When the LSU Tigers and the Florida Gators fired their head coaches, it looked like the coaching carousel could end up being truly insane. That turned out to be the case as the past two days have seen 6 SEC programs hire new head coaches bringing what was expected to be a crazy process to a close.
The central figure in the chaos in the SEC was Lane Kiffin, as he was the biggest domino in the coaching carousel. Once it appeared that Lane Kiffin was going to LSU, it set off a domino effect as Auburn, Arkansas, Florida, and Ole Miss all hired their head coaches quickly. After Kentucky filled its vacant role on Monday, every role in the SEC is filled, barring a last-minute hiring or firing.
Power Ranking the head coaches in the SEC after the coaching carousel
It doesn't matter what changes around Kirby Smart, the more the rest of the league changes, the more impressive his run at Georgia becomes. As the Transfer Portal killed a ton of the depth the top teams used to hoard, Kirby Smart's team continues to reload at a truly insane rate. Like when Nick Saban ruled over the SEC, you can count on Kirby Smart having a chance at winning the National Championship on a yearly basis.
There's a reason that LSU, Florida, and Ole Miss were all battling to land Lane Kiffin, and it's because he's one of the best coaches in this era. Kiffin has mastered the Transfer Portal better than any other coach in this era, remolding his teams on a yearly basis. After landing at LSU, Kiffin won't need to work nearly as hard on the recruiting trail, and he'll end up landing better players, giving him a true chance to win a National Championship.
Kalen DeBoer's second season in Tuscaloosa has been much closer to what we saw him do at Washington, as he has the Crimson Tide playing for a National Championship. This season, Kalen DeBoer managed a roster with a first-time starting quarterback and developed Ty Simpson on the job. As we get further from the Nick Saban era, these teams will start to fit Kalen DeBoer's style of play, and the Crimson Tide will be a power moving forward.
Arguably, Clark Lea has done a better job coaching than any of the coaches in the SEC when you consider the challenges he's faced. Lea took over a program that was the doormat of the SEC, with higher academic standards making it harder to recruit. Over the last two seasons, Vanderbilt has become a true threat in the SEC, and its contract extension should make that the standard going forward.
After back-to-back College Football Playoff appearances, the Texas Longhorns will likely fall short of that mark this season after entering the season as the top-ranked team in the AP Poll. Steve Sarkisian has done a great job getting Texas to the point where the fanbase had been dying to get back to, but the past two seasons may suggest that it's time for him to give up playcalling and become a CEO type of head coach.
It took Mike Elko just two seasons to clean up the mess that Jimbo Fisher left behind and bring the Aggies to the College Football Playoff. The only way that fans can knock Mike Elko and Texas A&M is by knocking the toughness of their schedule, but we'll likely see when the Playoff begins that this team is clearly one of the premier programs in the sport.
After coming into the season as a hot-seat head coach, Brent Venables has finally hit his mark at Oklahoma, bringing the Sooners to the College Football Playoff. Once Brent Venables got the right coaches in place, he finally had an offense that could do just enough to allow his defense to carry this team, which will be the blueprint moving forward.
While Tennessee made the College Football Playoff last season, this year was a bit of a disappointment. Tennessee fans have started to poke holes in Josh Heupel's game management and clock management decisions, and heading into next season, he's going to need to prove those issues aren't a concern. Heupel's offense will make this team dangerous every season, but they need to become more well-rounded on a yearly basis.
Eli Drinkwitz has become a victim of his own success as Missouri continues to stack solid seasons, but they haven't pushed for a College Football Playoff bid yet. The knock on Drinkwitz has been his struggles against Top 25 teams, but more often than not, the other team is more talented. After locking Drinkwitz in place, Missouri should look to invest more in roster building, a true championship-caliber roster.
It looked like Shane Beamer finally put it all together in 2024, but that season now looks like a fluke after South Carolina went 4-8 this season. The Gamecocks gave Shane Beamer a massive contract after last season, and he's going to need to nail his offensive staff hires this offseason if his tenure is ever going to work out.
The Florida Gators may have quietly won the coaching carousel, landing Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall. While Jon Sumrall isn't as big a name as Lane Kiffin, he's won everywhere he's been, rebuilding Troy and bringing Tulane to the brink of making the College Football Playoff. Giving Jon Sumrall all of the resources that Florida has to offer is going to get Florida back into contention in a way they never were under Billy Napier.
The man tasked with carrying all of the momentum Lane Kiffin built is his former defensive coordinator, Pete Golding. While Pete Golding is a great defensive mind, he's going to be held to an unfair standard as he starts his head coaching journey, as he's always going to be compared to Kiffin if he struggles early.
The Mississippi State Bulldogs took a step forward this season, but overall, the results were underwhelming for Jeff Lebby's second season. Heading into year 3, Jeff Lebby is going to have to do much better than winning 1 game in SEC play if he's going to cement himself as the coach of the future in Starkville.
The Auburn Tigers took a big swing, bringing in USF head coach Alex Golesh to follow up the Hugh Freeze era. Based on what Golesh was able to do with lesser talent at USF, Auburn fans should be excited, as he could help the team find the quarterback this program has never had under Hugh Freeze.
On Sunday, the Kentucky Wildcats moved on from Mark Stoops, and they quickly replaced him by hiring Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein. The Ducks OC doesn't have any head coaching experience, but he should help this team adapt to this new era, and his scheme could help them overcome a lack of talent.
The Arkansas Razorbacks moved from Sam Pittman to Memphis head coach Ryan Silverfield, and there's certainly some cause for concern. Silverfield coached at Memphis, where the Tigers had a bigger NIL advantage than any other program, yet he was never able to win the conference. Arkansas won't have the same advantage in the SEC, which should be a concern for the Razorbacks.