Welcome back to the SEC Head Coach Hot Seat Index.
In Week 10 of the SEC calendar, some coaches who were already in significant danger suffered crushing losses. However, some coaches who needed big wins were able to get them in emphatic fashion.
Let’s take the temperature of every SEC head coach with just a few games left in 2024.
SEC Head Coach Hot Seat Index – Week 10
Torrid: Billy Napier (Florida), Mark Stoops (Kentucky), Jeff Lebby (Mississippi State), Hugh Freeze (Auburn)
Napier needed to pull off a miracle against George if he wanted to get back into the good graces of the Florida fans. Somehow he almost succeeded. Had the Gators’ true freshman quarterback DJ Lagway not gone down with an injury, Florida might have defeated Georgia. But instead, Lagway could be lost for the rest of the season, and the rest of Florida’s schedule is brutal. Despite his team fighting hard for him, it appears Napier’s time in Gainesville has symbolically come to an end.
Stoops and Kentucky weren’t expected to walk into Knoxville and upset Tennessee, but the Wildcats trailed by just three points in the fourth quarter. But despite Tennessee playing another poor offensive first half, Kentucky was unable to capitalize on what would have been Stoops’ first win against Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel. The Wildcats are now 1-6 in the SEC and 3-6 overall. Unless Kentucky can win their final three games, they won’t be able to get to a bowl game for the first time since 2015. Missing the postseason would accentuate the reality that Kentucky’s program has reached its peak under Stoops, and it could be time to get into a bowl game. other direction before things get worse.
Lebby finally got another win as Mississippi State defeated Massachusetts 45-20. However, the Bulldogs still haven’t beaten a Power 4 opponent this season and looked like a disaster in Lebby’s freshman year. There are genuine questions as to whether or not Lebby is ready to be a head coach or if he should have been given an opportunity like this as his first chance to lead a program. Last season, Mississippi State pulled the trigger by firing Zach Arnett in the middle of his debut season as head coach. The precedent is there for the Bulldogs to potentially do the same thing again this season and fire Lebby due to his disastrous start to his tenure.
Freeze had to be moved to the torrid section after Auburn’s home loss to Vanderbilt. It was the first time the Tigers had ever lost at home to the Commodores. Auburn is now 1-5 in SEC play and has shown no signs of improvement all season. Freeze still has a good reputation as a head coach and is recruiting strongly, but his team’s play on the field leaves a lot to be desired. The culture in Auburn seems to be on the brink of collapse.
Hot: Brent Venables (Oklahoma), Sam Pittman (Arkansas)
Venables and Oklahoma finally had the offensive explosion they’ve needed for weeks, except instead of doing it against a conference opponent, it came against FCS foe Maine. This win won’t do much to move the needle in a positive direction for Venables. He desperately needs to win one of his last three conference games.
Pittman is back where he started the season, on the hot seat. He bought himself some time with a big win over Tennessee a few weeks ago, but since then the Hogs have shown the same in terms of signs that put Pittman first in the first place. The 63-31 loss to Ole Miss was the second consecutive loss Arkansas has suffered at home. If Texas does the same to the Razorbacks after their bye week, Pittman might not still be in Fayetteville to coach the next game against Louisiana Tech.
Hot: empty
After Pittman moved back into the hot section and Beamer picked up a huge win, this section of the heat index is vacant this week.
Room temperature: Kalen DeBoer (Alabama), Brian Kelly (LSU), Eli Drinkwitz (Missouri), Lane Kiffin (Ole Miss) Shane Beamer (South Carolina)
Again, none of these head coaches are in any danger of losing their jobs. However, they all created their fan bases, who were angry with them for one reason or another.
DeBoer and Alabama had a bye week before one of their biggest games of the season against LSU. If DeBoer and the Tide drop their third game of the season against LSU, the negative noise in Tuscaloosa will be unbearably loud. DeBoer is only in his first season and must follow the greatest coach of all time, but Alabama fans are impatient and will settle for nothing less than championships. Those expectations may be unrealistic, but they are also reality, and DeBoer knew that when he signed. This week is a must-win for Alabama.
It’s also a must-win for LSU. The Tigers have also suffered two losses and would be eliminated from the playoffs with a third. Kelly needs to show the Tigers’ fan base that he can get them over the hump. LSU has had a bad habit of losing big games during his tenure, and losing to DeBoar in his first season wouldn’t be a good look for Kelly, who is in his third season in Baton Rouge.
Drinkwitz’s Tigers also had a bye week. They have a great chance to win their last four games of the season and finish 10-2. While Missouri has been a disappointment so far this season, a new 10-2 record for Drinkwitz would be something to build on for the future.
Kiffin and Ole Miss just finished destroying Arkansas 63-31 to set up a showdown against Georgia. This may be the biggest home game of Kiffin’s time at Oxford. A win in this game would change everything for the Rebels this season. A loss would put the finishing touches on what has been a huge disappointment of a season for a team that had championship aspirations.
Beamer enters the room temperature section for the first time this season with a blowout win over Texas A&M. The Gamecocks destroyed the Aggies 44-20 in front of an incredible crowd at Williams-Brice Stadium. This win is a powerful reminder of the heights South Carolina can reach under Beamer. Now they just have to become consistent.
Ice Cold: Kirby Smart (Georgia), Josh Heupel (Tennessee), Steve Sarkisian (Texas), Clark Lea (Vanderbilt), Mike Elko (Texas A&M)
These head coaches have the safest jobs and the happiest fan bases in the SEC.
Smart, Heupel and Sarkisian each lead one loss among the top ten teams that still have national championship aspirations and are in great position to make the 12-team playoff field. Elko just lost its second game of the season, but it was just the Aggies’ first loss in the conference. His debut season in College Station was still a resounding success.
Lea remains committed to becoming SEC Head Coach of the Year with a win over Auburn. The transformation the Vanderbilt football program has undergone under Lea is truly remarkable. The Commodores are 6-3 and are bowl eligible for the first time since 2018.
The SEC Head Coach Hot Seat Index will fluctuate as the season progresses. Stay tuned for an update next week.