3 SEC coaches on hot seat heading into Week 12 ft. Brian Kelly
In the SEC, security isn't even a thing, as coaches can go from winning a national title to unemployed in two seasons. The guy who's a hero can quickly become a zero.
So, which SEC football head coaches should be playing a little extra attention to the want ads? Here's our list of three SEC coaches on the hot seat, starting with a surprise.
Three SEC coaches on the hot seat heading into Week 12
#3 Brian Kelly, LSU
Is it suggesting that Brian Kelly will be fired? No. He's 26-10 and may well end up with his third 10-win season and third top 15 LSU team. But, at some point, being good might not be enough.
This is the thing about the arms race that's college football. Schools aren't investing near-eight figure annual salaries to go 9-3 and miss the College Football Playoff. Kelly has had seven straight 10+ win seasons but also probably hasn't won a truly meaningful game yet.
LSU won't fire Kelly. But after an offseason of blaming the defense, he has got some serious questions to answer after his team was flat against Alabama. He's on the clock to get LSU where they want to go; else, sooner or later, they could move on.
#2 Hugh Freeze, Auburn
How patient is Auburn willing to be? As year two of Hugh Freeze's tenure winds down, he's 9-13 at Auburn and 4-10 in conference games. It's highly unusual for schools to fire coaches after just two years, but then, Auburn has a pretty short fuse on these things.
Freeze was brought in as an offensive guru who would revamp the Tiger offense, but it's pretty awful still, as year two winds down. The addition of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC didn't do Freeze any favors. The Tigers are trending toward irrelevancy at a time when a 12-team playoff makes being very good almost as important as being great.
However, even before Auburn, Freeze was the maestro of an 8-4 season, which is fine, but, first, it's looking less and less likely that he could even reach that humble standard at Auburn.
Second, who cares if he does? The Tigers aren't Kentucky or Vanderbilt. This is the school of Bo Jackson and Cam Newton, Pat Dye and Ralph Jordan. The bar is higher than Freeze can reach.
#1 Brent Venables
Speaking of teams that have higher standards than their coach's current performance, take Oklahoma. Venables is 21-15 in three seasons at the school and 1-5 in SEC play. Making the SEC jump is an especially painful reminder of Oklahoma's status as Texas all but locks up its CFP bid.
Oklahoma had been an offensive school, which made sense with the defensive Venables coming in to apply balance. Unfortunately, their balance now is being pretty awful on both sides of the ball. Yes, the usual litany of injuries and bad luck are applicable here. But the bottom line is that Venables just isn't getting Oklahoma-level results.
Which SEC coaches do you think could be in job trouble? Share your thoughts below in our comments section: