The SEC saw three coaching changes this offseason, including one high-profile move within the league which will dominate headlines for years to come. Meanwhile, the overall list of coaches expands from 14 to 16 as Oklahoma and Texas join.
John Calipari is now at Arkansas, Mark Pope runs the show at Kentucky, and Vanderbilt opens a new era with Mark Byington this season.
Ranking the Top 10 coaches in any of the four power conferences is a difficult task, as a multitude of factors determine how the coach is viewed in the moment. There are historical markers throughout a coach’s career which cement them in a certain tier, while recent records and recruiting success play a major factor in remaining on top.
Entering the 2024-25 college basketball season, here is a look at how the Top 10 SEC coaches stack up against their peers.
Coming off the first Final Four appearance in Alabama program history, Nate Oats and his staff recruited one of the best rosters in the country with a return in mind.
But the story only starts there, as Oats completely rebuilt his coaching staff last season when all three assistants took head coaching jobs, forcing him to recruit the transfer portal while searching for a new staff.
The philosophy behind Oats’ success also places him in an elite group of coaches, utilizing analytics to play a well-spaced offense emphasizing the value of certain shots. On the other end of the floor, “blue-collar” defense is preached as the key to success by incentivizing tough play.
Bruce Pearl has built the Auburn basketball program in his image over the past decade, taking true ownership of the brand. With a Final Four trip under his belt and sustained recruiting success, his track record speaks for itself.
Pearl has proven his ability to coach a number of different ways, winning with future NBA Draft picks like Jabari Smith or by recruiting former JuCo and D-II players as he did in 2023-24.
Perhaps his greatest achievement at Auburn can be seen when walking into Neville Arena, where fans pile in to watch his team game after game with an intensity which has built up over the years.
From his time at Texas to Tennessee, Rick Barnes has established himself as one of the best coaches in the sport for years now. Questions about postseason success in recent years hold little weight compared to the overwhelming body of work building a program.
It all starts on the defensive end for Barnes, where his team plays with an unmistakable level of intensity and connectivity. The ability to plug and play with different lineups and players has proven that he teaches things better than most in the game.
Meanwhile, Barnes has been able to showcase his fair share of stars over his career too. From Kevin Durant at Texas to Dalton Knecht at Tennessee, his players are scattered across the professional ranks.
It was not long ago that John Calipari would have topped this list – likely year over year – but things changed late in his Kentucky tenure as postseason results did not meet expectations.
Now at Arkansas, there is a chance for Calipari to show new hunger, brining another historic program back to glory with his elite recruiting prowess. Already starting to build out his first roster, his ability to add stars is unquestioned.
While postseason failures bring him down the board, the track record is undeniable. The number of former players he sees land NBA contracts will remain a talking point long after his career.
Another coach who found himself at the top of many lists just a few seasons ago, Chris Beard has dealt with off-court setbacks to his career. After leaving Texas, he landed at Ole Miss with a chance to rehab his image and bring back a program.
Year One featured plenty ups and downs, with a hot start fizzling during SEC play to knock Ole Miss out of NCAA Tournament contention late. But Beard now looks ready to make a surge with a fresh batch of incoming transfers and a supporting cast of returners.
Bringing Ole Miss back into the spotlight would certainly boost his stock back toward the coaching elite on the floor, building on his past Final Four appearance.
The former Bruce Pearl assistant arrived in the SEC as one of the youngest coaches in the conference and has brought a fresh philosophy which appears to have early success.
Todd Golden utilizes analytics to build out his Florida roster and look for competitive advantages on both ends of the floor. He is candidate to rise up this list quickly if he can continue the upward trajectory of his career so far.
Recruiting is an important part of building an SEC program, and Golden has found a good balance of transfer production with returning players early in his tenure. The same analytic approach on the court is used here to identify good fits within the system.
Buzz Williams ranks at the top of the list when ranking the most interesting coaches in college basketball, and is no slouch inside the Top 10 best coaches of the SEC.
He has seen success at every stop throughout his career. Now at Texas A&M, the two-time SEC Coach of the Year looks to propel the program to new heights by making a deep NCAA Tournament run.
Players past and present rave about their experience playing for him. While those relationships are not would provides him job security, it is something he has spoken at length about throughout his career.
Chris Jans continues to put together good seasons as a head coach. Perhaps an underrated trait, he has three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances dating back before he landed the Mississippi State job.
While his method is not as pretty to watch as some, the commitment to putting big bodies on the floor and dominating the opposition has served Mississippi State well to this point, providing them a path to compete against teams with more talent.
Sustained success is good enough to keep Jans in the mix with all these coaches, but a deep NCAA Tournament run would give him another boost in showing the world his value.
Now entering the SEC, Rodney Terry faces yet another challenge as Texas head coach. After doing a remarkable job on an interim basis to keep a talented team together, he is still building out his own blueprint.
Texas will feature a new-look unit this season, which has allowed Terry to demonstrate his recruiting prowess on full display in the transfer portal and on the recruiting trail.
Now the questions left revolve around his staff’s ability to mesh the talent into a cohesive unit and find success in a new league immediately.
The former Kentucky standout faced a difficult task when asked to become head coach, taking over for a Hall of Famer without the resume of candidates thrown around in conversation.
So far, he has done well to rally fans and hit the recruiting trail hard by engaging players and finding ways to stand out – something not difficult at 6’10. The fresh approach is fascinating and the blueprint for his roster is already clear, albeit different from the past regime.
Ultimately, Pope will be judged on postseason success, the marker for any Kentucky head coach. His lack of NCAA Tournament wins to this point in his career leaves him outside the top group, but his new platform gives him every opportunity to land there.
Mike White – Georgia
Matt McMahon – LSU
Dennis Gates – Missouri
Porter Moser – Oklahoma
Lamont Paris – South Carolina
Mark Byington – Vanderbilt
There is no shortage of talented SEC coaches ready to assert themselves in the conversation for a Top 10 spot within the 2024-25 season. The deep list of coaches in the newly expanded conference means there will be plenty coaches who feel left out on razor-thin margins which could shift at any moment.
