SEC Football: 3 names to watch for in potential coaching changes

With coaches it seems like being fired earlier and earlier in the season each year, the talk it seems is on-going for who is that next “hot coach” to join SEC Football. Currently, Auburn sits at 3-3, with losses to Penn State, LSU and Georgia having led to much discussion about the future of their second-year head coach, Bryan Harsin. While an Auburn coaching vacancy may be adamant, there always seems to be a few each year in the SEC.

Let us dive into some strong coaching options who could potentially replace Harsin, or other head coaches in the SEC as early as next season if they are ousted:

3 names to watch for in potential SEC Football coaching changes

P.J. Fleck – Fleck is currently the head coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers, and is a proven winner as a head coach both there and at Western Michigan at the FBS level:

PRO’S –  In four years as head coach, Fleck’s record at Western Michigan was 30-22. More impressively, Fleck took the program from a 1-11 record in his first season to a 13-1 record in his last with the school. This propelled him to the head coaching position at Minnesota where Fleck has continued to excel. In his sixth year with the school, Fleck’s current record is 39-23. So far this year in his sixth season at the school, Fleck is 4-1. Substantial improvement in his record at each of his stops makes him a viable candidate.

CON’S – Fleck has done a lot of winning, but it has all been in the Midwest. The question for Fleck will be whether he can win in the SEC if it ever aligns. A failure one could point to and compare coming out of the Big Ten would be Bret Bielema who went 29-34 in his time at Arkansas, with an abysmal SEC record of 11-29 in SEC play.

Luke Fickell – Fickell is currently the head coach of the Cincinnati Bearcats and has done wonders with the program with it being his first permanent head coaching gig in FBS:

PRO’S – Fickell has 14 years of assistant coaching experience under him at Ohio State coaching under Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer, who each won national championships for the school during Fickell’s time under them.

Fickell had a brief stint as interim head coach at Ohio State in 2011 where the Buckeyes pieced together a 6-7 record amidst a tumultuous time in the program’s history.

After spending time under these two successful coaches, Fickell took his first shot as a head coach beginning in 2017 with the Bearcats where he turned the program around from 4-8 in his first season to 11-2 in just his second year with the school.

Since Fickell’s second season through current in 2022, the Bearcats have only lost a total of 9 games, including back-to-back one-loss seasons in 2020 and 2021.

CON’S – Fickell is not a proven winner beyond anything but a smaller program. We have all seen this song and dance many times before in hiring a coach from a smaller program and conference that does not perform well as a head coach trying to take the next step at a larger program like the SEC would be for Fickell.

Hugh Freeze – Freeze is arguable a polarizing figure, but what is not arguable is his success in SEC Football as previous head coach at Ole Miss, and current success as head coach of Liberty University.

PRO’S – Freeze’s overall record as a head coach is 78-40 with only one season under .500. Freeze coached Arkansas State for one season in 2011 and led them to a 10-3 in that year. He then took the head coaching job at Ole Miss in 2012, which was a program that needed re-building and took them from 7-6 in 2012 to 10-3 in 2015, improving his record each year along the way. Not to mention, Freeze beat Saban twice during his time at Ole Miss. That is an SEC Football accolade most cannot even say they accomplished once.

Freeze had some sanctions uncovered against him at Ole Miss which led to a quick exit, but re-surfaced again at Liberty University where he has had three winning seasons to-date, including a 10-1 campaign in 2020.

CON’S – Freeze has a past of recruiting violations which landed him in hot water with the NCAA, forcing Ole Miss to vacate 33 wins during his time with the program.

The hope is if a team would take him on that he is learned from his mistakes. Regardless, this is still something to consider before hiring.

Three top options that each have pro’s and con’s put a lot of pressure on picking the right one. You must figure that at least one of these three will not pan out in such a competitive conference, which puts a lot of pressure on the Athletic Director of that respective school hiring to make the right choice.