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Coaching careers are like fingerprints and snowflakes. No two are identical.
The heads of state in the SEC are no different. Current conference head coaches have spent a combined 108 years zigging and zagging their own paths across the country in constant search of way to work themselves up the coaching hierarchy.
Before they crossed to Alabama or LSU they crissed to parts unknown, such a Franklin College or Fort Hays State. And if you knew where those institutions resided without the use of Google, then you are a better fan than most. The answer, it turns out, is Indiana and Kansas, respectively.
The average current SEC head coach took 16.4 years to land their first head coaching gig. That number jumps to 18.9 if you consider the 35 combined years that current SEC head coaches spent on the high school level.
Of course, by the law of averages, this makes for a handful of coaches who quickly rose through the ranks and others that paid their share of dues before getting the keys to their own programs.
Here are some observations about those that have climbed to the highest rung on the coaching ladder and how long it took them to get there.
Most years coaching before to first head coach gig
- 1T. Mark Stoops, 27 years*
- 1T. Jim McElwain, 27 years
- 3T. Gus Malzahn, 21 years*
- 3T. Les Miles, 21 years
- 3T. Derek Mason, 20 years
- 3T. Kevin Sumlin, 20 years
- 7. Nick Saban, 18 years
Stoops and McElwain put in time as understudies. Stoops’ 27 years prior to getting the Kentucky job includes four seasons at Ohio’s Nordonia High School.
Florida’s McElwain traversed country with seven schools — from Eastern Washington and Montana State to Alabama, Michigan State and the Oakland Raiders — before Colorado State invited him to Fort Collins and a chance to head-up the Rams.
High school to SEC
Gus Malzahn and Hugh Freeze have the distinction of being the most decorated high school coaches among the current SEC heads with five combined state titles and 28 years on the preps level, respectively. Both coaches also only needed six years on the college level before landing their first head coaching roles.
Freeze also has the distinction of being the only current SEC head coach who was a dubbed a head coach without any coordinator experience when Lambuth University tabbed him to lead to the Eagles. Until then, Freeze had coached for 13 years in high school and for three seasons as tights end coach and recruiting coordinator at Ole Miss. In fact, Freeze has only spent one of his 25 years coaching as an offensive coordinator (2010 Arkansas State).
Fewest years coaching prior to first head coaching gig
- 1.Bret Bielema, 12 years
- 2T. Dan Mullen, 15 years
- 2T. Will Muschamp, 15 years
- 4T. Hugh Freeze, 16 years*
- 4T. Barry Odom, 16 years*
- 6T. Butch Jones, 17 years
- 6T. Kirby Smart, 17 years
Bielema was the fastest current SEC coach to reach the head coaching level, when he signed on at Wisconsin after a dozen years as a coach and coordinator. Before he landed at Arkansas, Bielema spent 12 years with just three teams (Iowa, Kansas State and Wisconsin). Alabama’s Saban, by comparison, has coached for 12 teams.
Butch Jones and Tennessee versus Georgia and Kirby Smart has the makings of a budding rivalry. But how close are the Volunteers’ and Bulldogs’ head coaches? Quite, actually. Both coaches needed 17 years to be crowned a head coach, Jones with Central Michigan, Smart this year in Athens. The two were also coordinators for nine years before ascending to the head of the table.
Years as coordinator before head coach
- 1.Will Muschamp, 11 years
- 2T. Jim McElwain, 10 years
- 2T. Mark Stoops, 10 years
- 4T. Butch Jones, 9 years
- 4T. Kirby Smart, 9 years
- 6. Gus Malzahn, 6 years
- 7. Nick Saban, 5 years
- 8T. Derek Mason, 4 years
- 8T. Kevin Sumlin, 4 years
- 8T. Dan Mullen, 4 years
- 8T. Barry Odom, 4 years
- 8T. Bret Bielema, 4 years
- 13. Les Miles, 3 years
- 14. Hugh Freeze, 0
Some coaching toil for years as bridesmaid before getting the call to walk down the aisle.
Muschamp is that guy in the SEC. The South Carolina coach was a defensive coordinator for 11 years before Florida hired him as a head coach. McElwain and Stoops, not surprisingly, spent the second-most amount of time as coordinators.
Once a coach becomes a coordinator, it’s not long after before they’re named a head coach.
On average, current SEC coaches needed six seasons as a coordinator before getting the call. If you’re a coaching genius such as Miles, you only need three years as an offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State to convince the Cowboys that you’re their main man. Five coaches — Bielema, Mason, Mullen, Odom and Sumlin — needed just four years as a coordinator (offensive or defense).
Chris Wuensch is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers South Carolina and Tennessee.
