Every year I do a “ranking” of SEC coaches following the season based on what they have done, recruiting, direction of the program, etc.  The problem with that ranking, however, is that many of the accomplishments are carried over from other programs.  Urban Meyer for one has an outstanding resume but much of it has been obtained outside the SEC.  Compare that with other coaches who have been stuck trying to make hay inside the brutal Southeastern Conference.  So in that regard I have decided to take a look and compare the current coaching dynasties within the SEC and that’s what we look at now. 

In my listing a “dynasty” means coaching a specific team for 5 years or more.  If a coach has completed 3 or 4 years it is what I refer to as a mini-dynasty.  For rankings I have used the AP polls as the standard.

Mark Richt
 
Length of Tenure: 7 years
Record: 72-19 (0.791)
SEC Titles: 2
National Titles: 0
Bowl Record: 5-2 (0.714)
BCS Bowl Record: 2-1 (0.667)
Post-season Top 25 rankings: 7
Post-season Top 10 Rankings: 5

Mark Richt would like you to believe that everything is right in Bulldogland.  And while Georgia is as good now as it’s been since the Vince Dooley era there is a lot of Propaganda.  “We won two out of the last four“, he likes to say.  That’s true Coach but lets not forget that you are 2-5 against your teams arch-rival Florida.  0-1 against Spurrier, 1-2 against Meyer and (perhaps the most embarassing) 1-2 against Ron Zook despite being favored in all three of those games.  When you get outcoached by the Zooker . . . somethings wrong.  Zook didn’t have winning records against many SEC opponents except for the bottom feeders (Vandy, Kentucky and South Carolina) but the Georgia series is one of the few he can recall fondly.  If you look at Richt’s record versus his predecessors he’s done exceptionally well.  If you look at the talent he’s had during his tenure though, he’s slightly underachieved.

Tommy Tuberville
 
Length of Tenure: 13 years (4 Ole Miss, 9 Auburn)
Record: 25-20 (0.556) / 80-33 (0.708) / 105-53 (0.665)
SEC Titles: 1
National Titles: 0*
Bowl Record: 1-0 Ole Miss / 5-3 Auburn / 6-3 Overall (0.667)
BCS Bowl Record: 2-1 (0.667)
Post-season Top 25 rankings: 7 (1 Ole Miss, 6 Auburn)
Post-season Top 10 Rankings: 2

I know Auburn fans have long accused me of being a Tubs hater.  And to that I say that I can’t help it, I preferred Crocket.  But seriously, Tubbers has done a tremendous job at Auburn, especially when you consider at what depth he inherited the program and the lack of support from Auburn’s top Trustee Bobby Lowder (to be explored in greater detail in another post).  Prior to the plains he also turned around a struggling Ole Miss program from perennial doormat to competitive program.  Unfortunately, for all his efforts the Auburn program seems to have peaked.  They will remain a consistent Top 25 program but will be unable to build into a “perennial Top 10″ school.  If Alabama rises from the ashes under Saban the pressure will only mount on Tommy.

*Auburn finished 13-0 in 2004 and finished at #2 in both the AP and Coaches Polls.
 
Houston Nutt
 
Length of Tenure: 10 years
Record: 75-48 (0.610)
SEC Titles: 0
National Titles: 0
Bowl Record: 2-5 (0.286)
BCS Bowl Record: 0-0
Post-season Top 25 rankings: 4
Post-season Top 10 Rankings: 0

I realize that Houston is no longer at Arkansas but he is still an SEC coach so his accomplishments don’t get wiped clean.  Obviously nothing he has done at Mississippi can be taken into account because . . . well he hasn’t done ANYTHING there.  A sad note on Coach Nutt’s resume is that his tenure seemed to be more infamous for it’s off the field shenanigans than it’s on field accomplishments.  Not to minimize his four 9 win or better seasons and two SEC West titles but at Ole Miss Coach Nutt needs to run a tighter ship and probably focus more on football and less on relationships with local news personalities.  It’s tough to say whether Nutt did all he could or underachieved.  Personally I believe Petrino will take Arkansas to higher levels than Nutt did which will tarnish his legacy.
 
