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Tennessee football: Ranking Jeremy Pruitt and all other SEC coaches for 2019

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 08: Head coach Jeremy Pruitt of the Tennessee Volunteers brings his team onto the field prior to a game against the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers at Neyland Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennesee won the game 59-3. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 08: Head coach Jeremy Pruitt of the Tennessee Volunteers brings his team onto the field prior to a game against the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers at Neyland Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennesee won the game 59-3. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images /

Record at Auburn: 53-27 (62-30 overall)

*Also coached at Arkansas State Red Wolves

Championships

National: 0

Conference: 2 (1 SEC; 1 Sun Belt)

Division: 2

Postseason accomplishments

Bowl appearances: 7 (1 at ASU but didn’t coach; 6 at Auburn)

Top 25 finishes: 4

Top 10 finishes: 2

Top 5 finishes: 1

It’s hard to know what to make of Gus Malzahn. After all, he had the Auburn Tigers in the national title game in 2013 in a dramatic run his first year on the job. Then he had them in the hunt throughout 2017. And as you can see, the guy has won two SEC West titles and two conference titles.

But at the same time, Tennessee football beat Auburn last year in a game where Jeremy Pruitt looked leaps and bounds ahead of Malzahn. And for every double-digit wins season Malzahn has, he seems to follow it up with seven or eight-win seasons.

Still, taking all that into account, we’re keeping Malzahn in the top 5 of this list for now. Sorry, but you can’t ignore the fact that he’s one of three coaches on here to have actually won an SEC Championship. Heck, he’s one of only four to have won any conference title. As a result, Malzahn is still clearly a great coach even if there are some issues. And we have to rank him high on here.

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