finish in the SEC's Western Division created more questions than answers and several of those issues haven't been satisfied.

Goodbye CEO Gus and welcome back to the ball coach.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Carvell_AJC/status/760460243155423232

"He may leave on his own volition. He's the guy the NFL, Roger Goodell, has gone to both David Shaw and Kevin Sumlin and said, 'We'd love to have you in our league.' They are looking for African American coaches," Cowherd said. "He may leave, his own choice. Secondly, I looked at the schedule today. That's a rough schedule. Even out of conference they play Josh Rosen, UCLA, maybe the second best college quarterback.

"They are a six or seven-loss team in the SEC between the off-field. I told you this earlier, this embarrassing coaching moment with these assistants and the de-committing and transferring of star quarterbacks. It looks like it's man overboard so every loss will be pinned on Sumlin's lack of leadership. He's in trouble."

Texas A&M recently suspended offensive line coach Jim Turner and special teams coordinator Jeff Banks for two weeks without pay for comments made during "Chalk Talk", a women's football clinic hosted by Texas A&M. Sumlin issued an apology for what the two assistants called "a failed attempt at humor."

"This isn't a failed attempt at humor," Jason Whitlock said. "This was Hugh Hefner speaking to a group of football fans and trying to explain football to them. This was borderline pornography, what these guys did. This was a level of idiocracy and stupidity that should cost these two assistant coaches their job and should certainly have Kevin Sumlin on the hot seat."

[jbcarol]

Paul Finebaum ‏@finebaum 2h2 hours ago

"9-3 with a loss to Bama I think you have the same situation in Baton Rouge that you did with Mark Richt last season" - @MattMoscona

[jbcarol]

Mark Stoops' fourth season at Kentucky is all about getting to the program's first bowl game since 2010, the last of a school-record five consecutive postseason appearances

Here are a few things that might matter more:

HAVE A SHUTDOWN SECONDARY

For all the (totally reasonable) concern about Kentucky's unproven front seven on defense, it won't necessarily torpedo the Cats if Stoops is right about the back end. A longtime secondary guru, he sees "superstars in the making" in an all-sophomore cast of Chris Westry and Derrick Baity at corner and Mike Edwards and Darius West at safety. All four showed significant promise in 2015.

Why that matters: During its five-year run of bowl games from 2006-10, Kentucky struggled to sack the quarterback and couldn't stop the run, but it typically had a sound secondary. The Cats held opponents under 58 percent completions every season during that stretch – and ranked top-three in the SEC in that category three times.

That offset other deficiencies. UK ranked higher than sixth in the league in sacks only once during the bowl streak; it ranked last twice. And the run defense? Tenth or worse in the SEC every season during the five-bowl run.

So, yeah, the secondary matters, and Stoops has dramatically upgraded his. After allowing a league-worst completion percentage (65. his first season in 2013, UK slashed that to 57.1 percent last fall.

FIND A PLAYAMKER AT LINEBACKER

Top-shelf secondary or not, the Cats must get something from the linebackers. And right now, there's only uncertainty. Kentucky's four projected starters – Nebraska transfer Courtney Love and sophomores Josh Allen, Denzil Ware and Jordan Jones –

[jbcarol]

Power 5 school will scoop up Houston's Tom Herman by Dec. 1

If teams like Auburn, Texas or Texas A&M struggle early, don't be surprised to see an athletic director fire a coach sooner than usual. Everybody will line up to get a chance to hire Herman, especially schools in Texas.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/bmarcello/status/763841513025511424

Auburn athletics director fired Gene Chizik only two seasons following a national title. He fired baseball coach Sunny Golloway last fall amid an internal investigation, leading to a hurried search for a coach while fall practices and scrimmages were underway.

But it's different this time with fourth-year Auburn football coach Gus Malzahn.

"The expectations are high, but it's difficult in this day and time because people just want to flip people out of here like pancakes," Jacobs said Thursday on SiriusXM's College Football Nation. "And I've had a history of doing that, but I think in this case with Gus, everything I've seen from him and their recruiting and the kind of man he is, he's the right man for Auburn for right now and for a long time to come.

"It's difficult because people demand instant gratification," Jacbos said. "Our kids demand it, we all have gotten that way. We want to know right now, we don't want things to grow and be built. What we do need is we need stability. These guys here, this team here, they need stability. We need stability in this program. The other thing is, where are you going to find a better offensive mind than Gus Malzahn? Then with Kevin Steele running the defense. We've had a great recruiting classes under Gus. We're excited about it."

