SEC coach rankings for 2020
BILL BENDER

Sporting News ranked all the coaches in the FBS from 1 to 130, and the SEC placed more coaches in the top 25 than any other conference.

A total of eight SEC coaches made the top 25, and 11 ranked inside the top 40. That speaks to the depth in the best conference in college football. The conference adds four new coaches in Mississippi State's Mike Leach, Ole Miss' Lane Kiffin, Missouri's Eliah Drinkwitz and Arkansas' Sam Pittman.

All of those coaches will chase the top two in the league. Alabama's Nick Saban remains the top choice, but LSU's Ed Orgeron might surprise some by moving into the No. 2 spot.
How does the rest of the field shake out? Here's a deeper look at our SEC coach rankings for 2020 (record at current school):
2020 SEC Coach Rankings
RANK
COACH
SCHOOL
W
L
PCT
OVR

1
Nick Saban
Alabama
152
23
.869
1

2
Ed Orgeron
LSU
40
9
.816
3

3
Kirby Smart
Georgia
44
12
.786
5

4
Dan Mullen
Florida
21
5
.808
8

5
Jimbo Fisher
Texas A&M
17
9
.654
10

6
Gus Malzahn
Auburn
62
31
.667
13

7
Mike Leach
Mississippi State
0
0
.000
19

8
Jeremy Pruitt
Tennessee
13
12
.520
25

9
Mark Stoops
Kentucky
44
44
.500
27

10
Will Muschamp
South Carolina
26
25
.510
38

11
Lane Kiffin
Ole Miss
61
34
.642
39

12
Eliah Drinkwitz
Missouri
0
0
.000
58

13
Derek Mason
Vanderbilt
27
47
.365
62

14
Sam Pittman
Arkansas
0
0
.000
75

Quick reads
— Should Orgeron be ranked ahead of Georgia's Kirby Smart? The winning percentages the past three seasons are almost identical. Smart checks in at 36-8 (.818), and Orgeron is at 40-9 (.816). When it's that close, you look the last meeting in the SEC championship game and who has the national championship. Orgeron wins on both accounts.

— Texas A&M's Jimbo Fisher and Tennessee's Jeremy Pruitt — both former Saban assistants — might draw some criticism for their high placement. Both have improved programs desperate to get back on the national stage, but the next step will be beating the top 10 programs around them.

— Kiffin is one spot behind South Carolina's Will Muschamp, who is coming off a 4-8 season and is 26-25 in four seasons with the Gamecocks. Kiffin hasn't been on the Power 5 stage since his stint with USC that ended during the regular season.