Rank the SEC football coaches

[Dawg61]

only this time do it with Hud not Dan.

1. Saban
2. Spurrier
3. Richt
4. Sumlin
5. Miles
6. Malzahn
7. Pinkel
8. Muschamp
9. Freezus
10. Franklin
11. Hudspeth
12. Jones
13. Bielema
14. Stoops

This is where I rank them if it was today but I can see Hud making it as high as #5 on this list.

[Homedawg]

1. Saban
2. Spurrier
3. Sumlin
4. Richt
5. Franklin
6. malzhan
7.freeze
8. Miles
9. Pinkel
10. Mullen
11. Jones
12. Muschamp
13. Bielemma
14. Stoops

[Political Hack]

1. Saban
2. everyone else.

[smootness]

Trying to look at it through the lens of an unbiased outsider, based more on opinion than past history, I would probably rank them roughly like this:

1. Saban
2. Spurrier
3. Miles
4. Sumlin
5. Richt
6. Franklin
7. Jones
8. Pinkel? (This is the one I feel least good about)
9. Freeze
10. Mullen
11. Malzahn
12. Muschamp
13. Bielema
14. Stoops

But it's so tough. I really liked Bielema at Wisconsin, so we'll see. Obviously, I'm not totally unbiased, so I would probably bump Mullen up a tad.

But using the OP's premise of Hudspeth instead of Mullen, I honestly have no clue. I can't compare a coach who's never coached in the SEC yet to those who have.

[CJDAWG85]

1. Saban
2. everyone else.

This

[BulldogBear]

1. Saban
2. everyone else.

Yeah, that's kind of it.... but if I must:

1. Saban
2. Spurrier
3. Malzahn
4. Sumlin
5. Freeze
6. Richt
7. Franklin
8. Pinkel
9. Jones
10. Mullen
11. Stoops
12. Muschamp
13. Miles
14. Bielema

[Johnson85]

1. Saban - obvious
2. Miles - He seems to be an idiot savant.
3. Spurrier - Number 2 in his prime. He's not in his prime right now.
4. Richt - Not in his prime, and his prime was not as good as Spurrier's
5. Malzahn - It's a grab bag starting here because of the lack of a track record. I'm putting Malzahn here based as much on where I think other people view him. He's got a reputation as an offensive genius. i think it's a overblown, but we'll see.
6. Pinkel - He performed in the Big 12 and has now performed in a weak SEC East.
7. Jones - He seems to be turning a corner at UT.
8. Sumlin - He was good at Houston. We'll see how good he is at A&m without JFF. He arguably should be 5th, but it's a bad sign that his teams D is atrocious in year 2 at A&M. I'm thinking his offensive focus may hurt their ability to put together a good D, like Petrino.
9. Franklin - He's backslid this year, but what he's done at Vandy is still impressive.
10. Freezus - He's off to a good start. If you include recruiting, he is harder, but I'm not sure how much of his success is him being a good recruiter (which I think he is) and how much is a function of him being willing to "look the other way" at a school with crazy alumni.
11. Bielema - He should probably be higher based on his Big 10 record, I'm just not sure he can recruit and play his style of football in the SEC.
12. Muschamp - This is probably my most out there ranking. He's put together some good defenses so far, but his offenses have been bad. As good as last year was, I think most of the SEC coaches could do what he's done at UF.
13. Hudspeth - A proven headcoach, just not at the SEC level. I would project him to end up much better, but really every coach above him has had some level of success as a head coach in a major conference.
14. Stoops - I don't have anything to judge him on.

[BulldogBear]

1. Saban - obvious
2. Miles - He seems to be an idiot savant.3. Spurrier - Number 2 in his prime. He's not in his prime right now.
4. Richt - Not in his prime, and his prime was not as good as Spurrier's
5. Malzahn - It's a grab bag starting here because of the lack of a track record. I'm putting Malzahn here based as much on where I think other people view him. He's got a reputation as an offensive genius. i think it's a overblown, but we'll see.
6. Pinkel - He performed in the Big 12 and has now performed in a weak SEC East.
7. Jones - He seems to be turning a corner at UT.
8. Sumlin - He was good at Houston. We'll see how good he is at A&m without JFF. He arguably should be 5th, but it's a bad sign that his teams D is atrocious in year 2 at A&M. I'm thinking his offensive focus may hurt their ability to put together a good D, like Petrino.
9. Franklin - He's backslid this year, but what he's done at Vandy is still impressive.
10. Freezus - He's off to a good start. If you include recruiting, he is harder, but I'm not sure how much of his success is him being a good recruiter (which I think he is) and how much is a function of him being willing to "look the other way" at a school with crazy alumni.
11. Bielema - He should probably be higher based on his Big 10 record, I'm just not sure he can recruit and play his style of football in the SEC.
12. Muschamp - This is probably my most out there ranking. He's put together some good defenses so far, but his offenses have been bad. As good as last year was, I think most of the SEC coaches could do what he's done at UF.
13. Hudspeth - A proven headcoach, just not at the SEC level. I would project him to end up much better, but really every coach above him has had some level of success as a head coach in a major conference.
14. Stoops - I don't have anything to judge him on.

Yeah, I almost put Lester 2nd instead of 13th. Can't put him last or 1st but I was gonna go 2nd or next to last. He's either an idiot savant as you say or just an idiot that wins with talent at a program that recruits itself.

[smootness]

He's definitely not an idiot. Saban handed him a Lamborghini, but for the most part he's kept it running.

There have been plenty of coaches there who haven't had near the success he has. He is unorthodox and seems to make bad decisions here and there, but sometimes they work, and you can't argue with his success. I expected them to fall off by now because I didn't believe in him as a coach, but they haven't; he knows what he's doing on some level.

[BulldogBear]

He's definitely not an idiot. Saban handed him a Lamborghini, but for the most part he's kept it running.

There have been plenty of coaches there who haven't had near the success he has. He is unorthodox and seems to make bad decisions here and there, but sometimes they work, and you can't argue with his success. I expected them to fall off by now because I didn't believe in him as a coach, but they haven't; he knows what he's doing on some level.

I consider him an example of "better to be lucky than good"

[smootness]

You don't luck your way into consistent success like he has. Over time, it will disintegrate if you're as bad as you think Miles is. He has kept that program among the top in the SEC on a consistent basis, and that isn't easy regardless of what program you're leading.

Bama, LSU, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee....they have all fallen off when the coaching wasn't good. LSU hasn't over the last decade.

There is no way in the world Miles is the 13th best coach in the conference. That's crazy.