Six SEC faculties have new coaches after one of many wildest spins of the teaching carousel in faculty soccer historical past.
Kirby Good will start his eleventh season teaching Georgia. The second-longest-tenured SEC coach? That’d be Missouri’s Eliah Drinkwitz. He is getting into 12 months 7. Elsewhere, Lane Kiffin is making ready to educate his third SEC staff.
Commercial
A youth motion is afoot, too. Brent Venables, 55, is the SEC’s oldest coach.
This batch of coaches will attempt to pull the SEC out of a mini-slump. No SEC staff reached the nationwide championship sport prior to now three seasons.
Here is how I rank the SEC coaches, high to backside:
1. Kirby Good, Georgia
Good would not rule faculty soccer with the identical authority he did a couple of years in the past, however he retains clear superiority over his SEC friends. See Georgia successful three of the previous 4 SEC championships. Good’s capability to recruit, retain and develop expertise stays a weapon, even on this period of switch free company. Georgia continues to be a perennial contender and constructed to final amid the game’s fixed state of evolution. That is a credit score to Good.
Commercial
NEW SHERIFF: Huge Ten coach rankings have substitute at high
2. Steve Sarkisian, Texas
Texas lacking the playoff within the face of whopper expectations took some shine off Sarkisian, however let’s maintain perspective. Texas beat high rivals Oklahoma and Texas A&M, a pair of playoff qualifiers. Sarkisian solidified this system in order that going 10-3 counts as underwhelming. He is one in all simply 4 SEC coaches with a number of playoff victories on the resume. This season will likely be a litmus check of whether or not Sarkisian has peaked. He constructed one other roster match for nationwide title rivalry.
EXCLUSIVE: Steve Sarkisian goes scorched-earth on faculty soccer’s Wild West tradition
3. Kalen DeBoer, Alabama
DeBoer gained 19 video games by two seasons as Nick Saban’s inheritor, he owns two wins in opposition to Good, and he is 5-1 in opposition to rivals Tennessee, LSU and Auburn. That is the upside of his tenure. Then again, he is served up a couple of mind-boggling losses. Alabama followers will anticipate greater than 10-win seasons now that he is settled. DeBoer did not run from the problem, staying after Michigan’s job opened. Alabama’s administration retains perception in DeBoer, as evidenced by his contract extension.
Commercial
FACT OR FICTION: Why Alabama soccer will (or will not) make the CFP
4. Lane Kiffin, LSU
Simply as Kiffin delivered the best achievement of his profession, taking Mississippi to the playoff, he left city amid an unpleasant breakup. That is Lane for you. Ole Miss obtained the total Kiffin Expertise — the nice, the unhealthy, the drama. Now, LSU needs a dose. Optics of Kiffin’s exit apart, he is by no means been a greater coach than he’s now. He stays a masterful quarterback developer. He not solely acquires high switch expertise, he blends it. His project at LSU: Show he can deal with this system’s demanding expectations.
Heupel has delivered nothing however successful data throughout eight seasons at Central Florida and Tennessee. Even after dropping Nico Iamaleava, his would-be beginning quarterback, mere months earlier than final season, Heupel delivered a potent offense. (The protection grew to become an issue.) He is a high-floor coach who not often loses to opponents he should not, but it surely’s honest to wonder if he is peaked. This marks his sixth Tennessee season. His greatest displaying got here in 12 months 2, and 2025 was removed from his most interesting hour.
Commercial
VOLS NEWS: Why Josh Heupel including former Michigan assistant is so distinctive
Elko wanted simply two seasons to take Texas A&M to the playoff. By early November, the Aggies had an argument for being the nation’s greatest staff. That unraveled after a scare from South Carolina, adopted by losses to Texas and to Miami within the CFP’s first spherical. Nonetheless, the Aggies’ momentum is palpable. Elko should proceed elevating and show final yr was no fluke. His recruiting success suggests he is constructing Texas A&M for endurance, and he is confirmed extra dependable than predecessor Jimbo Fisher at creating expertise.
7. Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri
Drinkwitz made the most effective determination of his profession when he handed off play-calling duties earlier than the 2023 season. He is 29-10 since then. That is a big-time mark at Missouri, and the Tigers are particularly robust to beat at dwelling beneath Drinkwitz. That’ll be put to the check this season, when the schedule stiffens. Drinkwitz is brief on marquee victories, however he is confirmed his chops as a program builder who’s lifted Missouri to a spot of sustained relevance.
