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These are my hot seat power rankings going into the 2026 SEC football season. And I want to start from 16. I think the build up more so from 16 to 1 coolest to hottest instead of hottest to coolest, which obviously number one is the hottest, 16 is the coolest. I want to start from 16 and then go up to one, which I mean is typically how we do power rankings if you've been paying attention ever. So let's start number 16. Guys, the hot seat power rankings during the 2026 season at number 16. This one feels pretty self explanatory and I, I won't spend a ton of time on the bottom of this list because there's some of them that it's like, well, no, duh, 16. I got Kirby Smart at Georgia. I mean, listen, I understand there's pressure to win at Georgia. Like if they went 7 and 5 legitimately or 6 and 6 or whatever, the wheels fell off. You know, Georgia is a program to where they would not take that very well. But I have Kirby Smart in 16 for two reasons or a couple reasons. Number one, I think he's the best head coach 1A, 1B with Kurt Signetti, if you want to have that argument in all college football. Kirby Smart is in what feels like untouchable territory. I also just trust that Georgia is going to continue to win under Kirby Smart. So I don't think there's even a conversation about, well, what if, what if Georgia slips this year? I, I don't see Georgia slipping like that. You know what I mean? So there's a level of trust with Kirby Smart. Obviously won a pair of national titles. Need I say more? Right. Kirby Smart is a legend at Georgia. He'll go down as one of the all time greats, not just as Georgia, but all of college football. I would say nobody's probably got more job security for a number of different reasons than head coach Kirby Smart and number 15, Ryan Silverfield at Arkansas. Again, you're going to see a lot of the first year head coaches down here at the bottom because you're not going to fire a first year head coach. Now, to be, to be fair, I've had some people. Well, I say some people. I've had one person essentially. You know, I think Arkansas would be crazy to move out off a guy after a year unless they just went defeated. Like maybe if you're Arkansas and you lose like Tulsa and you lose every conference game and you feel like, hey, we actually messed up and there's some other guy we want to go get, but that's still, that feels crazy to me to be having that conversation. Ryan Silverfield, Arkansas, the expectations are low. I don't think it's going to take a lot to have a successful season in year one. I mean God forbid they make a bowl game, they might throw a parade in Fayetteville. I mean just with where they've been and what they are right now. So. Right. Ryan Silverfield, number 15 at Arkansas, pretty self explanatory. Number 14. I've got Will Stein at Kentucky getting another first year head coach. I think there's a lot of optimism and excitement at Kentucky. You know it's, it's finally just something different from the Mark Stoops era which all due respect to Mark Stoops, I think he did a great job at Kentucky. He obviously brought Kentucky to heights that. Excuse me. I think many of us, we were not sure they were possible. I mean we're talking about winning double digit games, doing that a couple times in a four or five year span. So. But it got stale obviously. So insert Willstein to be fair, a guy who's never been a head coach before. So I, I think that creates a little bit of a uncertainty if you will. But I, I think high flying, exciting offense, it should make the product, even if Kentucky's not very good, it should make the product much, much more entertaining in lexing. Number three, I got Clark Lee at Vandy. I mean I think obviously last year, but certainly the past couple years have bought, bought him a lot of goodwill. I mean what's so interesting about this guys is 2 years ago at this time Clark Lee would have been top two or three on this list. I think they were coming off of 2 and 10 in 2023. Was it? I think they were 2 and 10 in 2023. So there was a lot of pressure around him going into 2024. You know I, I think after the last two years though, what Clark Lee did last year, going 10 and 2, I believe. Yeah. Did win coach of the year. Yeah. His job is safe. Clark's a Vandy guy. Yeah. I think he's built himself a lot of goodwill. I mean you'd like to think what happened last year at least bought him three or four years at Mandy and the expectations and the urgency and it's always there to win. Especially you know, Vandy fans. They don't want to fall off a cliff certainly. But I, yeah, I think Clark Lee's got a lot of job security because of what's happened the last two years. Big Europe coming For him to steady the ship, make sure it doesn't go completely off the rails after Diego Pavia. But yeah, Clark Lee's in a great place. Number 12, Mike Elko. Texas A and M. So far, so good. You take him, you take the Aggies of the College Football Playoff last year. I thought year one was a success. You lay the foundation again