NWADG College Football

34 NWA COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW | 9.20.2020 time. Alabama's Nick Saban, LSU's Ed Orgeron and South Carolina's Will Muschamp also are on their second SEC head coaching jobs. Saban previously was at LSU, Orgeron at Ole Miss and Muschamp at Florida. Having the same coach lead two SEC programs goes back more than 100 years to Mike Donahue at LSU from 1904-06 and Auburn from 1908-22. Other notable coaches with two stops in the SEC include Fordyce native Bear Bryant (Kentucky 1946-53 and Alabama 1958-82), former Arkansas assistant Doug Dickey (Tennessee 1964-69 and Florida 1970-78) and Harry Mehre (Georgia 1928-37 and Ole Miss 1938-45) More recently there were Camden native Tommy Tuberville (Ole Miss 1995-98 and Auburn 1999-2008), Little Rock native Houston Nutt (Arkansas 1998-2007 and Ole Miss 2008-11) and Steve Spurrier (Florida 1990-2001 and South Carolina 2005-15). But the trend now is bigger than ever. The five coaches currently on their second SEC jobs represent 35.7% of the conference. By contrast, among the 51 other Power 5 schools in the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12, there are three coaches – 5.1% – on their second jobs in those conferences: Kansas' Les Miles (previously at Oklahoma State) in the Big 12; UCLA's Chip Kelly (previously at Oregon); and Colorado's Karl Dorrell (previously at UCLA) in the Pac-12. Why are SEC schools six times more likely to hire a coach who previously led a program in the conference than the other Power 5 programs? "The first thing that comes to mind is the people doing the hiring, the SEC athletic directors, know the person that they're pursuing understands the league," said Nutt, who is now a commentator for CBS Sports. "Coaches in the SEC know who they're going against every week – the coaches and players – and they know the level of recruiting it takes to compete in the league." Of the 14 SEC head coaches, only two didn't have previous experience in the conference: Kentucky's Mark Stoops and Vanderbilt's Derek Mason. "I just think it's a big advantage when you've been there before in the SEC and you understand everything that goes into coaching in this league," Nutt said. "The transition to an SEC job is easier. "It doesn't mean you're going to have great success, but there's a lot of respect for the coaches that have been in the SEC because they have laps around the track in that league. SEC schools want to hire those guys." SEC West coaches have combined to win eight national championships with six by Saban (one at LSU and five at Alabama), one by Fisher (Florida State) and one by Orgeron (LSU). Three other active coaches have won four national titles among them with Dabo Swinney's two at Clemson, and one each by Miles (at LSU) and North Carolina's Mack Brown (at Texas). As a Southern California assistant coach, Kiffin was part of two national title teams. He left Tennessee after one season to return to USC as head coach. "In the SEC, it's like you're supposed to hate every other head coach," Kiffin told CBSSports.com in a story last spring. "Pac-12, we get done with meetings, and I remember sitting out there with six coaches and we're out there by the pool hanging out in the afternoon, wives are sitting together. "That doesn't happen in the SEC just because — I think it's dumb — of that mindset, 'Oh, our fans are going to be mad if we're hanging out with the coach from wherever.' " Leach was Washington State's coach the past eight years. "If you think about the Pac-12, any given team might have two defensive linemen better than any SEC team has," Chairs n Continued from Page 33 AP Photo/Michael Woods Auburn coach Gus Malzahn talks with Arkansas coach Chad Morris before an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2019 in Fayetteville, Ark. " ...THE SEC HAS HAD MORE DRAFT PICKS THAN ANY OTHER CONFERENCE BY FAR OVER THE LAST HOWEVER MANY YEARS. IT'S AN ELITE LEAGUE AND I'M NOT SURE ANYBODY CAN HARDLY ARGUE THAT." SAM PITTMAN

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