SEC Coaching Hot Seat Rankings
These coaches are not active, but nice photo. Credit: SB Nation.
By Jonathan Reed
Now that the SEC football season is officially over after Texas kind of choked the game away against Ohio State, the offseason can officially begin.
The 2024 season was a failure for the conference and for most of the teams inside it. Yes, Texas, Georgia and Tennessee made the inaugural 12-team playoff, but none of the three left it with a good taste in their mouth. The Vols were embarrassed by Ohio State, Kirby Smart got clearly outmaneuvered by Marcus Freeman, and Texas fans will spend the next nine months wondering what would’ve happened had Sark put in Arch Manning.
And those were your “successful” teams.
Then you consider the failure of Kalen DeBoer’s debut at Alabama that included a loss to Vanderbilt, a shellacking at the hands of Oklahoma, a lifeless bowl performance against Michigan, and a loss to rival Tennessee.
Ole Miss blew an easy schedule and golden chance to get to the playoff. So, did Missouri.
LSU and Brian Kelly, just like Ole Miss and Alabama, basically just served as a foil to spoil South Carolina’s chances.
Honestly, when you look at all 16 teams, Vanderbilt may be the only program that comes out of the 2024 season with a smile on their face. A bowl victory over Georgia Tech secured a winning season. A win over Virginia Tech in week 1 secured a signature win for Lea. A win over number 1 Alabama was the ultimate icing on the cake. Even the first five minutes of the Tennessee game will provide Vandy fans with warmth during the winter despite getting blown out over the last 55.
All of those reasons are why Clark Lea gets the coveted sixteenth spot in the first round of our coaching hot seat rankings.
16. Clark Lea, hot seat level 10/100
He’s about as safe as you can be. A beloved alum that has tangible success to point to? Lea completely changed the narrative around him from this time last year. The bad news is that Vanderbilt will not be sneaking up on teams next year, and a couple of teams will be looking for revenge against him and Diego Pavia.
15. Kirby Smart, hot seat level 15/100
The championship or bust mentality proved to be a little too ambitious for Kirby and the Bulldogs. Should he be worried about Texas overtaking Georgia for the top spot in the conference? Not as much as he should be worried about his players and the citizens of Athens now that the offseason is here. Idle hands and all that.
14. Shane Beamer, hot seat level 24/100
Has South Carolina been good enough to warrant this feeling of security? Probably not. Their best conference wins in 2024 were close losses, but beating Clemson in the season finale will obviously carry a bunch of weight.
Somehow, someway, Beamer’s goofy ass just feels like a perfect fit for South Carolina. They love him. His biggest area on concern is how he handles adversity. He morphs into a baby and turns combative towards the media and gets a little too defensive towards the fans. Or tries to fight Bret Bielema.
13. Eli Drinkwitz, hot seat level 25/100
Feels fitting that the two biggest dorks in the conference are basically identical in their hot seat levels. It was perfectly set up for Eli to take the Tigers to the playoffs. Many experts penciled them in prior to the season. All they had to do was find a way to win one game against a down Alabama, a first year coach in Mike Elko, or Shane Beamer. They lost the first two chances by a cumulative score of 75-10. They gave up the lead on a game-losing touchdown against the Cocks with 22 seconds left.
Eli has Missouri in a healthy position, but he’s annoying. That leaves his margin of error as a little slimmer than they should be after back-to-back double digit win seasons
12. Lane Kiffin, hot seat level 27/100
Kiffin got arguably the best win of his career in a blowout over Georgia that put the Rebels in the driver’s seat for a playoff spot. They responded with one of their more frustrating offensive outputs in a 24-17 loss in the Swamp.
Ole Miss is lucky to have Lane, who has apparently gotten back together with his ex-wife. This could either lead to him settling down and becoming more focused and less dangerous off the field or it could all blow up at some point during the 2025 season. Time will tell.
11. Josh Heupel, hot seat level 30/100
The Vols won 10 regular season games and clinched a spot in the playoffs. Those were the two major goals for Heupel in 2024. Yet, something just felt off all season with his offense. Then, almost all of his wide receivers hit the transfer portal after the season. Were any of them in line to be major contributors? No. But the exodus led to frustration for the fans who, at the time of this publication, have not really seen any reinforcements commit to transfer to Tennessee.
Combine that with the bland offense and the lack of coaching turnover, and most fans are happy. . . but nervous. What’s the floor for the program? Can they take the next step? It would behoove Heupel to tweak the offense a bit in 2025.
10. Mike Elko, hot seat level 33/100
It will go down as a better season than Jimbo Fisher had in non-COVID seasons at A&M, but nothing was really accomplished in the grand scheme of things.
They had everything to play for in their season finale against Texas. A chance to beat your biggest rival and clinch a spot in the SEC championship with a chance to earn a first round bye in the playoffs? You couldn’t ask for more in Elko’s season.
Well, the fans apparently couldn’t ask for more than 7 points as the A&M offense was completely shut down.
The vibes are still pretty good, mostly because Elko is NOT Jimbo, but all of that can change if they don’t show signs of improvement in 2025. Texas’s ascension to the top of the conference only ramps up that pressure for the Aggies.
9. Steve Sarkisian, hot seat level 45/100
Sark should be a lot lower on this list. He’s made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons! He just signed the number 1 ranked recruiting class in the country!