last year. You start 11 0. Biggest thing Mike Yelko can do and the biggest favor, and I'm not saying this from a job perspective, but just from a winning favorability perspective. Beat Texas. I mean, I think that's kind of the last box he, you know, you could say get to the SEC title game, but is that, is that the ultimate priority? I mean, maybe, maybe not, but certainly beating Texas, I think is going to win you a lot of favor with Aggie fans. Right? But yeah, I mean, it's, it speaks for itself. He's done a great job. There's always pressure in year three. Year three is kind of like this is who you are type of deal. But again, Mike Elko done a great job there at Texas A and M. I think job security, he's not an issue. Pressure to win, certainly, which is why he's higher than some others. But yeah, Mike Elko certainly, I think at this point has earned the benefit of the doubt. At number 11. I got Alex Golish over at Auburn. And the only reason Golish is this high. You start getting in this territory of, yeah, you're a first year head coach, but at a place like Auburn, I think they're understanding, but there's not that much of a grace period. Like the Runway doesn't feel very long. Like they want to win now, you know, so, you know, nobody's getting fired. Year one, that's just not happening. I, I think that sets a horrible precedent. Good luck hiring the next guy if you're starting to get rid of coaches after a year. But from the standpoint of like, I think there's more, there's much more pressure on a goal issue at Auburn than say there is a Silverfield at Arkansas or a Stein at Kentucky. I don't even think that's a hot take. Auburn people, you know, step one, I think this year we're going to talk about Auburn later in the show, but I think step one for Auburn this year. Have a winning season, have a winning record. I think that would be a great step in the right direction. But that's, it's not really something Auburn fans want to hear. Right. They're ready to get back and get Two, I should say competing for a college football playoff. So goal. Ish. A lot of pressure at Auburn. Certainly, again, job security. Hadn't even coached a single down there. But there's always the second you take that Auburn job and you walk in that building, the pressure is on. Same thing for number 10 at John Sumrall at Florida, my number 10 spot. A lot of job security, a lot of goodwill built. I think Gator fans obviously really excited for the new era, but it's the same thing I just mentioned with Auburn. The moment you take that Florida job and you walk in that building, there's a level of pressure and expectation, I think, especially with John Sumrall, not from the oh, my God, you better win or you're going to lose your job in year one perspective. But people are looking at this roster, and Florida's going from the. The underrated, sexy, you know, dark horse pick to, hey, this, everybody's kind of on the same page. This Florida team's got a pretty good roster and, and should win eight or more games. That's what it feels like. Is that right? Is that wrong? I. I don't know. But it. It feels like they're becoming the more and more popular pick, if you will excuse me. And certainly the dark horse pick, excuse me, from the sec to. To make some noise this year and challenge with the college football playoffs. So you're John Sumrall. There are some big expectations immediately to meet in year one, which I think adds some pressure, but again, that is being the head coach of the Florida Gators, if you will. And number nine, I've got Pete Golding over at Ole Miss. Pete Golding is a really interesting one because an Ole Miss is interesting, too. There's a level from the Ole Miss people I've talked to and the ones that I talked to end of season. And they could have changed their tune since then, but there's almost a level of number one. Pete's their guy, right? Like, Pete is their guy. Like, Pete Golding earned so much goodwill from the Ole Miss faithful just because he was willing to say, nah, Fu Lane, I'm staying at Ole Miss. Like, screw you. Go do your thing. I'm a rebel. I'm a rebel. Like, this is where I want to be. This is my home. I think Ole Miss people, he won them over. And then obviously you do what you do in the playoff, right? You beat Kirby Smart, you're a game away from the national title. I mean, that winning will earn a lot of that as well, but it almost feels like For Pete, like, yes, there's high expectations and there's pressure to win and there's pressure to get back to the playoff and whatever, but, like, there's also this feeling that I have, and Ole Miss fans can correct me if I'm wrong, but there's almost this. This feeling of, like, you know what? They're giving Pete more grace. I had an Ole Miss fan tell me this after the two lane game last year. Man, I'd rather go 7 and 5 or 8 and 4 every year when a guy like Pete Golding, who really wants to be here, who loves Oxford and loves Ole Miss, than deal with the headache that is Lane Kiffin and him toying with our emotions and doing what he did. Now, that's