SEC football assistants to watch for as future head coaches

The SEC has been the premier conference in college football for a few decades now. Since 2006, the SEC claims the 13 of the last 18 national championships, with the other five split amongst Clemson of the ACC and Ohio State and Michigan of the Big 10. LSU, Florida, Georgia and Alabama have all won national championships during this time period.

With that has borne the fruit of many successful head coaches in the SEC and beyond. Some got their starts as assistants in the SEC, and other have thrived as head coaches in the conference. Two of the most successful head coaches are Nick Saban and Kirby Smart.

Under Saban and Smart alone, there have been numerous assistants that have gone on to head coaching gigs elsewhere, and better opportunities. And beyond Saban and Smart, even more.

Some of the most recent head coaching hires that came from the SEC as former assistants include Syracuse’s Fran Brown , Mississippi State’s Jeff Lebby and Ole Miss’s Lane Kiffin .

While these are known names now, they were not always that. So who will be the next wave of head coaches that are current or former SEC assistants? I give some of my thoughts below.