8. Jon Sumrall, Florida
This is likely to be the final probability to purchase low on Sumrall inventory. He gained greater than 78% of his video games in 4 seasons as a Group of Six coach. He took Tulane to the CFP. Certain, he should nonetheless show himself within the SEC, however there isn’t any cause to assume he cannot reinvigorate Florida. He performed on this convention. He is labored in it, too, as an assistant. Sumrall grew to become a sizzling commodity on the teaching carousel. He is comfort prize for Florida after it missed on Kiffin.
Commercial
IN-DEPTH: Jon Sumrall lived by ‘a s***present.’ Now, he should repair one at Florida
No coach improved his standing on lists corresponding to these extra prior to now two years than Lea. You could possibly make a case he is underrated right here. Prior to now two seasons, Lea beat Alabama and Tennessee, beat Auburn twice, produced a Heisman runner-up, and delivered a program-record 10 wins in 2025. Vanderbilt well stayed the course with Lea after a gradual begin to his tenure. Now, Lea should present Vanderbilt can preserve respectability in a post-Diego Pavia world.
10. Brent Venables, Oklahoma
Venables survived the recent seat by making the playoff. He reasserted his defensive acumen by taking over play-calling to provide the SEC’s fiercest unit. His yo-yo tenure continued to carry sample, with season approaching the heels of a nasty one. Offensive consistency stays elusive, and he isn’t come near matching the efficiency of predecessors Bob Stoops and Lincoln Riley. With John Mateer wholesome once more, Venables must stack consecutive good seasons to additional fortify his standing at OU.
11. Alex Golesh, Auburn
Tennessee’s offense by no means regarded stronger than it did in 2022, when Golesh was its coordinator. As a coach, Golesh circled South Florida. USF’s upset of Florida solidified him as a Energy 4 candidate. Golesh acknowledges what quarterbacks do properly and positions them to do it repeatedly and swiftly in his up-tempo offense. His USF groups did not seize the second in key convention video games, however Auburn aches for offensive enchancment, and Golesh has proven he is obtained a thoughts (and a system) to deal with the problems.
Commercial
EXCLUSIVE: Alex Golesh brings fireplace. Auburn’s future hinges on whether or not he finds a QB
12. Pete Golding, Ole Miss
Give Golding main credit score for holding Ole Miss collectively after Kiffin’s exit and beating Good’s Bulldogs in a playoff quarterfinal. He retained stars Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy after the season and added switch class. To this point, so good. Now, how properly can he run this system long-term, with out Charlie Weis Jr. calling the offense? That is nonetheless to be answered. Golding can coach protection, and he is recruiter and a relationship builder. Is he a CEO?
HAYES: Pete Golding is SEC’s favourite punching bag. That claims greater than you assume
13. Shane Beamer, South Carolina
What are you getting out of Beamer? That is dependent upon the season. He is up, then down. Offense is normally a wrestle together with his squads. His groups are likely to stand up for giant opponents, they usually can engineer an upset you did not see coming. Or, they’ll blow a 27-point lead. Mainly, Beamer ball is a wild trip. He is outperformed lots of his South Carolina predecessors, however the 2025 season proved his worst, placing him squarely on the recent seat.
Inadequate quarterback manufacturing put a ceiling on the Mark Stoops period. Insert Stein. He developed quarterbacks Bo Nix, Dillon Gabriel and Dante Moore in succession as Oregon’s offensive coordinator. Propelling Kentucky as a first-time coach will likely be no simple feat. However, as a local son returned to the Bluegrass State, he is already energized Kentucky and signed switch class. Kentucky wanted a brand new course, and the 36-year-old Stein marks a daring pivot.
Commercial
EXCLUSIVE: Will Stein’s Kentucky soccer going big-game searching in opposition to SEC powers
If Lebby would not pan out for Mississippi State, faculties would assemble to rent him as their offensive coordinator. He is expert at that. As for being the top man, he is produced only one SEC win by two seasons at one of many convention’s hardest outposts. He got here shut to a couple upsets final season. In Lebby’s third season, he’ll want to show a few these aggressive losses into wins. Lebby’s previous two groups moved the ball however could not cease anybody.
16. Ryan Silverfield, Arkansas
A number of years in the past, Silverfield entered a pivotal season at Memphis, lest he face the recent seat. Then, he gained 29 video games in a three-year span and parlayed Memphis into the SEC, a convention the place he’d not beforehand labored. In an lively carousel for American Convention coaches, he wasn’t the buzziest title. He did, nonetheless, lead Memphis to a win over Arkansas final fall, making him a logical fallback choice for the Razorbacks’ search.
Commercial
EXCLUSIVE: Why lights are brighter at Arkansas soccer — and it began with a highschool catastrophe
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Community’s nationwide faculty soccer columnist. E mail him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com. Comply with him on X @btoppmeyer.
This text initially appeared on USA TODAY: SEC soccer coach rankings have Kirby Good main. Then it is tough
