Many SEC coaches have taken a great step forward in their second season at a particular job.

Alabama’s Nick Saban jumped from seven wins to 12 and an SEC West Division championship in 2008. Georgia’s Kirby Smart improved from 8-5 in his 2016 debut to 13-2 and playing for a national title in Year 2.

The modern history of Auburn football — which really began with the hiring of Ralph “Shug” Jordan in 1951 — has been a mixed bag in terms of coaches who fared better in their second year than in Year 1. One coach in particular, however, made it all the way to the top of the mountain in his second season on The Plains.

Could a similar “leap” be in the offing for Auburn and Hugh Freeze in 2024? The Tigers finished 6-7 in Freeze’s debut last season, but have spent the offseason reloading the roster with transfers and top-level recruits.

We took a look back — in reverse chronological order — at each of the eight men who have preceded Freeze as Tigers head man, and here’s what we found (year in parentheses is the coach’s second year at Auburn):

Bryan Harsin (2022)

Second-year record: 3-5 (1-4 SEC)

Better than Year 1?: No (6-7, 3-5)

Iron Bowl: Fired in October

Postseason: None

Harsin’s tenure was one of the worst in history of the SEC football, with seemingly one misstep after another from the day he was hired. He ended his first season on a five-game losing streak (though he did nearly beat Alabama), and things actually got worse in Year 2. Only an inexplicable overtime win over Missouri in Week 4 allowed him to keep coaching at Auburn into October 2022, but four straight losses — to LSU, Georgia, Mississippi State and Arkansas — led to his ouster on Halloween. Cadillac Williams took over as interim coach for the final four games, and led the Tigers to a 2-2 record.

Gus Malzahn (2014)

Second-year record: 8-5 (4-4 SEC)

Better than Year 1?: No (12-2, 7-1)

Iron Bowl: Lost 55-44 in Tuscaloosa

Postseason: Lost to Wisconsin 34-31 in Outback Bowl

Malzahn’s debut season was one of the greatest in SEC history, with the “Kick Six” Iron Bowl win, an SEC championship and a 3-point loss to Florida State in the national title game. Year 2 got off to a rocky start off the field with the suspension of quarterback Nick Marshall, but the Tigers still began 5-0 and stood at 7-1 and in the College Football Playoff picture following a 35-31 win over Ole Miss on Oct. 1. Things fell apart from there, however, with losses to Texas A&M, Georgia and Alabama and in the bowl game. There were some highlights later in Malzahn’s tenure (including an SEC West title in 2017), but things were never as good again as they were in his first one-and-a-half seasons.

Gene Chizik (2010)

Second-year record: 14-0 (8-0 SEC)

Better than Year 1?: Yes (8-5, 3-5)

Iron Bowl: Won 28-27 in Tuscaloosa

Postseason: Beat Oregon 22-19 in BCS National Championship Game

After a solid debut — which included a 5-0 start and a narrow loss to eventual national champion Alabama in the Iron Bowl — Chizik led the Tigers to the greatest season program history in 2010. Though he’s been accused of riding the coat tails of offensive coordinator Malzahn and Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Cam Newton, Chizik’s national championship ring shines just as brightly as anyone else’s. The Tigers won five games by three points or fewer, including the “Camback” in the Iron Bowl in Tuscaloosa and the last-second field goal for the national title. Chizik’s program took a step back in 2011 before collapsing to 3-9 overall, 0-8 in the SEC in 2012. He was fired less than two years after winning a national championship.

Tommy Tuberville (2000)

Second-year record: 9-4 (6-2 SEC)

Better than Year 1?: Yes (5-6, 2-6)

Iron Bowl: Won 9-0 in Tuscaloosa

Postseason: Lost to Michigan 31-28 in Citrus Bowl

Tuberville and the Tigers took their lumps in Year 1 (including becoming the first Auburn team to lose the Iron Bowl at Jordan-Hare Stadium), but emerged as a championship contender in his second season. Led by SEC Player of the Year Rudi Johnson, the 2000 Tigers started the season 5-0, then won their final four regular-season games to capture the West Division title. Included in that run was a 9-0 victory in the first modern Iron Bowl played in Tuscaloosa. Auburn lost to Florida in the SEC championship game and to Michigan in the bowl game, but had planted the seeds for what would be a mostly enjoyable decade of Tigers football to come. Tuberville’s 2004 team went undefeated and won the SEC title, and he recorded six straight wins over Alabama from 2002-07.

