The SEC football head coaching ranks are a mixture between youth and experience, probably leaning toward the former.

Only one SEC coach has been in his current job more than a decade, and more than half the league’s coaches have been in place five years or fewer. There is so much money at stake these days that it’s less and less likely that coaches will be given the leeway to build a program if they are not almost immediately successful.

For today’s list, we’re ranking the SEC’s 16 head football coaches in terms of career victories (including at schools outside the conference). Here they are, in reverse order, from fewest wins to most:

16. Jeff Lebby, Mississippi State

Record as head coach: 2-10 (1 year)

Record as SEC head coach: Same

Lebby inherited a tough job at Mississippi State, which still doesn’t seem to have recovered from the sudden death of Mike Leach at the end of the 2022 season. The Bulldogs went winless in the SEC in 2024, but seemingly have nowhere to go but up.

15. Clark Lea, Vanderbilt

Record as head coach: 16-43 (4 years)

Record as SEC head coach: Same

Lea finally got the Commodores turned around in Year 4, with a milestone victory over Alabama part of Vandy’s first winning season in 11 years. Quarterback Diego Pavia has been granted another year of eligibility by the NCAA, so the good times in Nashville might not be over yet.

14. Brent Venables, Oklahoma

Record as head coach: 22-17 (3 years)

Record as SEC head coach: 6-7 (1 year)

The Sooners also beat Alabama in 2024, but that might have been the lone highlight of a disappointing third season for Venables. Oklahoma was wretched on offense this past season, and the clock might be ticking on Venables’ time in Norman if things don’t change quickly.

13. Mike Elko, Texas A&M

Record as head coach: 24-14 (3 years)

Record as SEC head coach: 8-5 (1 year)

Elko’s best attribute at this point is that he’s more likeable than Jimbo Fisher, because the Aggies once again disappointed in 2024. After getting off to a 7-1 start, they lost four of their final five games, a swift fall from national championship contender to Las Vegas Bowl runner-up.

12. Shane Beamer, South Carolina

Record as head coach: 29-22 (4 years)

Record as SEC head coach: Same

After a 6-7 hiccup in Year 3, Beamer has the Gamecocks trending upward in a major way after a breakthrough 2024 season that saw them narrowly miss a College Football Playoff berth. He just signed a massive contract extension, so “Beamer Ball” appears to be in Columbia to stay.

11. Sam Pittman, Arkansas

Record as head coach: 30-31 (5 years)

Record as SEC head coach: Same

Pittman’s half-decade in Fayetteville has seen a lot of “two steps forward, one step back,” and the 2024 season was no exception. The Razorbacks scored a major upset of Tennessee last season, but can’t seem to rise above the lower-middle part of the pack in the SEC.

10. Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri

Record as head coach: 50-25 (6 years)

Record as SEC head coach: 38-24 (5 years)

Drinkwitz has posted back-to-back 10-win seasons with the Tigers, restoring some of the luster lost when Gary Pinkel retired a decade ago. Missouri for the most part beats the teams it is supposed to beat, but also had a couple of high-profile no-shows in 2024.

9. Billy Napier, Florida

Record as head coach: 59-31 (7 years)

Record as SEC head coach: 19-19 (3 years)

Napier was all but given up for dead by the end of September, but then reeled off back-to-back upsets of LSU and Ole Miss in November to save his job. Florida enters the 2024 season on a four-game winning streak, possessing some positive momentum for the first time in a while.

8. Josh Heupel, Tennessee

Record as head coach: 65-23 (7 years)

Record as SEC head coach: 37-15 (4 years)

There were plenty of doubters when Heupel took over in Knoxville, with many wondering whether he’d simply been winning with Scott Frost’s players at UCF. But Heupel has put his own stamp on the Volunteers’ program, most importantly competitive against Alabama again.

7. Mark Stoops, Kentucky

Record as head coach: 77-73 (12 years)

Record as SEC head coach: Same

Stoops is the Wildcats’ all-time winningest coach, but one has to wonder if things have run their course for him at Kentucky. Outside of an upset of Ole Miss in late September, 2024 was a miserable season in Lexington, with the Wildcats barely competitive most weeks.

6. Steve Sarkisian, Texas

Record as head coach: 84-52 (12 years)

Record as SEC head coach: 13-3 (1 year)

One of college football’s great running jokes has finally been put to rest, as Texas is finally back. Sarkisian has built his program in Alabama’s image (and with a few former Crimson Tide players and coaches) and should be considered a national title contender until further notice.

5. Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss

Record as head coach: 105-52 (13 years)

Record as SEC head coach: 44-18 (5 years)

Like Sarkisian has done in Austin, Kiffin has taken full advantage of his trip to the Nick Saban Coaching Career Rehab Center. The Rebels have also put NIL to great use in building one of the more talented rosters in the SEC. Now if they could just stop losing games against inferior teams.

4. Kirby Smart, Georgia

Record as head coach: 105-19 (9 years)

Record as SEC head coach: Same

Smart won’t turn 50 until December, so assuming he doesn’t burn out (possible) or get tempted by the NFL (unlikely), will have a chance at one of the greatest coaching careers in college football history. The talent pipeline continues to flow to Athens, with no end in sight.

3. Kalen DeBoer, Alabama

Record as head coach: 113-16 (10 years)

Record at SEC head coach: 9-4 (1 year)

DeBoer’s first season at Alabama was a disappointment by any measure, but his career record continues to be incredibly impressive. One must note a lot of those victories (and very few of the losses) came in the small-college ranks, but he showed at Washington he can win at any level.

2. Hugh Freeze, Auburn

Record as head coach: 114-61 (14 years)

Record as SEC head coach: 50-39 (7 years)

Counting his time at Ole Miss, Freeze is behind only Stoops and Smart in terms of tenure within the SEC. He hasn’t been able to get Auburn out of neutral in his first two seasons, however, and the notorious impatience displayed by that program’s powerbrokers might begin to show up soon if 2025 isn’t better.

1. Brian Kelly, LSU

Record as head coach: 313-108-2 (35 years)

Record as SEC head coach: 29-11 (3 years)

Raise your hand if you knew that Brian Kelly had more than 300 career wins? Though he spent many years on the Division II level, he has to be on any list of the most-successful coaches in the history of the sport. What he’s lacking is a championship on the FBS level, and LSU faithful are getting restless.