[jbcarol]

Brett McMurphy ‏@McMurphyESPN 24h24 hours ago

Since 2011, 7 of 9 coaches whose teams ranked in preseason AP Top 10 that finished year unranked were fired or resigned w/in next 12 months

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/tnsports/status/771564061548957697

Adam Sparks ‏@AdamSparks 6h6 hours ago

"I'm not going to second-guess (the quarterback change) because that wasn't the difference in the ball game." — Derek Mason

Kyle Shurmur dropped back, stood in, waited, waited some more and took a hit as he uncoiled a strike to C.J. Duncan, finally open and crossing over the middle.

This was the work of a real quarterback. This was a real drive. This was exactly why Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason named the sophomore his starter in July, swearing off the unproductive juggling of the past two seasons and vowing that he wouldn't return to it.

In that third Vanderbilt opportunity Thursday night, Mason and his staff finally let Shurmur loose — he had one chance to drop back and make a read in the first two possessions — and Shurmur found rhythm. He completed a couple of passes, he checked into a run that resulted in a first down, and it was 10-0 Commodores after the 67-yard march.

And then he was gone. As the press box buzzed with speculation on when and where Shurmur got hurt, backup Wade Freebeck came in and directed consecutive three-and-outs — once starting from his own 7, once from his 17. Then Shurmur returned.

Huh?

Maybe it's speculative to focus on this sequence in the wake of a 13-10 loss to South Carolina in which so much else went wrong in the late stages at Vanderbilt Stadium. But it was hard to point to anything else, even with South Carolina and its fans — about 30 percent of the crowd of 30,304 — celebrating wildly as Elliott Fry's 55-yard game winner sneaked through the uprights with 35 seconds left.

Getting another quarterback work is one thing. Doing it immediately after a breakthrough moment for the starter, with terrible field position, after saying this stuff was over, is a bad thing — Mason's predictable disagreement notwithstanding.

"I'm not gonna second guess that, because that wasn't the difference in the ballgame," he said after falling to 7-18 with the Commodores, in a game his team led for 50 minutes.

And he also said: "You guys are talking about something that's really non-existent."

And: "I know you guys want to keep bringing it back to that, but the bottom line is we just didn't play very well."

As you can tell, most of Mason's postgame news conference revolved around the quarterback switch, which he said was pre-determined and "absolutely" expected by the team. And I can understand his frustration with that in a sense, because there were so many opportunities for the Commodores to win this game anyway.

"I've got confidence, but I'm not calling plays when it's all said and done," Mason said. "I'm not gonna get on the headphones and tell my offensive coordinator what to run."

Sometimes, that's exactly what a head coach has to do. This was a promising start turned disaster, for a team that needed a different story line. And it's second-guessing season in Nashville.

[jbcarol]

Brett McMurphy ‏@McMurphyESPN 24h24 hours ago

Since 2011, 7 of 9 coaches whose teams ranked in preseason AP Top 10 that finished year unranked were fired or resigned w/in next 12 months

Josh Ward ‏@Josh_Ward 8h8 hours ago

Butch Jones: "Again, to educate y'all, we played a really good football team." Jones said he's "never been part of a frustrating win."

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/wesrucker247/status/771519708600434688

[jbcarol]

Glenn Guilbeau ‏@LSUBeatTweet 19h19 hours ago

"I think this team wants more," LSU's Les Miles said. Good thing, because he needs more than 9 Ws to keep his job.  https://t.co/Z8WbhL61kY

GREEN BAY, Wisconsin — The last time LSU was ranked in the top five entering a football season, it was 2012 when the Tigers were fresh off their first undefeated regular season since 1958.

A total of 14 starters returned from that 2011 team that won the Southeastern Conference at 13-0 before losing to Alabama in the BCS national championship game. It entered the '12 season at No. 3 in the Associated Press preseason poll, but without a major part of those expectations as Bednarik Award-winning and Heisman fifth place-finishing cornerback/returner Tyrann Mathieu was dismissed for repeated drug policy violations regarding marijuana before the season. The Tigers lost two regular season games to top-10 teams by a combined 12 points.

LSU leaps into the 2016 season as the No. 5 team in the AP preseason poll against Wisconsin at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Lambeau Field with 17 returning starters following a rare spring and summer of zero off-field issues, disciplinary suspensions or dismissals.

"I think this team wants more," LSU coach Les Miles said. "I think there's a group of leaders that have really insisted that there's some things that we need to do as a team and some things we need not do. I think this team is a little bit more focused than other clubs that I've had."

Miles also has the hottest defensive coordinator in the business in Dave Aranda, who will coach his first game for LSU against his former school. He inherits speed and talent and just acquired a key element to his LSU-new 3-4 alignment in wide body transfer nose guard Travonte Valentine. Watch on Saturday for this 356-pound difference maker that LSU's offensive linemen have struggled to block. He will be wearing No. 55.

One of the coldest offensive coordinators in the business — Cam Cameron —

[jbcarol]

 Patrick Magee ‏@Patrick_Magee 1m1 minute ago

It's year No. 4 and Mark Stoops still has a 'young team' ... .right