SEC Coaches on the Hot Seat, Part I

SEC coaches on the hot seat, AKA the Jimmy Sexton is about to get paid

Part 1 will look at two coaches who have a great deal of work to do to make it to media day 2013. Part 2 will look at two other coaches who are in dicey situations.

1. John L. Smith—Arkansas. Some in the blogosphere tried to spin this as a very smart hire (guilty) in the wake of the Bobby Petrino/girl in the athletic department in the volley ball shorts train wreck. Familiarity with personnel and staff, head coaching experience, and a loosey goosey attitude were all listed as positives. It took three weeks of football before Arkansas went to hell in a hand basket. Jeff Long, who made the right but tough decision to fire Petrino, is faced with an even tougher decision now. Alabama and LSU are not slowing down. New kid on the block A&M has resources to burn and a young, energetic coach who can recruit. The wrong hire sets this program back a decade. Two men who will surely get a look are Arkansas native and SEC vet Charlie Strong and experienced program builder and Texas recruiter Art Briles. If the ‘Hogs can land one of these two, they will be in good shape.

2. Joker Phillips–Kentucky. All of Rich Brooks’ hard work is currently going down the drain. Joker Phillips’  has a young team (72 freshman and sophomores) but losing to Western Kentucky is unacceptable at an SEC school. Sledding doesn’t get any easier as the Wildcats trip to Gainesville to take on a team that holds a 25 game win streak over Kentucky. Kentucky might take a peek at Cincinnati head man Butch Jones or Louisville DC Vance Bedford.

—–

Bryant Roberts is a life long SEC fan, has 2 autographed pictures of Steve Spurrier, is addicted to BBQ, and a graduate of Presbyterian College.  Follow him on twitter here.