really easy to say in the moment because winning rules all. And I don't think fans really care as much as they may claim about their coach's character. I think they only care about wins and losses. At the end of the day, you know, that good old boy stick kind of wears off. So, I mean, we'll see. But I just. It's a weird. It's a very weird, interesting dynamic where I think Ole Miss fans, they've kind of got Pete Goldings back this season no matter what. Now, obviously, if they go 6 and 6, 5 and 7, it's a different story. But, like, I. I just. I don't think they're going to bring out the torch and pitchforks if they don't make the College Football Playoff. So there's, like, there's pressure, but it's not. It's not to the level that you would think that. I think it would be for a team that's trying to follow up what they did last year. Just. Just a different dynamic. And number eight, speaking of him, I've got Lane Kiffin at lsu. I. I could have put Lane higher, but still, you're going into Year one. This is high for a coach going into Year one, in my opinion, especially when you have the roster you have and it's lsu. There's massive expectations, but I. I still just. Guys, you know, I think we kind of unfairly at times label. And I heard, like, Urban Meyer say, for example, they better win a natty or, you know, these. These LSU fans, they're gonna come for blood. They're gonna come out of the woodwork. I think that was an unfair take by Urban Meyer. You listen, you're going to have your crazies on social media. You're going to have your crazies on Twitter. You're Going to have your crazies in general. Every fan base has them. We should go 120 every year. It's inexcusable if we don't. We're the best. We should be winning the national title every year. You have those people, most people, the non vocal majority are realistic and they're level headed folks and they understand, hey, just because we spent a lot of money, still year one, a lot of new pieces, let's lay the foundation in year one. If we get to a playoff, great, let's be close to it. We don't have to get there. And Lane Kiffin ain't. That could go 6 and 6 and Lane Kiffin ain't going anywhere. I mean that's just the bottom line, right? Like you invested all this money in Lane. He ain't going anywhere. He might have to face some tough questions and he most certainly will face some top questions, but he ain't going anywhere. So Lane Kiffin at number eight. For me at lsu there's high pressure, high expectations, but I think it's a really unfair label to say like national title or bust. Like this is lsu. It is lsu and you have an, you know, a roster that you feel can compete at the highest level. But there's just a lot of new in year one and we got to see how it plays out. And what we don't know is what we don't know at this point. So yes, there's pressure, yes, there's expectations, but I think there's more pressure on other guys who have been in this league for a little bit that are really truly facing the win now where, you know, we're going to start to question the future and the trajectory and everything about this program under your leadership. Speaking of that, number seven, I've got Eli Drinkwitz at Missouri. You know, drinks done a great job in the last couple years and I say great job. He's done a really good job. I think a great job would have been getting the College Football Playoff. In my opinion, that's neither here nor there. The last two years I think they've had a roster that you could have argued and they've had a schedule. If nothing else that you could have argued, they should have made the college football club Mizzou's biggest problem is they just haven't been able to win a big game. Like they're, they're good enough to beat the, the middle of the pack, not good enough to beat anybody of real significance like at the top of the league, right? Yeah, they're just, they're just. They have not been right. Eli Drinkwitz is a really good coach, but even last year. And I've. I've got Mizzou. I've got Mizzou buddies that have hit me up and are essentially telling me, chris, we're growing a little bit tired of the Mizzou or the Eli Drinkwitz experience, if you will. Missouri, you can argue, is like in sports purgatory right now. They are good enough to have these really respectable seasons, 8 and 4, 9 and 3, knocking on the door, have some nice wins, but they're bad enough to not win anything of real significance. Right? Like, I think 8 and 4 is still a good season in college football, but to most fan bases, it's. It's not. You don't get a trophy for going eight and four. And unfortunately, bowl games mean nothing now. Nobody cares if you win the. The Reliaquest Bowl. Nobody cares if you win the Birmingham bowl, the Music City Bowl. Just name whatever bowl game it is. Right? So, yeah, I. I think it's. We're in a very interesting place with the Missouri football program when it comes to Eli Drink was. Has undoubtedly done a really good job there building that program up. He's a really good recruiter. But you wonder, you never want to