Terry Bowden (1994)

Second-year record: 9-1-1 (6-1-1 SEC)

Better than Year 1?: No (11-0, 8-0)

Iron Bowl: Lost 21-14 in Birmingham

Postseason: None

Bowden’s debut is up there with Malzahn’s among the greatest first-year coaching performances in SEC history. He took over a program reeling from NCAA sanctions that occurred under Pat Dye (which kept the Tigers off TV in 1993 and out of the postseason in 1993 and 1994) and went undefeated, including victories over powerhouse Florida and defending national champion Alabama. Auburn won the first nine games of Bowden’s second season as well — including a win at No. 1 Florida — to reach 20 straight victories before stumbling at the end. The Tigers tied Georgia 23-23 at Jordan-Hare Stadium, then lost a tightly contested Iron Bowl at Legion Field. There were no postseason rewards for Auburn in 1994, but they did get to 10 wins and an SEC West title in 1997 before things came crashing down (as they always seem to at Auburn) around Bowden the following season.

Pat Dye (1982)

Second-year record: 9-3 (4-2 SEC)

Better than Year 1?: Yes (5-6, 2-4)

Iron Bowl: Won 23-22 in Birmingham

Postseason: Beat Boston College 33-26 in Tangerine Bowl

Auburn finished with a losing record in Dye’s first season, but had given Tigers fans some hope with solid performances in losses to Georgia and Alabama at year’s end. Dye’s team broke through in Year 2, again taking eventual SEC champion Georgia to the limit before losing, then stunning Alabama 23-22 at Legion Field in what proved to be Paul “Bear” Bryant’s final Iron Bowl. The Tigers then won their bowl game to finish 9-3, their highest victory total in eight years. Auburn won the SEC and narrowly missed out on a national championship in 1983, then would add additional shared or outright league titles in 1987, 1988 and 1989. Dye brought the Iron Bowl to Jordan-Hare for the first time in 1989, resulting in Auburn’s fourth straight victory over Alabama. His last two teams were subpar, however, and he resigned amid NCAA controversy at the end of the 1992 season.

Doug Barfield (1977)

Second-year record: 5-6 (4-2 SEC)

Better than Year 1?: Yes (3-8, 2-4)

Iron Bowl: Lost 48-21 in Birmingham

Postseason: None

Barfield had the misfortune of taking over at Auburn when Bryant’s Alabama program was at its height, in the midst of eight SEC championships in nine years and three national titles in the decade of the 1970s. His second team got incrementally better, beating Tennessee, Florida and Georgia, but once again getting blown out by Alabama. Barfield did record winning seasons in 1978 and 1979 — though NCAA sanctions kept the Tigers out of the postseason, but he was doomed by an 0-5 record against Alabama. After slipping back to 5-6 in 1980 — a season that included an 0-6 SEC mark and double-digit losses to Tennessee, Florida, Georgia and Alabama — Barfield was fired with a dead-even record of 27-27-1 at Auburn.

Ralph “Shug” Jordan (1952)

Second-year record: 2-8 (0-7 SEC)

Better than Year 1?: No (5-5, 3-4)

Iron Bowl: Lost 21-0 in Birmingham

Postseason: None

Auburn had won a total of nine games since the end of World War II and went 0-10 in 1950, so the fact that Jordan was able to coax a 5-5 record out of his first team was something of a miracle. The Tigers did end that season with four straight losses — including 46-14 to Georgia and 25-7 to Alabama, which did not portend well for Year 2. Auburn beat only Wofford and Clemson in 1951, getting shut out by Georgia Tech 33-0 and Alabama 21-0 to finish winless in SEC play. Things got better in a hurry for Jordan and the Tigers after that, however, as they went 7-3-1 in 1953, the first of 12 consecutive winning seasons. Auburn beat Alabama four straight years from 1954-57, including a 40-0 blowout at Legion Field to cap a 10-0 national championship season. Bryant was hired the following year at Alabama, and Jordan beat the Crimson Tide just five more times — in 1958, 1963, 1969, 1970 and 1972 — before he hung it up after the 1975 season. “Shug” retired with a career record of 176-83-6 in 25 seasons at his alma mater.

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So exactly half — four of eight — Auburn coaches in the last 70-plus years have had better seasons in Year 2 than in Year 1. Chizik and Tuberville enjoyed what you might call major breakthroughs, while Dye’s second team showed signs of what was to come in future years.

Bowden and Malzahn took steps back in their second year, though they’d set the bar so high in Year 1 that it would have been difficult to repeat that success. But as Chizik and Barfield showed, second-year improvement does not necessarily foreshadow long-term success either.

Most are predicting that Freeze’s second Auburn team will continue to climb after playing within one score of SEC powers Georgia and Ole Miss and coming within one unlikely play of pulling off a major upset of Alabama in 2023. Anything less eight wins and a second-tier New Year’s bowl berth this year would likely be viewed as a major disappointment.

Creg Stephenson has worked for AL.com since 2010 and has covered college football for a variety of publications since 1994. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter/X at @CregStephenson.