CBS Sports ranks SEC head football coaches from 1-14
Even as conference realignment takes place, the SEC is still thought of as the best inside college football. Not just the teams or players, but also its coaches. A recent influx of new head coaches has brought a new era to the conference, even if some of the more experienced ones are near the top.
CBS Sports ranked the SEC head coaches from top to bottom before the 2022 season began. There’s no surprise at the first two spots, with the two who faced off in this season’s national championship — Nick Saban and Kirby Smart claiming their thrones.
Both first-year head coaches crack the top 10 as well, ranked above a few already having SEC experience. Check out the full list.
SEC coaches ranked 1-14 by CBS Sports
- Nick Saban, Alabama
- Kirby Smart, Georgia
- Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M
- Brian Kelly, LSU
- Mark Stoops, Kentucky
- Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss
- Sam Pittman, Arkansas
- Mike Leach, Mississippi State
- Billy Napier, Florida
- Josh Heupel, Tennessee
- Shane Beamer, South Carolina
- Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri
- Bryan Harsin, Auburn
- Clark Lea, Vanderbilt
Three coaches in the SEC have national championships attached to their names and they take up the top three sports. Saban has won six during his time in Tuscaloosa, while Smart got his first with Georgia this past season. Fisher got his while coaching Florida State during the 2013 season. He is still pushing for one at Texas A&M but for now, only has one on his resume.
Kelly finds himself high on the list despite never coaching a snap inside the SEC. His prior achievements at Notre Dame are why he is near the upper echelon. While his BCS National Championship and two College Football Playoff appearances have ended in losses, Kelly has still made it further on the national scale than anyone below him.
The other first-year head coach inside the SEC is Billy Napier, who is taking over the Florida program after Dan Mullen’s tenure. While he also has a battle inside the conference, he is also competing with other in-state schools Florida State and Miami. Napier made Lousiana one of the more consistent programs in college football and hopes to do the same in Gainesville.
Looking toward the bottom, three SEC East coaches make up the last four. Beamer and Lea are in their second years, while Drinkwitz enters his third. Between them is Auburn’s Bryan Harsin, who nearly found himself out of a job this spring. Instead, he will have the opportunity to prove himself on the Plains for possibly a final time.