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November is the most important month for college football. The last four games of the regular season take place in November, and those four games often make or break the season.
November is also home to one of the most exciting weekends in college football, the last week, otherwise known as Rivalry Week. What’s better than two teams who hate each other’s guts battling it out on the gridiron for bragging rights? Both in-conference and out-of-conference, some of these rivalry games have become historic: Alabama vs. Auburn, Mississippi State vs. Ole Miss, Florida vs. Florida State, South Carolina vs. Clemson, Georgia vs. Georgia Tech. The list goes on.
As a head coach, you don’t want to lose in November. It’s always better to lose early rather than late, and in the last month of the regular season there are key opponents to whom you don’t want to ever lose. Unfortunately, SEC schedules often don’t play well to the idea of winning during November. It takes a coach with true clutch factor to consistently win in the final stretch.
Here we take a look at all the current coaches in the SEC, and examine their total win-loss record over all the Novembers of their current tenure. Let’s see who really is a clutch coach.
NICK SABAN — ALABAMA
November win-loss record: 23-9
Notable wins: vs. Auburn (’08, 36-0), vs. Auburn (’12, 49-0),
Notable losses: vs. Texas A&M (’12, 24-29), vs. Auburn (’13, 28-34)
Saban’s experience speaks for itself. From going winless in November during his first year at Alabama to his upcoming ninth year of coaching the Crimson Tide, November is no match for Saban.
BRET BIELEMA — ARKANSAS
November win-loss record: 2-6
Notable wins: vs. LSU (’14, 17-0), vs. Ole Miss (’14, 30-0)
Notable losses: vs. Mississippi State (’13, 17-24 OT)
Bielema is entering his third year coaching at Arkansas, so his November record in the SEC isn’t very extensive. However, he is making great progress, scoring consecutive shutouts during November last season.
GUS MALZAHN — AUBURN
November win-loss record: 6-3
Notable wins: vs. Alabama (’13, 34-28)
Notable losses: vs. Texas A&M (’14, 38-41), vs. Georgia (’14, 7-34)
Unlike Saban and Bielema, both of whom lost all their November games during their first season as coach, Malzahn won all his November games, bringing Auburn all the way to the national championship game. However, the trend hasn’t continued. November in 2015 will be his true test.
JIM MCELWAIN — FLORIDA
November win-loss record (Colorado State): 8-5
Notable wins: vs. New Mexico (’13, 66-42)
Notable losses: vs. Utah (’13, 0-13), vs. Air Force (’14, 24-27)
This is McElwain’s first year, which means he hasn’t yet experienced November in the SEC as a head coach. Pulling from his three years as head coach at Colorado State, his November record isn’t bad. However, 8-5 won’t cut it in the SEC. Not at Florida.
MARK RICHT — GEORGIA
November win-loss record: 40-13
Notable wins: vs. Auburn (’12, 38-0), vs. Georgia Tech (’13, 41-34 2OT)
Notable losses: vs. Florida (’08, 10-49), vs. Florida (’14, 20-38)
In all his 14 years at Georgia, Richt has never lost more games in November than he’s won. The closest he came was in 2008 when he went 2-2. Considering he has less November losses than years coaching, Richt is someone good to have around during that month.
MARK STOOPS — KENTUCKY
November win-loss record: 1-8
Notable wins: vs. Alabama State (’13, 48-14)
Notable losses: vs. Vanderbilt (’13, 6-22), vs. Tennessee (’14, 16-50)
In this first two seasons, Stoops has not done well in November. Kentucky’s hardest stretch of schedule is usually during the last month of the regular season.
LES MILES — LSU
November win-loss record: 28-11
Notable wins: vs. Arkansas (’11, 41-17), vs. Ole Miss (’14, 10-7)
Notable losses: vs. Alabama (’13, 17-38), vs. Arkansas (’14, 0-17)
While Miles is not as good in November as Richt, he has shown that he delivers wins on a relatively consistent basis over his 10 years at LSU.
DAN MULLEN – MISSISSIPPI STATE
November win-loss record: 10-14
Notable wins: vs. Ole Miss (’09, 41-27)
Notable losses: vs. Arkansas (’10, 31-38 2OT), vs. Alabama (’14, 20-25)
Slowly, Mullen is working on turning his November record around with the Bulldogs. As he goes into his seventh year as head coach, we’ll have the chance to see if Ole Miss and Arkansas will continue to give him trouble.
GARY PINKEL — MISSOURI
November win-loss record: 32-20
Notable wins: vs. Tennessee (’12, 51-48 4OT), vs. Texas A&M (’13, 28-21), vs. Arkansas (’14, 21-14)
Notable losses: vs. Florida (’12, 7-14)
In the last two seasons, Pinkel has gone undefeated in November, which contributed to Missouri’s back-to-back SEC East championships. Before those two years, Pinkel’s record teetered between winning and losing.
HUGH FREEZE — OLE MISS
November win-loss record: 5-7
Notable wins: vs. Mississippi State (’14, 31-17)
Notable losses: vs. Vanderbilt (’12, 26-27)
Last year’s upset of in-state rival Mississippi State boosted Freeze’s Rebels to a respectable season record. Could 2015 be the year where Freeze turns his losing November record to a winning one?
STEVE SPURRIER – SOUTH CAROLINA
November win-loss record: 22-14
Notable wins: vs. Clemson (’13, 31-17), vs. Florida (’14, 23-20 OT)
Notable losses: vs. Arkansas (’11, 28-44), vs. Clemson (’14, 17-35)
Considering the wins and dominance that Spurrier brought to South Carolina, his record in November is surprisingly unimpressive. November 2015, however, presents a very winnable set of games.
BUTCH JONES — TENNESSEE
November win-loss record: 4-4
Notable wins: vs. South Carolina (’14, 45-42 OT)
Notable losses: vs. Vanderbilt (’13, 10-14)
In his first season, Jones went 1-3 in November. However, in his second season, he flipped that record. Jones should seize November 2015 as the year that will define how great his clutch factor is.
KEVIN SUMLIN — TEXAS A&M
November win-loss record: 8-4
Notable wins: vs. Alabama (’12, 29-24), vs. Auburn (’14, 41-38)
Notable losses: vs. LSU (’13, 10-34), vs. Missouri (’14, 27-34)
Sumlin went guns blazing in November during his first season with the Aggies, going 4-0. However, he’s gone 2-2 in his last two seasons.
DEREK MASON — VANDERBILT
November win-loss record: 1-3
Notable wins: vs. Old Dominion (’14, 42-28)
Notable losses: vs. Mississippi State (’14, 0-51)
Mason didn’t do so great during his first November with the Commodores. However, many of the coaches on this list did just as bad, if not worse. While Vanderbilt may seem vastly disadvantaged against most teams on their November schedule, you never know when an upset could happen.
Christine Wang is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. She covers Auburn, Arkansas and Ole Miss.
