Instead of doing a game film review this week I'm doing a piece on coaches, because sometimes I think we forget exactly what happens during the first year of a head coaches tenure. It usually sucks. It usually has a good win and one or two head scratching losses. And usually fans overreact about it until the next few years So what I'm going to do is look at the first year for all the head coaches in the SEC and what happened. Maybe this will help put the Kirby Smart loss to Vandy in perspective.
DEREK MASON
Mason was hired in 2014 to take over the Vanderbilt program as his first ever HC (Head Coach) job. Vanderbilt went 3-9 and 0-8 in the conference that year. It was an especially tough pill to swallow for a Vandy team that won 9 games and went to a bowl game in 2013. Vandy won 4 games last year. This year he's already won 3, maybe he gets to 5. When your goal as Vandy is just making a bowl game, that's progress.
KEVIN SUMLIN
Kevin Sumlin was hired to be the A&M coach in 2012. That team had a Heisman Trophy winner named Johnny Manziel, and A&M went 11-2. It was an incredible head start to that program, and to date Sumlin hasn't had another team even approach that kind of win total. Maybe he has one this year, but that remains to be seen.
However, Sumlin's first Head Coaching job wasn't A&M, he was a Head Coach at Houston before he took the job. At Houston he went 8-5, and he lost a game to a 4-8 Marshall team. He also beat a ranked Tulsa team that finished 11-3.
WILL MUSCHAMP
Muschamp was hired by South Carolina this year, and it's going poorly. But his actual first year as a HC was the unforgettable stint at Florida. Muschamp went 7-6 in 2011 in his first year with the Gators, losing to every single ranked team they played, but somehow beating Ohio State in a bowl game. The next year his Gator team went 11-2 and won the SEC East, and lost the Sugar Bowl. It went downhill quickly from there.
HUGH FREEZE
Freeze was hired by Ole Miss in 2012, and his team went 7-6 that year. They had nowhere to go but up after a 2-10 campaign under Houston Nutt. Ole Miss had the terrible loss that year to VANDY, but also beat a ranked Mississippi State team in the Egg Bowl.
Before that Hugh was the head coach of Arkansas State, and he went 10-2 in the one year he was there. And before that in his first HC job he was at Lambuth which you've likely never heard of, and his first year there he went 8-4.
BARRY ODOM
2016 is Barry Odom's first year as a head coach, and he's saddled with a Missouri program that needs direction. Right now they are 2-4 and I wouldn't expect them to get to bowl game.
DAN MULLEN
Mullen got the MS State job in 2009, and it was his first HC job. The team went 5-7 and missed a bowl game. He actually lost to Kevin Sumlin's Houston team that year, go figure. However, he did have a surprising victory against a ranked Ole Miss team in the Egg Bowl. To date, Mississippi State has never missed a bowl game under Mullen, and they are 4-2 in bowl games.
LES MILES
Yes, I realize he's been fired this season but we're doing him over the interim coach. Les was hired back in 2005 to be the LSU head coach. His team went 11-2 that season and won the SEC West. Later in 2007, they won a national title.
However, Les' first HC job was in 2001 for Oklahoma State. His team went 4-7, had an embarrassing loss to Southern Mississippi, but then somehow actually beat #4 in the nation Oklahoma at the end of the season.
MARK STOOPS
In 2013, Kentucky hired Mark Stoops in his first HC job. His Kentucky team went 2-10 and 0-8 in the conference. They lost to everybody except Miami (OH) and Alabama State. Since that year, Stoops high mark at Kentucky is a 5-7 record twice.
KIRBY SMART
Kirby's first HC job is at Georgia this year and why I'm writing this piece. Duh.
JIM MCELWAIN
McElwain was hired by Florida in 2015. He went 10-4 and they won the East that year, before losing their last 3 games in a row because their offense couldn't function once their QB was suspended.
However, that wasn't his first HC job. His first job was at Colorado State in 2012. That team went 4-8, lost to a 4-8 Wyoming team, and had almost no good wins to speak of. That team was awful. By 2014 that CSU team went 10-2 under McElwain.
BUTCH JONES
Butch's first year at Tennessee was in 2013 and the team had a forgettable 5-7 year where the highlight win was beating #11 South Carolina. They also lost to Vanderbilt, which had to really sting since it's the in-state rival.
Before that, Butch was a coach at Cincinnati, hired in 2010. That team went 4-8 that year. They subsequently won 2 Conference championships in a row.
Before that in his first HC job, Butch was hired at Central Michigan in 2008 and went 8-6, winning the conference somehow. When he left Central Michigan in 2009, the team went 11-2. Butch has improved the program basically everywhere he's been.
GUS MALZAHN
Malzahn was hired by Auburn in 2013, and Auburn won the SEC in what you could call the "Horseshoe Year." They went on to lose in the national championship when that luck ran out. Yes, I'm taking a shot. I'm still not over that stupid tip play against Georgia. Anyway that team went 11-2.
However, that wasn't his first HC job. His first job was at Arkansas State where his team went 9-3. They ended up winning the GODADDY Bowl, so that's neat. They also lost a game to Western Kentucky somehow.
BRET BIELMA
Bielma was hired by Arkansas in 2013. His team went 3-9 and was generally awful. But his first HC job was many years prior in Wisconsin, back in 2006 when the team went 12-1, and lost out on a national title shot by losing to #6 Michigan. So Bret sort of did things backwards. He had his first job ever be awesome and his second job immediately suck the first year. However, both programs experienced success under his coaching. Wisconsin won 3 conference titles in a row.
NICK SABAN
Nick was hired by Alabama in 2007, and his team went 7-6 with a bunch of vacated wins. He lost to Louisiana Monroe that year which I've brought up before. He also beat #16 Arkansas and #20 Tennesseee.
In the job before that, Nick was hired by LSU in 2000. That team went 8-4, beat ranked MS State and Georgia Tech. Lost to freaking UAB somehow.
In the job before that, Nick was hired by Michigan State in 1995. That team went 6-5-1, yes we had ties back then apparently. What a dark age. That team beat #7 Michigan, and tied a 4 win Purdue team.
In the job before that, Nick was hired to be a first time HC at Toledo in 1990. That Rockets team went 9-2 and won the conference. And yet they still had a stupid loss to 5-6 Navy that season.
CONCLUSION
The summary is that if you're a first year ever HC, you're going to have a hard time for the most part. If you're an established head coach coming to the SEC, sometimes it's better, sometimes it's not. But for the most part these coaches in the SEC have improved their teams over time, and it takes 2-3 years to see those results if they are going to happen. So don't jump all over a coach in his first year. It makes you look silly.
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