SEC football: 3 coaches who need to win or improve in 2020

These SEC football coaches need to make progress in the 2020 season

When it comes to coaching SEC football it’s a pretty simple mantra. Win, and win often, or hit the road. It may not sound fair but it’s the world that’s been built in the league who has defined college football for several decades now.

Every year there are at least a few coaches in the SEC who are tiptoeing the line between forgiveness and expulsion, and 2020 will be no different.

In terms of coaches without a worry, you can count on Nick Saban, Kirby Smart, Ed Orgeron, Dan Mullen, and Jimbo Fisher not needing to be concerned about their jobs (unless an unmitigated disaster occurs, but that’s an outlier).

First-year coaches who will probably be fine even if they don’t have great seasons would include Mike Leach, Lane Kiffin, Eli Drinkwitz, and Sam Pittman. That’s not to say all four are 100 percent safe, as we’ve seen coaches fired after one season before, but it’s rare.

More from SEC Football

• SEC Football: Rattler, Cook, Mertz Rise in Week 4 QB Power Rankings
• 2023 Week 4 AP Poll Top 25: Every SEC team’s highest, lowest spot on ballot
• SEC Football: Florida, LSU rise in Week 4 2023 power rankings
• 4 SEC football picks to hammer and one to avoid in Week 3
• After down Week 2, Week 3 provides another opportunity for SEC football

That leaves five coaches.

Of those five, it’s unlikely that Kentucky’s Mark Stoops is really facing the music this season unless Kentucky just completely dumps and can’t win a single conference game. A step back from the last two years would probably start the wheels in motion for a coaching search in Lexington, but Stoops would be back in 2021.

Tennessee’s Jeremy Pruitt is an interesting case. It didn’t look like he’d even survive the 2019 season, but the Vols ran off six straight games to end the season and looked like a completely different team. He’s still got a lot of support from UT athletic director Phillip Fulmer, so again, it will take an absolutely wretched season for Pruitt to face dismissal.

That brings us to the final three, and all three of these coaches need to find a way to at least improve — significantly in some cases — if they want to return to their jobs in 2021 or even make it through this season.

SEC football coaches who need to win in 2020: Derek Mason

Within this group of three, Derek Mason is probably under the least amount of pressure but he’s still facing an uphill battle to remain on board as Vanderbilt’s head coach.

The Commodores have gone 27-47 (10-38 in SEC play) since Mason became head coach in 2014 and have yet to have a winning season under his watch. The bar isn’t very high at Vandy, but at some point, you have to figure the powers that be will want more return on their investment.

Current Penn State head coach James Franklin proved it’s possible to win at Vanderbilt, so it’s not like the AD and university president haven’t seen it happen. They brought in Mason figuring him to possibly build on the foundation laid down by Franklin, but the ‘Dores have taken a few steps back.

Despite getting an extension after the 2018 season, Mason will probably need to guide Vandy to a winning season at the very least before serious talk of him being replaced begins to occur. If by Halloween, Vanderbilt doesn’t look on track to at least have a .500 season, you may see him shown the door before the season ends.

SEC football coaches who need to win in 2020: Will Muschamp

This could be a very difficult season for Will Muschamp at South Carolina. While he’s made some strides, he’s still not really meeting the expectations placed upon him when he was hired in 2016. He was given a one-year extension on his contract and currently his buyout should he be fired after the 2020 season sits at $13.2 million.

That’s a steep price to pay.

That said, it’s reaching the “get results or get lost” point for Muschamp in Columbia. His past record as head coach in Florida is now beginning to catch up with him and the South Carolina brass is seeing a pattern that doesn’t look to be broken.

So far, 2017’s 9-4 record and win in the Outback Bowl are the highlights of Muschamp’s stay at South Carolina. The Gamecocks have pulled off a few nice upsets here and there, but haven’t really built on anything.

Despite the high-dollar buyout attached to Muschamp, he’ll need to at least be a serious contender to win the SEC East this year if he wants to stay. Another sub-.500 SEC record could spell doom for him at South Carolina and may hurt his chances of getting another head coaching position at a Power-5 school.

SEC football coaches who need to win in 2020: Gus Malzahn

It seems like every year Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn is on everyone’s “hot seat” list, and every year the Auburn faithful take to the interwebs to voice their displeasure with the Tigers head coach. Yet, he’s always back the following year.

Welcome to year three of this annual cycle.

Unlike the other two coaches on this list, the problem for Malzahn isn’t that the Tigers aren’t winning, its that they aren’t winning enough or winning the right games.

Much like Jim Donnan at Georgia from 1996-2000, Malzahn has a winning record at Auburn but hasn’t fared well against the big rivals and in games that really matter.

Under Malzahn, the Tigers are 3-4 against Alabama, 2-6 against Georgia (including the 2017 SEC Championship game loss), 2-5 against LSU, and have a middling 33-23 record against the SEC as a whole. Those numbers are all below what is expected at Auburn.

The two coaches prior to Malzahn — Gene Chizik and Tommy Tuberville — both completed undefeated seasons, with Chizik winning a national championship and Tuberville being cheated out of the chance for one by the BCS. Before that, Terry Bowden led the Tigers to an undefeated season and a claimed national title in 1993.

Bottom line, Auburn expects their coaches to have the Tigers competing for the big trophies. Malzahn has one SEC title and one BCS Championship Game loss in his first season (2013) and then a lot of stumbling since then.

Another year of losing to rivals and playing in a ho-hum bowl game could be the last straw and will probably start Auburn looking to pilfer a successful young assistant from either Nick Saban’s or Kirby Smart’s staff.