SEC Head Coach Hot Seat Index: Kalen DeBoer Faces Wrath of Alabama Fans

Which SEC head coaches are in the most danger of losing their jobs?

Alabama football coach Kalen DeBoer during the NCAA college football game against Tennessee on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Knoxville. Tenn. / Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Welcome to the SEC Head Coach Hot Seat Index.

This is the first edition of the Hot Seat Index for 2024, and it comes after an interesting weekend of action in the SEC. Some head coaches made their seats even warmer, while others cooled off for the time being.

Here is a look at the Hot Seat Index for the SEC head coaches after Week 8.

SEC Head Coach Hot Seat Index - Week 8

Scorching: Billy Napier (Florida)

Napier has temporarily turned his temperature down after defeating Kentucky 48–20. It is Napier's first victory over the Wildcats since becoming Florida's head coach. However, his next four games are all against teams that are ranked in the top 20. It is hard to imagine a scenario where Napier survives that four-game stretch with his job intact.

Hot: Hugh Freeze (Auburn), Mark Stoops (Kentucky), Brent Venables (Oklahoma), Jeff Lebby (Mississippi State)

This part of the Hot Seat Index is very crowded, and all of these coaches are difficult to fire because of their contract situations.

Freeze was hired to be Auburn's head coach for the long run, but in his second year, the Tigers have been a disaster. They are 2-5 on the season and 0-4 in the conference. They have no offense to speak of, and Freeze is seemingly throwing his players under the bus after every single game. It remains to be seen whether Auburn will start to blame Freeze for his teams’ losses rather than the players he chooses to put on the field every week.

Meanwhile, Stoops seems to have worn out his welcome in Lexington. He is the winningest head coach in Kentucky football history, but the program has been declining the last couple of years. Because of the $44 million buyout, it is tough to imagine Kentucky firing Stoops. However, this does feel like it will be his last season in Lexington, one way or another.

Venables just got a 6-year contract extension before the season started. That deal is aging horribly. He just lost 35–9 to South Carolina at home in arguably the worst loss of his head coaching career. While his defense has been great, Venables’ offense has been a disaster. 

Lebby is just in his first year, but his team is a nightmare as well. The Bulldogs are 1-6 on the season, with only one likely win remaining on the schedule agaisnt Massachusetts. Mississippi State fired Zach Arnett after he started 4-6 in his first season. Would they do the same to Lebby, who has been unquestionably worse?

Warm: Sam Pittman (Arkansas), Shane Beamer (South Carolina)

Both of these head coaches have improved their stock since the start of the 2024 season, but they are still not out of the woods completely. 

Pittman got a huge upset victory over Tennessee a couple of weeks ago but then was blown out by LSU 34-10. He may have erased the goodwill he got from the Tennessee win with that embarrassing performance over the weekend.

Beamer just picked up a huge win over Oklahoma in Norman. His team has also been competitive in close losses to LSU and Alabama but found ways to blow both of those games. The gamecocks also looked horrible in a blowout loss to Ole Miss. Beamer is likely safe this year, but his 2-3 conference record in his fourth season is not a sign of an improving program.

Room temperature: Kalen DeBoer (Alabama), Eli Drinkwitz (Missouri), Lane Kiffin (Ole Miss)

All of these head coaches are in no danger of being fired, but their fan bases are upset with them for different reasons.

DeBoer is quickly learning what life in the SEC is like. For the first time since 2007, Alabama has two losses before November. The Tide’s unimaginable loss to Vanderbilt shook the fan base’s confidence in their new head coach. The loss to Tennessee on Saturday further soured them on Nick Saban's replacement. DeBoer has his work cut out for him as he tries to win the trust of Alabama fans back.

Drinkwitz’s Tigers are 6-1, but it does not feel like they are. They narrowly survived upset bids from Vanderbilt and Auburn, despite playing poorly enough to lose both of those games. They were embarrassed by Texas A&M and exposed as a pretender in the SEC a couple of weeks ago. It has been a disappointing season for a team that had championship aspirations.

Speaking of disappointment, Kiffin’s rebels have colossally underachieved so far this year. They are now 1-2 in the conference after losing a dramatic overtime thriller to LSU. It is becoming more clear as the years go on that Kiffin may have hit his ceiling as Ole Miss’ head coach. Nevertheless, Ole Miss’ entire identity revolves around Kiffin. He will be in Oxford until he decides to leave.

Ice cold: Kirby Smart (Georgia), Josh Heupel (Tennessee), Brian Kelly (LSU), Steve Sarkisian (Texas), Clark Lea (Vanderbilt), Mike Elko (Texas A&M)

Smart, Heupel, Kelly, and Sarkisian have their teams ranked in the top 10 and in a great position for the College Football Playoffs. These are some of the best head coaches in college football and they are feeling no heat whatsoever.

Lea is the most surprising name to see in this section of the heat index. He has shockingly been the SEC Head Coach of the Year so far in 2024. He led Vanderbilt to its best win in program history over formerly top-ranked Alabama and followed that victory with a road win at Kentucky. Lea now has Vanderbilt ranked No. 25 in the AP Poll. He is the king of Nashville at the moment and has another upset opportunity when his Commodores welcome No. 5 Texas to town on Saturday.

Elko is enjoying a tremendous first season in College Station. Aside from the season-opening loss to Notre Dame, the Aggies have looked like one of the best teams in the conference. Texas A&M will face its biggest test of the season so far when they welcome No. 8 LSU into Kyle Field on Saturday. The winner of this game will own sole possession of first place in the conference.

The SEC Head Coach Hot Seat Index will fluctuate as the season continues. Stay tuned for an update next week.