5 SEC football coaches facing pressure, including Lea
I’m no Grim Reaper. I just read the temperature of the room.
One year ago, I wrote a column ranking the five SEC coaches facing the most pressure entering the season. Two of those coaches were fired by mid-november. Two more will enter this season on the hot seat. And the fifth coach retired.
Well, well, well.
Dialing down the heat is never easy in the SEC, but the path becomes more treacherous this year. The arrival of Texas and Oklahoma fortifies the league. Eliminating divisions will strip away some protection for teams that enjoyed accommodating schedules from the SEC East’s confines.
Hot-seat pressure is only one type of pressure. In Tuscaloosa comes the pressure of replacing the GOAT.
Here’s my ranking of five SEC coaches facing the most pressure this season.
5. Clark Lea (Vanderbilt)
My eyes must have grown to the size of saucers when Lea casually dropped this humdinger at 2021 SEC Media Days ahead of his first Vanderbilt season: “There’s no better program in the country than Vanderbilt football.” There’s hyperbole, and then there’s outright lies.
Lea’s program remains stuck in neutral. He enters his fourth season with just two SEC victories. Vanderbilt hasn’t just been bad. It’s bad and boring. His predecessors showed that the bar can be higher than averaging three wins.
Do NIL and transfer freedom work against Vanderbilt? We’d need a bigger sample size of coaches to determine that.
Vanderbilt played last season in a stadium under construction. If it’s going to invest in facilities, then it might as well strive for something better than the SEC’S cellar.
Lea goes on the clock in Year 4.
4. Brent Venables (Oklahoma)
After Oklahoma started 7-0 last season, who was still thinking about Venables’ seven-loss 2022 debut? By late October, the Sooners had beaten rival Texas and emerged as a playoff contender. It didn’t last.
Oklahoma lost to Kansas and Oklahoma State, finished 10-3, and star quarterback Dillon Gabriel transferred to Oregon. It went down as a nice encore for Venables, but, oh, what it could have been? The jury remains out on Venables. He’s recruiting pretty well, and he improved the defense.
A splashy SEC debut would build momentum. A flop would raise concerns. A rugged schedule won’t make any of it easy. Sophomore quarterback Jackson Arnold is talented but untested against this level of competition.
Texas finding purchase under Steve Sarkisian and becoming a national championship contender adds pressure. Year 3 will establish the direction of Venables’ tenure.
3. Kalen Deboer (Alabama)
Deboer could exceed Nick Saban’s first-year win total at Alabama and still leave Tide fans feeling underwhelmed. Saban’s achievements following his 7-6 debut in Tuscaloosa re-established the Alabama standard as one of greatness. Deboer doesn’t need to deliver an immediate championship, but he must show he’s up to this job, or Saban’s lingering shadow will consume him.
Deboer presents as unflappable, humble but confident. He’ll need to be. Alabama’s schedule affords him no joyride. Saban left Deboer with some nice ingredients, but the cupboard isn’t quite as stocked as it once was.
Players sang Deboer’s praises in the spring. The honeymoon phase is unfolding nicely, but the hero’s welcome ends and the challenge begins in September, when Alabama will face Wisconsin and Georgia in consecutive weeks.
2. Billy Napier (Florida)
Scott Stricklin worked the offseason stump to megaphone the message that Napier is not on the hot seat. Florida’s athletic director doth protest too much. Napier and Stricklin are bonded in rising waters.
A coach hamstrung by an 11-14 record needs a narrative to sell. Napier doesn’t have one. The on-field product too often has been an eyesore.
A brilliant tactician? Florida’s special teams suggest otherwise.
Recruiting? Pedestrian.
A well-oiled NIL operation? Doesn’t seem like it.
Napier’s best pitch would be if ballyhooed freshman quarterback DJ Lagway made a smashing debut and teased a brighter future, but Napier might feel he must lean on veteran Graham Mertz to have hope of navigating a schedule loaded with 11 Power Four opponents.
Unfortunately for Napier, Florida could improve and still finish 6-6 against this schedule. That’s an uninspiring sales pitch.
1. Sam Pittman (Arkansas)
Pittman’s jukebox played a sad tune throughout his fourth season, a second year of regression after the Head Hog’s pinnacle in 2021. He brought in coordinator Bobby Petrino to revive the offense and save his tenure. I wouldn’t recommend copying too many of Jimbo Fisher’s moves.
Pittman’s contract features a clause that would reduce his buyout if his record drops below .500 overall since the start of the 2021 season. Now, that’s pressure. His record during that span is 20-18. Circle Arkansas’ Oct. 19 game against LSU as the potential date when Pittman’s record since ’21 could slide below .500 and incentivize Arkansas to fire Pittman for a discounted buyout of about $8 million.
Put the numbers aside, because Pittman’s reality requires little math. He must produce a strong rebound season to save his job, but I question whether he possesses the roster to achieve that.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s SEC Columnist. Email him at Btoppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.