Yeah, but it’s Texas. Things are always boiling under the surface. The quarterback situation loomed over most of the 2024 season, as did the sneaky reality that the Longhorns didn’t really have many any quality wins. The good news for Sark is that the 2025 schedule has the same opponents on it as the 2024 one did, so they should be back in the playoffs for a third straight year.
But if Texas misses? And Arch doesn’t look like the superstar most seem to think he is?
The eyes of Texas will be upon him.
8. Jeff Lebby, hot seat level 55/100
The situation was nearly impossible for Lebby to step into at Mississippi State, and somehow he still kind of underachieved. They have three bought wins on the schedule in 2025. Can he afford another winless conference slate? That feels even dumb to consider. Would a 4-8 (1-7) record by him a year 3? Probably.
Bleak.
7. Kalen DeBoer, hot seat level 63/100
Year 1 saw the end of Alabama sixteen year streak of double digit wins. And a loss to Vanderbilt. And a national embarrassment at the hands of Oklahoma.
Good stuff, Kalen.
Whoever plays quarterback for Alabama next year must be good. That was the main selling point for giving DeBoer the keys to the Tide program. It’s that simple. Jalen Milroe was not significantly better in 2024 than he was in ’23, and that has to be the second most disappointing thing to happen in DeBoer’s first season.
(HE LOST TO VANDERBILT!!!!!)
How patient will Alabama fans be with an outsider with no real ties to the south or university if he continues to turn Bama into just another program? I really hope we find out.
He really needs to win that week 1 game in Tallahassee against a Florida State program on life support.
6. Hugh Freeze, hot seat level 70/100
Freeze is 11-14 in hist first two seasons at Auburn. Glass half-full? The War Tigers felt like they were a couple of quarterback mistakes away from having a 7 or 8 win season. Glass half-empty? Hugh Freeze’s quarterback kept making those mistakes.
The first five weeks of 2025 will tell the tale. Auburn has road games at Baylor, Oklahoma, and A&M before an open date. Not saying that he will be fired if they go 0-3 in those games, but the noise will start getting really loud. They host Georgia coming out of the open date.
Like Beamer, Freeze gets combative when faced with adversity. His act may begin to wear thin with a lack of wins.
5. Brent Venables, hot seat level 77/100
Brent was blessed with a contract extension through 2029 last summer. Annnnnnnnnnd that’s the only reason he’s not higher on this list.
Oklahoma seems pretty lifeless with no real hope or direction at the moment. Texas’s success makes the Sooners transition to the SEC look even worse. The schedule makers were very clear with who they were protecting between the two. To make matters worse, Michigan has been added to the schedule in 2025.
They need to beat the Wolverines and get off to a good start next year, because the end of the season is brutal. Venables must find a way to win a couple of games against Texas (neutral), at South Carolina, Ole Miss, at Tennessee, at Alabama, Missouri, LSU. Those seven teams combined to win 65 regular season games last year.
4. Billy Napier, hot seat level 83/100
Not only did Napier surprisingly keep his job last season, but he. . . kind of won the fanbase over a little bit?
Vibes are high in Gainesville after a hot finish to the season led by DJ Lagway. However, the 2025 schedule is still BRUTAL. They have challenging road games against LSU, Miami, A&M, and Ole Miss. They face all three of the SEC’s playoff teams in home/neutral site games.
What record will Billy have to put up to save his job without having the ace up his sleeve of unleashing Lagway down the stretch to give the fanbase hope for another season.
3. Sam Pittman, hot seat level 85/100
Arkansas fans started putting up billboards calling for his firing last year. That’s usually a sign that it’s over, but, somehow, Pittman survived. Maybe it was the win over Tennessee, his likable personality, or the fact the boosters had spent all of their money on “0-3 in the SEC John Calipari,” but Big Sam is still drinking hog beer and calling the piggies.
The beginning of conference play doesn’t set up will for Pittman. They draw Ole Miss in week 3 before two nonconference games at Memphis and home against Notre Dame. They get a bye week to get ready for a revenge game against the Vols in Knoxville. Sam surviving that stretch with his job is currently +275 at the Jon Reed Sportsbook.
2. Brian Kelly, hot seat level 88/100
Lots of wins? No. Likability? Nope. Top ranked recruiting class to sell the fans on? Not by the time signing day rolled around.
LSU hired Brian Kelly to make a statement to the rest of the country. Brian Kelly left Notre Dame for LSU because he thought it gave him a chance to win a national championship. LSU was 6-1 last year coming off of the heels of a statement win at Arkansas. They immediately lost three in a row by getting outscored 31-6 in the second half at A&M, lost to Bama 42-13, and scored 16 points against Florida.
Meanwhile, Notre Dame and his replacement Marcus Freeman are playing for a National Championship.
The Tigers are going all in on the Ole Miss approach of building through the transfer portal, which only ramps up the pressure to produce results. Kelly has his scheduled loss at the beginning of the season in place as the Tigers go to Clemson week 1. They host Florida in week 3 and visit Ole Miss in week 5.
1. Mark Stoops, hot seat level 95/100
The only reason they haven’t broken up yet is that they can’t afford to.
Stoops tried to leave for A&M, but had his offered pulled from him. Now, they’re just stuck, both unhappy with no other real prospects. After having one singular Power 4 win last year, a shocker at Ole Miss, it seems rather impossible to picture Stoops turning this around.
In a weird scheduling quirk, Kentucky’s second bye comes in week 7 after back-to-back road games at South Carolina and Georgia. Do they pull the plug then after likely falling to 0-3 in the conference (week 2 against Ole Miss)?