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Winning is everything in the SEC, and the conference’s 14 head coaches have done their fair share of winning since taking over their respective programs.
Twelve of the SEC’s 14 current head coaches led their teams to bowl games last season alone, and all 12 have reached the postseason at least 50 percent of the time at their current schools.
Below is a rundown of how often SEC head coaches have led their teams to bowl games at their current schools. This list grandfathers in Gary Pinkel and Kevin Sumlin’s years in the Big 12 before their schools joined the SEC, but it does not account for previous stints at different SEC schools like Nick Saban’s run at LSU or Steve Spurrier’s years at Florida.
Take a look at which coaches have led their teams to bowl eligibility the most frequently during their ongoing tenures:
| Coach | School | Years | Bowls | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Richt | Georgia | 14 | 14 | 100% |
| Les Miles | LSU | 10 | 10 | 100% |
| Nick Saban | Alabama | 8 | 8 | 100% |
| Hugh Freeze | Ole Miss | 3 | 3 | 100% |
| Kevin Sumlin | Texas A&M | 3 | 3 | 100% |
| Gus Malzahn | Auburn | 2 | 2 | 100% |
| Steve Spurrier | South Carolina | 10 | 9 | 90% |
| Dan Mullen | Mississippi State | 6 | 5 | 83.3% |
| Will Muschamp* | Florida | 4 | 3 | 75% |
| Gary Pinkel | Missouri | 14 | 10 | 71.4% |
| Bret Bielema | Arkansas | 2 | 1 | 50% |
| Butch Jones | Tennessee | 2 | 1 | 50% |
| Mark Stoops | Kentucky | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Derek Mason | Vanderbilt | 2 | 0 | 0% |
*Because Jim McElwain has yet to debut as Florida’s head coach, Muschamp was considered as Florida’s coach for this report. Muschamp did not coach in last year’s Birmingham Bowl but did lead the team to six wins to earn bowl eligibility.
The SEC is also known to make an appearance in the nation’s biggest bowl games each year. Seven of the conference’s 14 current head coaches have appeared in a BCS or New Year’s Six bowl game at their current schools, and four of those coaches have played in a BCS/NY6 bowl in at least one-third of their total postseason appearances.
Check out the SEC head coaches who have appeared in major bowl games the most frequently during their current tenures:
| Coach | BCS/NY6 bowl appearances | Total bowl appearances | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Saban | 5 | 8 | 62.5% |
| Gus Malzahn | 1 | 2 | 50% |
| Will Muschamp | 1 | 3 | 33.3% |
| Hugh Freeze | 1 | 3 | 33.3% |
| Les Miles | 3 | 10 | 30% |
| Mark Richt | 3 | 14 | 21.4% |
| Dan Mullen | 1 | 5 | 20% |
| Bret Bielema | 0 | 1 | 0% |
| Gary Pinkel | 0 | 10 | 0% |
| Steve Spurrier | 0 | 9 | 0% |
| Butch Jones | 0 | 1 | 0% |
| Kevin Sumlin | 0 | 3 | 0% |
A former newspaper reporter who has roamed the southeastern United States for years covering football and eating way too many barbecue ribs, if there is such a thing.
