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Ranking every SEC football coach ahead of SEC Media Days: Where does Butch Jones stand?

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 15: Head coach Nick Saban of the Alabama Crimson Tide shakes hands with head coach Butch Jones of the Tennessee Volunteers after their 49-10 win at Neyland Stadium on October 15, 2016 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 15: Head coach Nick Saban of the Alabama Crimson Tide shakes hands with head coach Butch Jones of the Tennessee Volunteers after their 49-10 win at Neyland Stadium on October 15, 2016 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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STARKVILLE, MS – NOVEMBER 5: Head coach Kevin Sumlin of the Texas A
STARKVILLE, MS – NOVEMBER 5: Head coach Kevin Sumlin of the Texas A /

Unlike Bret Bielema, Kevin Sumlin is pretty stable where he stands among SEC coaches. Unless he wins a national title this year or falls to 3-9, he’s not likely to move more than one or two spots next year.

Sumlin earned his right to be in the top 5 his first two years with the Aggies. He took a program that was 6-6 the previous year and leaving the Big 12 for the SEC West, the toughest division in football. And he immediately went 11-2 and followed that up with a 9-4 record.

There’s been a drop-off with the departure of Johnny Manziel, but he’s still enjoyed three straight 8-5 seasons in an extremely loaded SEC West.

As a result, he has done more than enough to earn this spot for now. Fans may be calling for his head and have him on the hot seat, but Sumlin has had his team in the Top 10 at one point during the season each of his first five years in College Station.

And he’s the most successful Aggies coach since R.C. Slocum. Oh, he’s also dealing with a much more brutal schedule on a yearly basis than Slocum ever had to deal with.

If this were anywhere else, even the SEC East, we’d have Sumlin way down on this list. But he’s 44-21 at Texas A&M while coaching in the West, and he should have had more Top 25 finishes.

So despite the fact that his team keeps falling apart after losing its first game, he still has shown enough to this point to be better than the vast majority of SEC coaches.

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