be stuck in neutral. What's the trajectory of the program? Are we on the up and up? Are we stuck where we are? You know, I think a season reverting back to what he was because you might recall Drinkwich was on the hot seat a couple years ago. Right? Drink Wince was on the hot seat a couple years ago, and it was a couple of really good seasons under guys like Brady Cook, Luther Burden, Theo Weiss, etc, etc, that, you know, took him off that if they go back to 5 and 7, 6 and 6, I think you could see those conversations start to heat up. Number six, I got Brent Venables over at Oklahoma. Oklahoma's a pressure cooker, man. There's always a lot of pressure. There's always expectations. I mean, that. That's a big part of it. And I think the big question is this. Brent Venables went to the playoff last year, went one and done, but went to the playoff last year. And there were talks this time last year about his job security. Hey, is Brent Venables on the hottest. Not the hottest seat, but, excuse me, one of the hottest seats in the sec. Oklahoma is one of those jobs, in my opinion, where, like, until you win a national championship, when a conference title, you. You get to a place where you have built up so Much goodwill for yourself that you feel safe, like it can flip like that. Brent Venables go 6 and 6 this year. They're going to be calling for his job. I. I have no. Now, do they actually make a move? I don't know. I don't think so. But Oklahoma is one of the worst fan bases from the standpoint of tolerating losing. So what I'm saying is not an insult. It's just this is a very proud program and they want consistency and they don't want the bottom to fall out every other year. Good news is I think Oklahoma is going to be pretty good. But there's always pressure when you're the head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners. And certainly I think we're Brent Minimal's big year from the standpoint of just showing that last year is the rule, not the exception. Number five, I've got Brent, or, excuse me, Brent, middles. Number five, I've got Caitlin Debore of Alabama. He would have been higher on this list if it were not for the extension he got back in April. I mean, what are you going to do, fire a guy? Like, they'd have to go literally 6 and 6 or have a losing record. I think even at 7 and 5, they'd bring him back. Guys, you just paid the guy like $87 million, seven year extension. You ain't firing him. Just not happening, you know, it's just not happening. I, I don't care what happens. That being said, though, because you might recall last year after they lost the Florida State, I had Bama buddies. Whether it was real, whether it wasn't talking about, man, they're getting the paperwork ready, they're getting the money together. Like they're, you know, they're circling the wagons to get him out of here. Well, the rest is history. Alabama finishes first overall in the sec. They, they got throttled in the season. I know, but won a playoff game. They had a season at 99% of college football programs and fan bases would have been thrilled with. But this is Alabama, so, yeah, Year three of Kayla and aboard. Show me who you really are. Show me who you really are. That's why he's number five on this list. There is a lot of a pressure for Caitlin Debore to get Alabama football at least closer back to what it was before he got there and what it was. Interceded. He's not Nick Saban. He'll never be Nick Saban. Alabama football will never be what it was under Nick Saban. It is what it is. But what is it under Kaylin De board? That's what we need to find out this year. Because this is your roster, this is your culture, this is your program. Let's see it. So the pressure is on. Undoubtedly, you know, mess around and lose some games. You gave him that extension. I don't think he's getting fired, but, boy, there's. If the losses pile up, you talk about a fan base that won't take it well. And I, I think Bama, they've got the money. If they really wanted to make a move. I don't think it's happening, but there's pressure. And number four, I got Steve Sarkeesian at Texas. This even felt a little high for me, but it's just because it's Texas. And yeah, there's a lot of pressure after you miss the playoff. I think especially what factors into this. I think whenever you have a generational player on campus, that adds a whole other level of pressure. You know, like you're. You're. A lot of your legacy will be judged off. What did you get out of Arch Manning? What'd you do with Arch Manning? Well, last year, you missed the playoff with him. You get a pass from me, that's fine. It is what it is. You should. You have been in. It's an argument he made. You had that loss to Ohio State. I know the Florida game derailed you, but, you know, I mean, you beat an Oklahoma team that was in the playoff. Could you make the argument they should have been in over them? It's a combo for another day. Looking at this season. You spent all this money in the portal getting all these new shiny toys for Arch Manning. You hired Will Muschamp