Phillip Fulmer
 
Length of Tenure: 15 years
Record: 147-45 (0.766)
SEC Titles: 2
National Titles: 1
Bowl Record: 8-7 (0.533)
BCS Bowl Record: 1-2 (0.333)
Post-season Top 25 rankings: 13
Post-season Top 10 Rankings: 6
 
Fulmer has a strong claim as having built the best dynasty in the SEC and has done it over a long time.  Unfortunately much of Fulmer’s success was between 1992 and 1998 when he had a 0.859 (67-11) winning percentage, 2 SEC Titles and a National Title.  In the 8 years since then Fulmer has dropped to a 0.701 (80-34) percentage without any titles of any sort and a 3-5 bowl record.  Clearly Fulmer’s best days are behind him and he is hanging onto his job by nothing more than a thread.
 
Steve Spurrier
 
Length of Tenure: 15 years (12 UF, 3 SCar)
Record: UF 122-27-1 (0.813) / SCar 21-16 (0.568) / Overall 143-43-1 (0.765)
SEC Titles: 7* (6 outright SEC Titles and one other 1st place finish during a bowl ineligible season)
National Titles: 1 (UF)
Bowl Record: UF 6-5 (0.533) / SCar 1-1 (0.500) / Overall 7-6 (0.538)
BCS Bowl Record: 1-2 (0.333)
Post-season Top 25 rankings: 12 (UF)
Post-season Top 10 Rankings: UF 10 / SCar 0
 
Spurrier is tough to classify since he really established a coaching dynasty at Florida but is still in the mini-dynasty state (less than 5 years) at South Carolina.  The next two years at South Carolina could really establish how Spurrier will be remembered.  If he is able to finish well in the rest of his time at South Carolina he will cement himself as one of the best head coaches in the game.  He wouldn’t necessarily have to duplicate the success he had at Florida but he’ll have to approve on his current 5 games above .500 record.  A strong finish at South Carolina combined with a winning record at Duke and Florida could push his legacy as one of the best coaches in SEC history and of all time.  A mediocre finish will linger and color his legacy as a coach who hung around too long (aka John Robinson, Bobby Bowden).
 
Mini-Dynasties (TBD)
 
Urban Meyer
 
Length of Tenure: 3 years
Record: 31-8 (0.795)
SEC Titles: 1
National Titles: 1
Bowl Record: 2-1 (0.667)
BCS Bowl Record: 1-0 (1.000)
Post-season Top 25 rankings: 3
Post-season Top 10 Rankings: 1

Not a bad start to your SEC career.  Three New Years Day Bowl games, an SEC title, a Heisman trophy winner, three straight top 5 recruiting classes and a national title is hard to overlook.  However the next two years are where either the legend will be built or the whispers of “opportunity lost” will start to be heard.  The trend in these next two years are paramount to making your way into the SEC history books.  Both Fulmer and Spurrier accomplished enough in their first 5-6 years to ensure they will forever be mentioned in a conversation of great SEC coaches no matter what happens with them from hereon.  The same with Urban Meyer and Les Miles.
 
Les Miles
 
Length of Tenure: 3 years
Record: 34-6 (0.850)
SEC Titles: 1
National Titles: 1
Bowl Record: 3-0 (1.000)
BCS Bowl Record: 2-0 (1.000)
Post-season Top 25 rankings: 3
Post-season Top 10 Rankings: 3
 
Just when you thought Urban Meyer’s record was impressive along comes Les Miles whose stats are absolutely mind boggling.  Again, 3 seasons is too soon to declare someone a coaching legend.  In the past 3 years Miles has the better resume but Meyer’s accomplishments at Bowling Green and Utah far exceed Miles’ respectable record at Oklahoma State.  It looks like we might have quite a catfight between these two coaches to see who claws to the top.  If recruiting is any indication, both programs seem to have loaded up to make the next 3 seasons as good, if not better, than their first three (if that’s even possible in a conference as brutal as the SEC).

NOTE: Both Rich Brooks and Nick Saban were contemplated for this list.  With just the one year at Alabama following the two year stint with the Dolphins combined with only 5 years at LSU pushed me to wait for more data regarding Saban.  Brooks has 5 years at Kentucky but a losing record overall (25-35).