Looking Back: The First 3 Seasons of Every SEC Coach Since 2012

What might history tell us about Hugh's first time on the Plains?

Three things in life are guaranteed to happen every year. Death, Taxes, and the SEC welcoming a new football coach because the old one couldn’t turn the program into the next Bama. 

An unfair comparison, for sure, but it’s hard to ignore the rising standards across college football thanks to Nick Saban and Kirby Smart, and the days of letting your guy take his time seem long gone. Every program wants a quick turnaround, but Clemson wouldn’t be Clemson if they didn’t give Dabo Swinney the seven years it took for him to make the Tigers relevant.

Every building project is different, however. That’s why there’s an unwritten rule of giving someone at least three years to get your coaches in the building, recruit the players you need and establish the attack you want to run. Sometimes if the direction of the program is nowhere near improved, then it can be better to cut ties sooner rather than later.

With that said, and a new coach roaming the Plains this fall, let’s look at what history can tell us about SEC coaches' first 3 years, including our own Hugh Freeze, to see what we can expect this season and beyond.

Today's Auburn Daily Stat of the Day is a tad different. Let's dive in. 

2012

- Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss

© Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports

FIRST THREE YEARS: 24-15, BEST WIN: 2014, #1 Alabama, 23-17. 

- Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M

FIRST THREE YEARS: 28-11, BEST WIN: 2012 at #1 Alabama, 29-24

- Gary Pinkel, Missouri 

FIRST THREE YEARS: 28-12, BEST WIN: 2014 at #13 South Carolina, 21-20

2013

- Gus Malzhan, Auburn

AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis

FIRST THREE YEARS: 26-12, BEST WIN: 2013, #1 Alabama, 34-28

- Butch Jones, Tennessee

FIRST THREE YEARS: 21-17, BEST WIN: 2016, Florida, 38-28

- Mark Stoops, Kentucky

FIRST THREE YEARS: 12-24, BEST WIN: 2015, #25 Missouri 21-13

- Brett Beilema, Arkansas

FIRST THREE YEARS: 18-20, BEST WIN: 2014 #8 Ole Miss, 30-0

2014

- Derek Mason, Vanderbilt

FIRST THREE YEARS: 13-24, BEST WIN: 2016 #24 Tennessee, 45-34

2015

- Jim McElwain, Florida

FIRST THREE YEARS: 22-12, BEST WIN: 2015 #3 Ole Miss, 38-10

2016

- Barry Odom, Missouri

FIRST THREE YEARS: 19-19, BEST WIN: At #11 Florida, 38-17

- Will Muschamp, South Carolina 

FIRST THREE YEARS: 22-17, BEST WIN: #18 Tennessee, 24-21

- Kirby Smart, Georgia

FIRST THREE YEARS: 32-10 BEST WIN: 2017, #2 Oklahoma, 54-48

2017

- Matt Luke

FIRST THREE YEARS: 15-21 BEST WIN: 2017 at #16 Miss State, 31-28

- Ed Orgeron

FIRST THREE YEARS: 34-9 BEST WIN: 2019 #3 Clemson, 42-25

- Chad Morris

FIRST TWO YEARS: 4-18 BEST WIN: Um, sure. 

2018 

- Jeremy Pruitt, Tennessee

FIRST THREE YEARS: 16-19. BEST WIN: 2018, #12 Kentucky, 24-7

- Joe Moorehead, Mississippi State

FIRST THREE YEARS: 14-12. BEST WIN: 2018, #16 Texas A&M, 28-13

- Dan Mullen, Florida

FIRST THREE YEARS: 29-9. BEST WIN: 2020, #5 Georgia, 44-28

- Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M

FIRST THREE YEARS: 26-10. BEST WIN: 2020, #13 North Carolina, 41-27

2019 –

A rare commodity in today's coaching world, almost as rare as TCU making the College Football Playoff, no SEC coach was fired or let go from the previous year. 

2020 – 

- Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss

FIRST THREE YEARS: 23-13. BEST WIN: 2022, #7 Kentucky, 22-19

- Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri

FIRST THREE YEARS: 17-19. BEST WIN: 2020 at #17 LSU, 45-41

- Sam Pittman, Arkansas

FIRST THREE YEARS: 19-17. BEST WIN: 2021, #7 Texas A&M, 20-10

- Mike Leach, Mississippi State

FIRST THREE YEARS: 19-17. BEST WIN: at #20 Ole Miss, 24-22

2021 – 

- Bryan Harsin, Auburn 

Todd Van Emst/AU Athletics

FIRST TWO YEARS: 9-12. BEST WIN: #10 Ole Miss, 31-20

- Josh Huepel, Tennessee

FIRST TWO YEARS: 18-8. BEST WIN: 2022, #3 Alabama, 52-49

- Clark Lea, Vanderbilt

FIRST TWO YEARS: 7-17. BEST WIN: 2022, at #24 Kentucky, 24-21

- Shane Beamer, South Carolina

FIRST TWO YEARS: 15-11. BEST WIN: 2022, #5 Tennessee, 63-38

2022 - 

- Brian Kelly, LSU

FIRST SEASON: 10-4. BEST WIN: 2022, #6 Alabama, 32-31.

- Billy Napier, Florida 

FIRST SEASON: 6-7. BEST WIN: 2022, #7 Utah, 29-26

Conclusion, looking ahead to 2023

© Jake Crandall / USA TODAY NETWORK

So, a fun fact about Auburn's football history is that a new head coach is usually about a year or two away from contending for a championship (Tuberville, Chizik, and Malzhan being the three most recent examples) and as Hugh demonstrated in his tenure at Ole Miss, it doesn't take long for him to guide a program towards 10 wins (2015 Ole Miss went 10-3 following a 9 win season in '14). On average, an SEC coach can reach double digits in their second season, and Auburn has the talent to be able to reach that plateau in year ONE if everything falls the Tigers way. 

Given the work Coach Freeze has put into the transfer portal to plug up some major needs on the offensive line and his recruiting prowess bringing in the #16 class in the country (per 247) look for Auburn to be back sooner rather than later. 

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