Ranking the 57 SEC coaching hires since 1992 expansion

[VOL_Lyfe]

Before Saban Alabama wondered the desert

I wonder about the desert, too, sometimes. I mean, how do animals actually live there?

 

[05_never_again]

Yeah, was thinking of Spurrier at Florida, but that was a pre-1992 hire.

If the dates were expanded back beyond 1992, Spurrier's hire at Florida would go down as one of the greatest in SEC history, if not CFB history. Apologies to Ray Graves and Charley Pell, but Florida football more or less begins in 1991.

 

[Andy Pulley]

There’s no way Pruitt can be above Dooley, other than a bowl win.

Pruitt's 8-5 (5-3) season was way better than any of Dooley's season's.
Derek Dooley's worst seasons were worse than Pruitt's worst as far as conference play goes. Dooley (1-7 & 0-7) Pruitt (2-8)

 

[RDU VOL#14]

Pruitt's 8-5 (5-3) season was way better than any of Dooley's season's.
Derek Dooley's worst seasons were worse than Pruitt's worst as far as conference play goes. Dooley (1-7 & 0-7) Pruitt (2-8)

I’ll give you that. Maybe last season and the fear of the unknown of what’s coming with the ncaa is skewing my judgement. Either way they both suck in different ways.

 

[bpalmer28]

How on earth is Ed O at LSU lower than Mullen at MSU, Spurrier at USCe, Richt at UGA

The Ed O hire by LSU led to a National Championship....

 

[unfrozencvmanvol]

How on earth is Ed O at LSU lower than Mullen at MSU, Spurrier at USCe, Richt at UGA

The Ed O hire by LSU led to a National Championship....

So Gene Chizik should be rated higher as well?

 

[Tman44]

"The pole did Price in..."

 

[PA Vol]

The night Kiffin eloped to USC was the end of Tennessee football as we knew it. That one act did more to destroy the reputation of our program than all the hires combined.

I'm not disagreeing that it was catastrophic, but we still had brand recognition then. The effects of the Dooley hire was far worse.

Kiffin had us competing with Meyer and Saban coached teams in his one year. Dooley lost to Kentucky with a WR at QB and got his ass blown out by Vandy. That's what we've been known for ever since.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

I'll bet Heupel and staff are reading some of these analyses and posts about now....

Betcha they're not....

 

[goldvol]

Lane Kiffin at number thirty? No serious list could include a coach that high who had only one mediocre year here, after which he bolts to a school where he has one of the worst collapses in the history of football.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

All those guys other than Price (who never coached a game) had 10 win seasons. Dubose won the SEC and went to the Orange Bowl.

No, in the record books Shula was 4-9, 6-6, 0-2, and 0-7. Cheating counts against you. What happened on the field is great for those who were at the game to see it, but it means nothing 50 years later. A program's reputation and posterity depend on not cheating...or at least not getting caught at it.

Why do people do this?

In my lifetime, the longest period of time Alabama has had between 10 win seasons was 5 years (1981-1985).

Was there a period where they didn’t achieve up to their standards? Yes.

Was there a decade or more where everyone including Vandy took turns beating the snot out of them? No

You're younger than some here, heh.

Bama has never had a Dark Ages that lasted as long as ours has (13 years and counting). But they've had some shorter ones that were even more brutal. For example, check out the '53 to '58 seasons (six years total): 6-3-3 ... 4-5-2 ... 0-10 ... 2-7-1 ... 2-7-1 ... 5-4-1

Look at the middle part of that: 0-10, followed by 2-7-1 twice. Ouch. Tennessee has never had a three-year streak anything close to that bad.

Some folks do over-play it, you're right. But other folks, like you, tend to under-play it. Truth is, as usual, somewhere in between.

 

[bamawriter]

You're younger than some here, heh.

Bama has never had a Dark Ages that lasted as long as ours has (13 years and counting). But they've had some shorter ones that were even more brutal. For example, check out the '53 to '58 seasons (six years total): 6-3-3 ... 4-5-2 ... 0-10 ... 2-7-1 ... 2-7-1 ... 5-4-1

Look at the middle part of that: 0-10, followed by 2-7-1 twice. Ouch. Tennessee has never had a three-year streak anything close to that bad.

Some folks do over-play it, you're right. But other folks, like you, tend to under-play it. Truth is, as usual, somewhere in between.

I'll bet this is really meaningful to all the septuagenarians on the forum.

 

[99gator]

You're younger than some here, heh.

Bama has never had a Dark Ages that lasted as long as ours has (13 years and counting). But they've had some shorter ones that were even more brutal. For example, check out the '53 to '58 seasons (six years total): 6-3-3 ... 4-5-2 ... 0-10 ... 2-7-1 ... 2-7-1 ... 5-4-1

Look at the middle part of that: 0-10, followed by 2-7-1 twice. Ouch. Tennessee has never had a three-year streak anything close to that bad.

Some folks do over-play it, you're right. But other folks, like you, tend to under-play it. Truth is, as usual, somewhere in between.

