Gang Of Coaches Chasing Nick Saban Getting Younger and Younger

Half of the head coaches in the SEC are in their first or second year in the league.

As remarkable as this sounds, Alabama’s Nick Saban is set to begin his 15th season as the head coach of the Crimson Tide.

Raise your hand if you thought way back in 2007 that Saban would still be in Tuscaloosa 15 years later.

I thought so.

Saban’s longevity in one place is even more impressive when you consider that the longest stretches where Saban coached before Alabama was five years at Michigan State as an assistant (1983-87), five years at Michigan State as a head coach (1995-1999) and five years at LSU as a head coach (2000-2004).

Last January he won his sixth national championship at Alabama and his seventh overall having won the 2003 title at LSU.

He then took a bow by signing what the smart people believe is the greatest class since he’s been at Alabama. And if you look at the NFL draft over the past half-dozen years you realize that’s a helluva statement.

And to those who are chasing the ageless wonder of T-Town, we would offer this: The dude ain’t going anywhere anytime soon.

“I feel like it’s a new challenge every year here,” Saban recently told Rich Eisen on his radio show. “I feel like I took a new job this year.”

Consider this:

**--Of the 14 SEC head coaches in place for the Fall of 2021, eight are in their first year or second year with the school. There are four first-year coaches this season: Shane Beamer (South Carolina), Josh Heupel (Tennessee), Bryan Harsin (Auburn) and Clark Lea (Vanderbilt).

**--There were four new SEC Coaches last season: Sam Pittman (Arkansas), Lane Kiffin (Ole Miss), Mike Leach (Mississippi State), and Eli Drinkwitz (Missouri).

**--Two more coaches—Florida’s Dan Mullen and Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher—are entering their fourth year. Kirby Smart (Georgia) and Ed Orgeron (LSU) are entering their sixth year.

**---Then there are the two “old” guys. Mark Stoops is about to begin his ninth year at Kentucky, which ties him for the longest tenure (Fran Curci 1973-81) of any coach in school history.

Drinkwitz, who turns 38 in April, is the youngest.

Saban, who turns 70 on Aug. 31, is the oldest.

Vanderbilt’s Lea is the only other coach in his 30s (38) with Smart, Mullen, Kiffin, Beamer, Heupel, and Harsin all in their 40s.

With the departure of Gus Malzahn from Auburn only one coach on the current SEC roster—Ed Orgeron—has beaten Nick Saban as a head coach. That came when LSU beat Alabama 46-41 in Tuscaloosa on the way to the 2019 national championship.

Here are a few other tidbits about this group of coaches that is chasing Saban:

**--Three coaches have won a national championship: Saban owns the all-time record with seven (six at Alabama, one at LSU). Jimbo Fisher won a national championship at Florida State in 2013. Ed Orgeron won a national championship in 2019 with Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow.

**--Three—Saban, Orgeron, and Smart--have been to the College Football Playoffs as a head coach. Saban has been to the CFP five times in its seven-year existence. Orgeron went in 2019. Smart went in 2017 as a second-year head coach and ultimately played Saban in the national championship game.

But a lot of these coaches who haven’t won a national championship have national championship game experience:

**--Mark Stoops was a defensive backs coach for Miami’s 2001 national championship team and its runner-up (to Ohio State) in the 2002 title game.

**--Florida’s Dan Mullen was an assistant coach on Urban Meyer’s national championship teams of 2006 and 2008.

**--Sam Pittman was the offensive line coach on the 2017 Georgia team that played Alabama for the national championship.

**--Lane Kiffin was an offensive coordinator of Alabama’s 2015 national championship team. He was the passing game coordinator on USC’s 2004 national championship team and OC on the 2005 team that was a runner-up to Texas.

**--Eli Drinkwitz was a quality control assistant on Auburn’s 2010 national championship team.

**--As a player Josh Heupel led Oklahoma to the 2000 national championship with a win over Florida State in the Orange Bowl. He was a graduate assistant on the 2004 Oklahoma team that lost to USC (55-19) for the 2004 national championship.

**--Shane Beamer was an assistant coach on Georgia’s 2017 team that played in the CFP championship game.

So have fun, fellas. Just remember this: He’s not going to slow down and let you catch up.

CHASING NICK SABAN

School………………………Coach…………….Age…..Year at School

Alabama……………………Nick Saban………69…………15th

Kentucky……………………Mark Stoops……53…………9th

Georgia……………………..Kirby Smart………45………..6th

LSU…………………………..Ed Orgeron…….….59………..6th

Texas A&M………………..Jimbo Fisher……..55…………4th

Florida…………………………Dan Mullen……..48…………4th

Arkansas………………………Sam Pittman…. 59………..2th

Ole Miss………………………..Lane Kiffin…….45………..2th

Miss. State…………………….Mike Leach……60………2th

Missouri………………………..Eli Drinkwitz…..37……..2th

South Carolina……………...Shane Beamer..43…….1st

Tennessee…………………….Josh Heupel……42…….1st

Auburn………………………….Bryan Harsin…..44……1st

Vanderbilt…………………….Clark Lea…………38……1st