Mandel thinks the SEC has the worst coaches

[LRRandy]

Urban could see that he was falling behind in the race, IMO. I believe he is the perfect example. There is no argueing that he is a very good coach and I believe he looked at his roster/situation and that of others and was smart enough to get out before his reputation was ruined. There is no way to know who or how many coaches have decided to avoid this meat grinder, but it is a real possibility that some have.

I'll give you that. It is certainly a possibility that Saban is a deterrent from coaches coming to the conference. Usually though football coaches are pretty sure of themselves and not afraid. Look at Bielema's first sec media days. Sit back and watch? He thought he was coming in to a situation and rule the league and talked that way.

[Dr Carl aka Shorthog]

Bielema in the Big 10 - What a Great Coach!
Bielema in the SEC - Just a Mediocre Coach!

Yeah, the coaching talent in the SEC is really down!

The coaching has changed quite a bit since then. The big 10 was one of the worst of the power five conferences at the time CBB won the conference. The big 10 is probably the best now. They really stepped up. And Wisconsin is probably better now then when CBB was there.

[Dr Carl aka Shorthog]

Can someone post the article?

Short, sweet and to the point. Here we go.

1) Big Ten. It was only a few years ago that I stood in a press box talking to a Big Ten-centric writer about just how awful the league's coaching lineup was at the time. Two words: Tim Beckman. But that was a time when many schools were still relatively stingy when it came to coaching salaries.

Now, it's the conference of coaching heavyweights – Urban Meyer, Jim Harbaugh, James Franklin and Mark Dantonio all sit among the most renowned coaches of this decade. Recent imports include a guy who had a lot of success in the Pac-12 (Nebraska's Mike Riley), another who went 13-1 at Western Michigan (Minnesota's P.J. Fleck) and another whose offenses dominated Conference USA (Western Kentucky's Jeff Brohm).

When Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald, widely revered nationally, is sitting in the middle of the pack, that's a strong lineup.

2) ACC. Again, this league would have sat near the bottom of the group not long ago. But Dabo Swinney and Jimbo Fisher are two of the sport's heavyweights. Louisville's Bobby Petrino has won big at three different schools. Duke's David Cutcliffe is a miracle worker. And look who's joined the league in just the last couple of years: Miami's Mark Richt, Virginia Tech's Justin Fuente, Virginia's Bronco Mendenhall and Syracuse's Dino Babers.

Things are looking up.

3) Big 12. In such a small league, this ranking hinges heavily on whether Oklahoma and Texas have the right guys in place. The Sooners do with Bob Stoops (Editor's note: This was published prior to Stoops' sudden retirement Wednesday.), and I believe the 'Horns finally do with Tom Herman. Gary Patterson is high up in my national Top 10, Bill Snyder is a Hall of Famer and Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy is perennially underrated. Baylor's Matt Rhule did outstanding work at Temple. And beware, Holgo.

4) Pac-12. A couple of years ago I would have put the Pac-12's lineup alongside the SEC's as the nation's best. But the shine has worn off guys like Todd Graham, Rich Rodriguez and Jim Mora. USC's Clay Helton and Oregon's Willie Taggart are still relatively unproven. So it's Chris Petersen, David Shaw, Kyle Whittingham, Mike Leach and then ... Mike MacIntyre? Who else?

5) SEC. So you've got the king in Nick Saban, and maybe he counts twice. Then you've got some guys like Gus Malzahn and Kevin Sumlin, who've achieved brief high points but haven't demonstrated they can sustain it. And beyond that, it's a whole lot of inexperience (Kirby Smart) or retreads (Will Muschamp, Ed Orgeron). Dan Mullen is currently the league's second-best coach, which pretty much says all you need to know.

Stewart: What is Bret Bielema's ceiling at Arkansas? Will he succeed enough to have a long career in Fayetteville, or does his system ultimately rely on too much development of players in an old-fashioned system that the Hogs will constantly be mismatched against other teams? Is Arkansas a place, similar to Mississippi State or West Virginia, where you have to be more modern to succeed?

– Michael

Well, first of all, we know you can win at a high level at Arkansas. Houston Nutt did it, taking the Hogs to Atlanta twice. Bobby Petrino did it, albeit briefly, notching back-to-back double-digit win seasons and a top 5 ranking. And Bielema has shown he can win at a high level in a major conference at Wisconsin. It hasn't happened yet at Arkansas, so the question about his system translating is understandable.

Bielema gets a pass for his first couple of seasons there due to the mess he inherited. But last season, his fourth, was unquestionably a disappointment, as Arkansas blew its last two games against Missouri and Virginia Tech and finished 7-6.

I don't believe Arkansas has to be "modern," per se, but it does have to do something a little bit different. It's never going to out-recruit the more established powers in its own division and conference. It hasn't finished higher than ninth in the SEC in 247Sports' recruiting class rankings since 2008. So it's unrealistic to think the Razorbacks will just put their guys up against the other guys and may the best man win. They've got to find a way to punch above their class.

Which is exactly what Petrino did. He never solved Alabama, but he did beat a Top 10 LSU team during his 2010 Sugar Bowl season (and very nearly beat a Top 10 Ohio State team in that Sugar Bowl) and beat three top 15 teams in his 11-win 2011 season. He did it first and foremost with an innovative offense that flustered what were often more athletic defenses.

Bielema has not demonstrated his strategic edge yet. His rushing attacks aren't steam-rolling people like they did at Wisconsin. Mind you, defense was his much bigger problem last season. But I do believe he's capable of rising up and posting the occasional nine- and 10-win seasons, much like Nutt did, that keep him in business there for a while.

I don't believe he can win the SEC, or reach the playoff, unless he hits a perfect-storm jackpot one year – Saban retires and/or the next Cam Newton graces Fayetteville and/or half the conference joins Ole Miss in NCAA purgatory.