for one reason, to beat Georgia. If you cross paths with him in Atlanta or somewhere else. Right? So you've made the investment. You got your prize quarterback back. Did you do enough on the offensive line? We'll see. But no excuses this year, guys. They don't make the College Football Playoff. I'm not. I'm not saying that they're going to fire him, but it'll get very uncomfortable If Texas goes 9 and 3 or worse. It will get very uncomfortable for Steve Sarkeesian. There is a lot of pressure. A lot of pressure. I don't think it's any secrets or, you know, I'm breaking any news to anyone. A lot of pressure. Because if you. If you go through the Arch Manning era and don't make a playoff, assuming he leaves after this year, I mean, come on, man. Like, what are we doing Are you gonna have a player at quarterback better than him? Maybe. But boy, you'd really feel like you missed a window, especially this year like this. Feels like you got a window, window to win a national title. You got a roster capable. Can you get the most out of it? A lot of pressure on Sar number three. I got Josh Hyple at Tennessee, whether you agree or disagree. And you know, I'm a guy, I'm, I'm a, I'm a hypo believer, if you will. But boy, there's a ton of pressure on Josh. Ho. This seat is, this seat is warmer than warm, we'll put it that way. I don't know if he's on the hot seat, but he's on a very warm one, that is for sure. I think he is in a boat similar to number one on our list. I think for Josh Hyple, it's simple. The, the fan base doesn't care who you start at quarterback. They prefer you start Faison, Brandon. But what I mean by that, they don't care about youth, they don't care about inexperience. Brother, it is year six of your tenure. Who gives a damn? A lot of Tennessee fans look at this and say, hey, if you're complaining about roster, the reason you're in this position falls on your shoulders. Why didn't you go out in the portal and get a quarterback? We got questions on the O line. We got questions at edge rusher. Why didn't we address those needs? Why couldn't we keep Chaz Coleman on campus? Why did the Boo Carter thing happen? Why didn't Nico dip? Now it's, you know, I respected the hell out of Josh Hyp for what he said and what he stood on about Nico Yamalava. I respected him for that. I think that was the right move. But fans just look at it as, hey, you lost those players, right? I think eight or more wins is what he needs to be safe and to be to return as head coach in 2027. I think it's 7 and 5. He should still be back. I think the context of how that 7 and 5 looks is really important. I do, I think the context of how that looks is really, really important. Six and six or worse, Who knows? Who knows? To a point where I think you could argue he's probably going. So I, I, I don't think it's just fun off season. Oh, let's, you know, create some content, create some headlines. I think Josh Hypel seriously on a hot seat and talking to Tennessee Buddies and just talking to Tennessee fans, they all echo that. You know, there's still a lot of people out there that love Josh Hypo, but they love him with the caveat, well, he better win, because if he don't, it's time to go. I think Tennessee fans, they got a taste of the playoff and they're like, nothing else will suffice. Sorry. 8 and 4 just don't cut it anymore. Hell, there's a lot of them that would probably disagree with me and say, if we don't go to the playoff this year, he should be gone. Young quarterback, I won't hold him to that. But they need to show signs of promise that, hey, we were close. And next year with this quarterback, with another year, with the pieces we can add in the portal or wherever else, 2027 will be our year. There needs to be hope leaving this year that 2027 is the year. And number two, I got Jeff Lebbing at Mississippi State. Guys, he's entering year three, but this is an important year. You've won one conference game in two seasons. I understand, and I see the comments. I see our guy Riley saying Levy was dealt a shit hand from the beginning. I understand it. Mississippi State, you could argue, is the toughest job in the sec. I mean, listen, I love college baseball. I love the dude. I love Mississippi State baseball fans and Mississippi State fans in general, when baseball is openly your number one sport, that's tough to overcome as the head football coach. That's tough. It's tough to deal with, right? You got to win more than one conference game. I just, and you know, it's funny, like, this comes straight from the horse's mouth. I've got a buddy that is on staff at Mississippi State. Obviously, I won't say who, but I was talking to him after the season last year, right after the egg bowl, and he essentially told me that they, they have been notified. Hey, we need to get to, we need to earn our way to a bowl game. 7 and 5 is the goal they're shooting for. I would agree. If Mississippi State misses a bowl game, especially if they only win one game in conference play again, God forbid they go over. But if they, you know, if it's