College football has entered into a new era thanks to the transfer portal and the introduction of NIL, and being a college football coach has never been more difficult. Those difficulties are exasperated, especially in a league like the SEC where expectations are sky-high and time to succeed is limited.
Now, with the additions of the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners to the conference, that pressure is only going to be amplified.
Fortunately, Alabama legend Nick Saban is no longer in the picture, but Georgia head coach Kirby Smart is the new man to beat. However, Alabama’s new head coach Kalen DeBoer, and Texas’s head coach Steve Sarkisian will be entering the SEC for the first time this year and are both coming off of College Football Playoff appearances.
Heading into the 2024 season, On3 ranks the SEC coaches who face the most pressure this year. Arkansas’s Sam Pittman ranks No. 1 on the list coming off of a 4-8 season while Sarkisian ranks No. 7 saying,
“Sarkisian wasn’t even considered a Top 25 coach in the country before last year, and then he won the Big 12 Championship and took Texas to the CFP in easily his best year as a head coach.
Now can he do it again — only in a tougher conference? The pressure is on Sarkisian to prove last season was not a one-year wonder. The Longhorns have a stacked roster and will be a unanimous Top 5 team entering the season.”
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