When you have to go back to a six year period during the Eisenhower administration, I don’t know what point you are trying to prove....mine or yours?

Having looked it up....

Alabama did not go winless against a conference opponent during that stretch and also was the SEC champion in 1953.

If you want a legitimate program and slide to compare it to, LSU from 1989 through 1999 would be it.

And again, the other major difference is what occurred in some of these programs when the slide ended. So, Alabama after the down periods people are using as an example. LSU after 1999 as an example.

 

[OrangeBeachVol]

Its a shame TN has so many coaches on there listed 30 and below. Shows how incompetent our AD's have been.

 

[Revived2002]

Dooley was better than Pruitt.

I agree. Aside from the short run at the end of 2019, Pruitt’s entire tenure was completely forgettable and included some of our most embarrassing losses of all time.

2010 had fun moments as did 2012, as maddening as 2012 was with all the offensive talent. I was at least entertained!

 

[Revived2002]

Its a shame TN has so many coaches on there listed 30 and below. Shows how incompetent our AD's have been.

It also shows how undesirable our job has been during this stretch. ...We started by getting a hotshot up and comer and by the end we were hiring an inexperienced defensive assistant after the worst coaching search in history.

I like Heupel though. Glad he took a risk on us!

 

[VolFreakJosh]

Given who we passed on (Kelly and Gary Patterson), Hamilton nuking the buyout provision to save some pennies plus the damage to the program as a result of those actions, the Kiffin hire is way too high here. That entire hiring process should be in the bottom 10.

Note, I am not saying Kiffin is a bottom 10 coach but that "hire" and all the aspects surrounding that hire make it bottom 10.

Biggest mistake we ever made was not hiring Gary Patterson.

The guy begged for the job and Hamilton humiliated him by saying he was too much of a football coach.

 

[VaBornVol]

I don’t remember much about his stint, but Terry Bowden/Auburn at 12 seems way too high

 

[bamawriter]

I don’t remember much about his stint, but Terry Bowden/Auburn at 12 seems way too high

12 might be a little high, and he definitely shouldn't be above Tuberville. But Bowden did really well at Auburn. More than anything, he worked to clean up their cheating. This of course put him at odds with the boosters, which led to his demise.

 

[BigOrangeMojo]

Biggest mistake we ever made was not hiring Gary Patterson.

The guy begged for the job and Hamilton humiliated him by saying he was too much of a football coach.

Obviously in hindsight, that was a huge mistake. The biggest issue with the Kiffin hire was nuking Kiffin's buyout so Hamilton could slide him under $2M a year. We got cheap to save a couple hundred thousand bucks and it likely has cost the university 9 figures over the past decade. If we had a large buyout in Kiffin's contract, USC wasn't going to hire him.

 

[EZE]

Nope, nope, nope. As much as I disliked him, the Ole Ball Coach ranks above Fulmer and I'd rank him above Saban/LSU.

And I'd move Richt above above Franklin, but Richt lost control of this ranking...

Spurrier to Florida, yes, no doubt.
Spurrier to S. Carolina, no.

 

[sechamp2012]

Why do people do this?

In my lifetime, the longest period of time Alabama has had between 10 win seasons was 5 years (1981-1985).

Was there a period where they didn’t achieve up to their standards? Yes.

Was there a decade or more where everyone including Vandy took turns beating the snot out of them? No

Just to raise the IRE of a Gator...seems to work

 

[UTwild82]

Not saying he was great, but Mike Dubose won a SEC title against 90's Spurrier and Fulmer. The rest of his tenure was rough, but that alone puts him way above 45 and many on this list.

Author is drunk. List is pretty bad.

 

[MWAVolfan]

When you have to go back to a six year period during the Eisenhower administration, I don’t know what point you are trying to prove....mine or yours?

Having looked it up....

Alabama did not go winless against a conference opponent during that stretch and also was the SEC champion in 1953.

If you want a legitimate program and slide to compare it to LSU from 1989 through 1999 would be it.

And again, the other major difference is what occurred in some of these programs when the slide ended. So, Alabama after the down periods people are using as an example. LSU after 1999 as an example.

LOL yeah both slides ended with the hiring of Nick Saban.

Guaranteed that the hiring of Josh Hoople wont be seen the same in 10 years.

 

[MWAVolfan]

I'm not disagreeing that it was catastrophic, but we still had brand recognition then. The effects of the Dooley hire was far worse.

Kiffin had us competing with Meyer and Saban coached teams in his one year. Dooley lost to Kentucky with a WR at QB and got his ass blown out by Vandy. That's what we've been known for ever since.

The problem was not just that Kiffin left. Its WHEN he left that was so damaging. We basically had no time to make a decent hire and ended up quickly hiring one of the worst coaches in SEC history.

So while I agree that Dooley cause the majority of the damage to this program, it was his hiring, and why he had to be hired in the first place that began the downfall.

I believe if Kiffin had not left UT, we would not be where we are today.

Kiffin in the enemy, Dooley was just an unfortunate biproduct of the terrible administrative decision that Kiffin's move forced upon us.