3 SEC football coaches with the hottest seats ahead of 2024 season

The 2023 season was kind to some of the top SEC football programs like Alabama, LSU, and Georgia. While only the Crimson Tide made the College Football Playoff, Georgia held the No. 1 spot in the rankings all season as the reigning back-to-back national champs and LSU fielded the Heisman Trophy winner in Jayden Daniels.

Some surprising programs like Missouri and Ole Miss (no longer much of a surprise under Lane Kiffin) stepped up to make some noise while usual contenders like Auburn, Texas A&M, and Florida all faded into irrelevance.

One of these disappointing seasons led to the firing of a head coach as Jimbo Fisher's buyout was choked down by Texas A&M donors and they went out and hired Mike Elko to replace him.

Another disappointing season for a few teams this year could lead to similar results.

Which three SEC football coaches are sitting on the hottest seats heading into 2024?

3. Clark Lea, Vanderbilt

It's really hard to put a Vanderbilt head coach on here, especially Clark Lea who flirted with a bowl berth in 2022, but going 2-10 in two out of his first three years is not a good look.

Yes, I get that it's Vanderbilt, but we've seen success here before from a guy like James Franklin who is constantly being talked about as facing make-or-break seasons in the Big Ten with Penn State. Lea is not Franklin -- at least not yet -- so we can't expect those same results, but he showed in 2022 that he can win games as an SEC football coach at Vandy. And yet he followed that up with 2-10.

Oh, and he went 0-8 in SEC play last year and is just 2-22 in the conference since he took over.

If he can't at least win five games this upcoming season, there's a good chance he'll be out of a head coaching job come 2025.