Alabama Football: Power ranking all the SEC Football Head Coaches
By Ronald Evans
No. 12 – Derek Mason – Vanderbilt
Career record, 27-47, 36.5 percent
Does Derek Mason deserve to be higher? Taking Vanderbilt to bowl games twice in his six-year stint is pretty impressive. It is both hard and unfair to compare Vandy coaches against the rest of the league. If he were to ever win eight games in a season, he would qualify as SEC Coach of the Year.
No. 11 – Will Muschamp – South Carolina (previous, Florida)
Career Record, 54-46, 54 percent
It is tempting to rank Muschamp higher. He inherited a mess at South Carolina and coached them to nine wins in his second season. The problem with Muschamp is the parallel between his Florida tenure and South Carolina. His best season with the Gators was also his second season. At both schools, the two following seasons were poor performances. His last two Gator seasons produced only 10 wins. The Gamecocks limped to only four wins last season.
No. 10 – Jeremy Pruitt – Tennessee
Career Record, 13-12, 52 percent
Pruitt appears to have the Vols heading in the right direction. Making progress despite having to work for Phil Fulmer, gives Jeremy bonus points. Eight wins in 2019 may not be the ceiling for the Vols in 2020. Pruitt has quickly made Tennessee the third-best team in the SEC East.
No. 9 – Lane Kiffin – Ole Miss (previous FAU, USC and Tennessee)
Career Record, 62-34, 64.6 percent
The ‘Lane-train’ back in the SEC is exciting. Other than a rocky exit from Tuscaloosa, he did a tremendous job for Nick Saban. But how good a head coach is Kiffin? Has he matured into an SEC-quality head coach? Will his up and down career stabilize in Oxford? Who knows?