Adding the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners ushers in a new era of SEC football beginning with the 2024 season. During an offseason of big coaching shakeups in college football, particularly in the SEC, it’s intriguing to predict which head coaches will ascend to the top of the pecking order this season and beyond.
SEC football head coach rankings for the 2024 season.
The battle for supremacy among the top SEC head coaches will be about who will succeed the famed longstanding former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban in this league. Saban departed as Alabama’s head coach after almost two decades earlier this summer, and he was replaced by Kalen DeBoer, the former head coach of the Washington Huskies.
The SEC is one of the most powerful leagues in college football in terms of head coaches. Over a dozen SEC head coaches are undoubtedly among the top 25 or 30 in the big leagues by 2024.
Adding Texas’ Steve Sarkisian and Oklahoma’s Brent Venables adds another degree of complication to the SEC’s depth and ranking of top head coaches in 2024.
Here’s a ranking of every SEC head coach for the 2024 college football season.
16. Clark Lea, Vanderbilt.
The Vanderbilt Commodores have arguably the most difficult coaching position among the Power Five in college football. Not only does Vanderbilt’s head coach have to compete against the top collegiate teams in the country every Saturday in the autumn, but they also do not have the NIL money to remain competitive with the rest of the SEC.
Clark Lea is now in his fourth year as Vanderbilt’s head coach. It’s been difficult going for Lea since he took over at Vandy. In two of his three seasons in Nashville, he has had double-digit defeat totals. Vanderbilt also had one of the Power Five’s worst defenses previous season, surrendering over 36 points per game.
Defense was meant to be Lea’s calling card at Vanderbilt, but it has yet to appear during his time there.
15. Jeff Lebby, Mississippi State.
Jeff Lebby, the former Oklahoma offensive coordinator, was named the next head coach of the Mississippi State Bulldogs this summer. This will be Lebby’s first experience as a college head coach. Lebby transports his high-flying air raid assault equipment from Oklahoma.
Under Lebby’s coaching, the Sooners finished fourth in the country in points per game (41.7) and third in total offense (507.0 yards per game).
14. Shane Beamer (South Carolina)
Things appeared to be looking good for South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer heading into the 2023 season. South Carolina had a strong season in 2022, winning eight games and ranking 23rd in the AP Poll.
However, South Carolina had a setback in 2023, winning only five games owing to a challenging schedule and rising injuries from the previous season.
The issue is whether Beamer and the Gamecocks can rebound in 2024 with another tough SEC schedule after losing more than half of their starters from last year’s squad this summer.
