FAYETTEVILLE — Nick Saban is the SEC’s longest-tenured coach going into his 12th season at Alabama, and it’s not close behind him.
Auburn’s Gus Malzahn and Kentucky’s Mark Stoops, going into their sixth seasons, are tied for second behind Saban in terms of being in their current jobs at SEC schools.
“I think that made my heart drop,” Stoops said when informed of that stat at SEC football media days in July. “I can’t believe you mentioned that. That’s not a good feeling.
“I’ve only been here six years. And to have that kind of turnover, obviously, the way it is right now, it’s the sign of the times.”
It’s also a sign of Saban’s domination of the SEC since he returned to the conference from the NFL, where he coached the Miami Dolphins for two seasons.
Saban had a 48-16 record — including 28-12 in SEC games — in five seasons at LSU from 2000-2004 and won a share of the national championship in 2003.
That’s a nice record, but it might get Saban fired at LSU today if he couldn’t beat the Alabama version of himself.
Saban is 132-20 in 11 seasons at Alabama — including 75-13 in SEC games — and since 2009 has won five national championships.
Les Miles, who replaced Saban at LSU and won the 2007 national championship, was fired during the 2016 season despite having a 114-34 record while leading the Tigers.
Miles lost his final five games against Saban and Alabama, including 21-0 in the 2011 national championship game in New Orleans.
The 13 SEC schools other than Alabama have had a combined 46 coaches since Saban took over the Crimson Tide program in 2007.
“There’s some very good football coaches that have come and gone through this league, and there’s a lot of good ones in here now,” Stoops said. “I think it just speaks to the league. And, believe me, the 14 schools, there’s not one that wants to take a step back.
“We’re all looking to improve. We’re all doing anything and everything we can every day to get that edge to take the next step.”
Malzahn, an Arkansas native, is the only current SEC coach who has beaten Alabama under Saban. Malzahn’s Tigers are 2-3 against Alabama, including a 26-14 victory last season.
But that loss to Auburn didn’t stop Alabama from winning the national title with a 26-23 overtime victory against Georgia after the Bulldogs beat Auburn in the SEC Championship Game.
“Yeah, I don’t get caught up in other coaches and all that,” Malzahn said when asked about being the only SEC coach left who has beaten Saban. “All I know is you’re at Auburn and you play Alabama. That’s the Iron Bowl. That’s the best rivalry in college football.
“And to win the West, you got to beat them. Every year our goal is to win the SEC championship, and the West is part of it. And we know what we’re getting into. That’s just part of the job description at Auburn.”
Chad Morris, hired as the University of Arkansas coach in December after three seasons at SMU, is among six new head coaches at SEC schools.
Other new coaches are Florida’s Dan Mullen, who was at Mississippi State; Ole Miss’ Matt Luke, the Rebels’ interim coach last season; Mississippi State’s Joe Moorhead; Tennessee’s Jeremy Pruitt; and Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher.
The six new hires in the SEC are nearly as many as the 50 other Power 5 conference schools.
The ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 combined for seven new coaching hires, though five of those were in the Pac-12, including Kevin Sumlin moving from Texas A&M to Arizona.
Excluding the SEC, the 115 other Football Bowl Championship subdivision schools had 13 coaching changes for this season.
“I think when you come to the SEC, with the way things are, you’re expected to win and expected to win immediately,” Luke said. “I think the pressure is going to be there.”
Ed Orgeron, a former Arkansas graduate assistant going into his second full season as LSU’s coach after replacing Miles on an interim basis during the 2016 season, welcomes the pressure that comes with running an SEC program.
“I was glad I had my seat at LSU,” Orgeron said of being on the job for another season. “But this is why you come to the SEC. You know that the expectations are high. You know the expectations are high at LSU.
“So you invite those challenges. You’re going to play in the SEC West — perhaps the best conference in the United States — and you’re going to play against some of the best coaches.”
Morris said he’s familiar with the SEC coaches even though he’s new to the conference.
“I had known most of them through recruiting or bumping into them when they were coordinators and on the trail,” he said. “I think there’s a lot excitement, a lot of new faces.
“But I’m just excited to be the head football coach at the University of Arkansas and represent these young men and this program.”
Among the SEC’s current coaches, four were assistants for Saban. Fisher was his offensive coordinator at LSU; Pruitt and Georgia Coach Kirby Smart were his defensive coordinators at Alabama; and South Carolina Coach Will Muschamp was his defensive coordinator at LSU.
