We are right in the middle of July, and the heat is becoming unbearable. Nevertheless, I can sense that fall is around the corner because  football is getting close.  With that in mind, I thought I would get back to talking some college football. SEC media days is this week, and  all the coaches in the league are being interviewed.  Therefore, I thought it might be fun to create rankings for all the coaches.  Below are my personal rankings of all the SEC coaches starting with #1 as of today.  I am sure you will not agree, but that’s what makes it fun.

1. Nick Saban, Alabama– Without a doubt, Coach Saban is at the top of the list.Despite numerous national championships and SEC titles his reign at Alabama doesn’t appear to be ending anytime soon.  Maybe another school in the league will finally step up and do something about it.  Only time will tell.
2. Dan Mullen, Mississippi State– Well here is my first surprise on the list. I am sure you probably thought #2 would be Les Miles.  But in my opinion, Dan has done the most with the least since he has been at Mississippi State.  Lewis Grizzard use to say, “the best way to get to Starkville, Mississippi is to go to the middle of nowhere and turn right.”  This is not an easy place to win, and he has done a lot of it while keeping his nose pretty clean.  His teams play hard, and don’t penalize themselves which makes him a darn good coach.
3. Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss– I sort of feel the same way about Freeze as I do about Dan Mullen. The only difference is the possible NCAA infractions that have occurred at Ole Miss.  Right now, these are just accusations, but the Laremy Tunsil debacle was embarrassing.  I am not sure Freeze’s success will continue much longer.  But for now, what he has done is impressive even it hasn’t been totally compliant with the NCAA.
4. Jim McElwain, Florida– He has only coached at Florida for 1 year, but that 1 yearsure did impress me. He coached a team to the Georgia Dome that had virtually no offense and no kicking game whatsoever. He came back to beat Tennessee, whipped Ole Miss, and then embarrassed my beloved Bulldawgs.  He can even take some of the credit for Mark Richt being fired.  Many folks tried to turn on him when he chewed out his player on the sidelines.  But what I saw was a coach that wasn’t going to tolerate stupid and selfish penalties anymore.   In my opinion, his players responded to that incident which is exactly what he intended.
5. Kirby Smart, Georgia–  Just solely based on the “G” Day game and recruiting, and I think he is 5^th right now.  The man hasn’t coached 1 game, and who knows if Georgia will win, but right now it is obvious that he can lead.  So he is number5 because he has no negatives on the resume.  But that could change come Sept. 3^rd.  Remember this is as of TODAY, and I am a total homer when it comes to Georgia.  Besides, if you don’t like UGA then why are you reading this blog.
6. Les Miles, LSU– Finally, here is the “Mad Hatter”. I know you are probably thinking how can a man with a national championship be #6?  He has won a lot games for sure, but his inability to find a quarterback or even have decent QB play is a big strike against him.  It is themost important position on the field, and he just can’t coach it.  He is now the most senior coach in the league at one school, and that probably means he won’t be there much longer.  Maybe he is just suffering from the Saban effect or maybe it is time to move on.
7. Brett Bielema, Arkansas– This fellow has won in the Big 10, and had some decent success in the SEC. But he just can’t quite seem to put it together for a whole season.  There is no doubt he can coach, but I think he is going to keep Arkansas right in the middle of the league.
8. Butch Jones, Tennessee– This guy has definitely worked hard to get Tennessee back to relevance.  However, his signature wins are over South Carolina andGeorgia.  And let’s be honest folks, beating UGA under Mark Richt was not a rare occurrence.   Sorry but it’s true.  Lastly, there have been some ugly off the field issues in Knoxville under his watch.
9. Will Muschamp, South Carolina– This guy is a heck of a defensive coach, and his teams at Florida played hard and were tough. But he failed to find an offense while at Florida.  I think he might give it more attention now that he is at South Carolina.  Regardless, the Gamecocks will be good on defense and play 4 quarters of football.
10. Mark Stoops, Kentucky– This guy has a tough gig that is kind of similar to coaching basketball at Georgia.  He hasn’t done much while at Kentucky, but I just really wanted to make sure Gus Malzahn wasn’t in the Top 10.
11. Gus Malzahn, Auburn– Highly overrated! That is all.
12. Kevin Sumlin, Texas A & M– Possibly More Overrated! That is all.
13. Derek Mason, Vanderbilt- I really think this guy can coach. But it is just so hard to make a real winner at Vanderbilt.  I use to like that Vandy was in the SEC.  It’s a great school in a great town.  But lately I have met some real arrogant “A” holes from Vanderbilt.  I can promise you that if one more Vandy fan insults my intelligence because I went to Georgia then I am going to show them just how stupid I can be while applying my right hand to their jaw bone.  I’m just kidding, but not really.
14. Barry Odum, Missouri– This man might be way up the list very soon. He is taking over for a very accomplished coach in Gary Pinkel.  He seems to have a lot of respect from his players.  I hope he does well, but not well enough to beat Georgia or make it to the dome.

53 Days Dawg Fans!