another 4 and 8, 5 and 7 you're putting up. I just, I don't know, guys. I, I, I, they might use Levy as the fall guy there. I think there's other issues and there's other things to address, but Jeff Lebby is on a very, very hot seat. Very hot seat. There's Got to be signs of progress. And you got guys on the offensive side, right? Kamario Taylor, Fluff Bothwell, Anthony Edwards on the outs. Like, you got dudes on offense, so the offense should be fine. And you were close last year. You got to close out some of those games. You need to pull a big upset, right? Like Mississippi State's got that Minnesota game. Week two is huge. At South Carolina's huge, winnable SEC game, the zoo at home's big, you know, Oklahoma. Can you upset OU at home? Can you upset Bama at home? Can you upset. You know, you got Auburn at home, you got Vandy at home. Can you do something against your rival Ole Miss? Like, there's opportunities there. There's some big games at Davis, Wade. I think if he gets to bowl eligibility, he should be safe. He should be returning as Mississippi State's head coach in 2027. That, to me, will show a sign of real Progress. You go 5 and 7 or worse. I have a really tough time vouching for you at. At some point, it's just put up or shut up. And in year three, after you've only won one SEC game, and that was against Arkansas last year, who went over and went 2 and 10. The time is now. And another one. Guys, the coach that I think is on the hottest seat in the SEC and one of the hottest seats in college football in the 2026 season, I got Shane Beamer at South Carolina. I don't even know if this one's debatable. In my opinion, guys, I think Shane Beamer should have been fired after the Texas A and M game a season ago. He shouldn't been allowed. He shouldn't have been allowed back on the plane. I think that was enough. Shane Beamer completely lost me after that Texas A M game. Because you can blame play calling. You can blame players, you can blame this. You can blame that. That was coaching malpractice. And again, you can blame the oc. Is the head coach not in charge? Shane Beamer's on his fourth. Fourth offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield, Dowel Loggins, Mike Shula, and now Kendall Briles. Can Kendall Briles save Shane Beamer? That can be the title of this season. This is the title of the South Carolina football season. Can Kendall Briles save Shane Beamer? Because that's really what it comes down to. Yeah. A year after going four and eight where you had College Football Playoff expectations, year six upcoming, guys, two head football coaches in the SEC in the last 30 or so years have been retained at their respective school after a losing season in year five. One of them is Shane Beamer, the other one, Derek Mason at Vanderbilt, and he was fired the next season. I mean, writing sort of on the wall. And it's. It's not like the expectations in Columbia are, well, let's just. Let's just get back to a winning season and that's enough. No, not when you got Lenora Sellers, Nick harbor, and Dylan Stewart all back and you've got a roster that right, wrong or indifferent, Gamecock fans think can go win eight, nine, maybe get to the College Football Playoff, at least be knocking on the door of it. And to add to this, it was Shane Beamer last December that said, and I'm paraphrasing, but this is essentially what he said. We fully expect that this time next year to be in the College Football Playoff conversation or be in the College Football Playoff. Okay, well, congratulations. You just set College Football Playoff or bust expectations for yourself. This is the way I see it for Shane Beamer. 8 and 4 or better. He should be back. There's. There might be some fans that disagree, say, hey, no, it's got to be playoff. I think 8 and 4 better than he should be back. 7 and 5, super gray area. Super gray area. 6 and 6 are worse and Shane Beamer should be showed the door. I could argue 7 and 5 and he should be shown the door. But a 7 and 5, you beat Clemson maybe in the final game, but even then you're six and five going into that Clemson game. What have you achieved? But beating Clemson wins you a lot of favor in the Palmetto State. So 6 and 6 are worse. He should be canned. 7 and 5. I think 7 and 5 is the worst record that could happen because it's like, either show us you're the guy or show us you're not 8 and 4 better. He should be back. But, guys, I, I think Shane be. Should have been fired after the Texas A and M game last year. I don't know how anybody in Columbia, South Carolina has any faith in him. And I think Shane Beamer, he is who he is. This is year six, right? You're not. A tiger's not changing. Ironically, a tiger's not changing his stripes at this point. Like, he is who he is, you know, so if that's good enough in Columbia, so be it. But no doubt the hottest seat in the SEC trying to bounce back from a 4 and 8 season in 2025. So, guys, we'd love to hear your thoughts. Do you agree with me? Do you disagree, do you? Who's on the hottest seat in the SEC entering the 2026 season? Sa.