Muschamp also is among two former Saban assistants who have been Florida’s coach, along with Jim McElwain. Pruitt is the second former Saban assistant hired at Tennessee along with Derek Dooley.
“Nick is the best coach in college football because of the accomplishments he’s had,” Muschamp said. “He’s done an outstanding job running his program from a scheme standpoint, from a recruiting standpoint, from a development standpoint. You name it, he does an outstanding job.
“Athletic directors are always looking for the next mold of what that could be, and I think that’s what’s provided myself and other guys opportunities to be a head coach.”
Saban’s former assistants — including Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio — are 0-12 against him as head coaches.
Pruitt will face Saban for the first time this season. Smart or Muschamp could face him in the SEC Championship Game.
“I guess if you do have more odds, you got a chance somebody’s going to eventually beat him,” Muschamp said. “Hopefully, we’ll continue to get [chances for] that to happen.”
Pruitt laughed when asked whether Saban offered any advice when he left Alabama to take the Tennessee job.
“You think Coach Saban is going to give me advice?” Pruitt said. “There’s a lot of us [former Saban assistants] in the league.
“I get an opportunity now. You better take it all in while you have the opportunity because as soon as you go put on the other uniform, I can guarantee you, everybody — even though everybody’s friends — we want to beat the other guy.
“So we don’t want to give the other person the edge.”
Saban said he actually has offered advice to his former assistants when they leave Alabama.
“What I tell every guy when they leave, whether it was Jim McElwain or Kirby or whoever, I said the most important thing for you, when you go to be your own head coach, is you have to be who you are,” Saban said. “You have to be yourself. You guys have been that way here, and you made a tremendous impact on the group that you were in control over.
“So to think you have to be any different just because you’re in charge of the whole team instead of one side of the ball is not something you need to overthink.”
Long-tenured SEC coaches gradually have left the conference during Saban’s time at Alabama, including:
m Phillip Fulmer being fired at Tennessee in 2008 after 16 seasons.
m Mark Richt being fired at Georgia in 2016 after 15 seasons.
m Gary Pinkel resigning for health reasons at Missouri in 2016 after 15 seasons.
m Steve Spurrier resigning midway through his 11th season at South Carolina in 2015.
m Miles being fired in 2016 during his 10th season at LSU.
m Mullen leaving Mississippi State for Florida after nine seasons with the Bulldogs.
Bobby Petrino (four seasons at Arkansas) and Hugh Freeze (four seasons at Ole Miss) would have had longer tenures, but they were dismissed after the 2011 season and before the 2017 season, respectively, because of off-the-field issues.
Barry Odom, going into his third season at Missouri, has a longer tenure than seven other SEC coaches.
“That doesn’t seem right,” Odom told Missouri reporters recently. “But that’s what it is.
“That’s the world of instant gratification and the world of college sports. You don’t really get long, extended periods of time. That’s not the phase we’re in. Maybe that will change, but I doubt it.”
Stoops said he’s happy for the SEC’s new coaches, especially Fisher. He was Fisher’s defensive coordinator at Florida State before going to Kentucky in 2013.
But Stoops said he also misses old friends, such as Bret Bielema, who was Arkansas’ coach the previous five seasons.
“Going to the SEC head coaches’ meetings, it’s not fun sometimes to see the change every year,” Stoops said. “I love seeing guys like Jimbo, but I hate seeing my old friends go out.
“So it’s very competitive, very tough. But I think we just all use that to lean on each other when we can.”
Saban isn’t isolated from other SEC coaches.
“There’s been many occasions where the guys that are coaching at other places in our league call and ask questions about things,” Saban said. “That may be a management problem for them, whether it’s their quarterback situation, whether it’s what I think of a certain rule or something that’s going to happen in the future.
“Sometimes I call them and ask for their advice and their opinion on things.”
Unfortunately for the other SEC programs, Saban has made it clear he doesn’t plan to retire soon.
Saban, who will turn 67 on Oct. 31 — yes, Halloween — recently received a contract extension to be Alabama’s coach through the 2025 season.
“I really enjoy what I’m doing right now,” Saban said. “And as long as I’m healthy and I can do it, I’m going to continue to do it and not worry about any numbers or what my age is or anything like that.”