How SEC coaches fare against unraked teams

By Chris Marler

We did a deep dive looking into SEC head coaching records against Top 25 teams. It was shocking that only three coaches had a record of .500 or better. It was equally shocking that Alabama’s Kalen Deboer had the highest winning percentage against Top 25 teams of anyone in the Power Four at .833 with a 15-3 record.

However, given DeBoer’s struggles a year ago to unranked teams like Vanderbilt, Oklahoma and Michigan, it begs the question of which coaches in the SEC are losing to unranked teams and racking up losses against teams they should beat

SCENES AT VANDY AS NO. 1 GOES DOWN!

VANDERBILT SHOCKS THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL WORLD WITH ITS FIRST WIN OVER BAMA IN 40 YEARS! pic.twitter.com/Rzumabs75E

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 5, 2024

Here’s a look at the percentage of SEC coaches’ losses that have come to unranked teams. The lower you are on this list, the better.

1. Kalen DeBoer, Alabama –  76.9% (10/13)
2. Jeff Lebby, Mississippi State – 60% (6/10)
3. Brent Venables, Oklahoma – 58.8% (10/17)
4. Mark Stoops, Kentucky – 57.5% (31/73)
5. Mike Elko, Texas A&M – 57.1% (8/14)
6. Hugh Freeze, Auburn – 56.3% (18/32)
7. Clark Lea, Vanderbilt – 54.5% (18/33)
8. Lane Kiffin, Ole MIss – 53.8% (28/52)
9. Brian Kelly, LSU – 50.0% (37/74)
10. Josh Heupel, Tennessee – 47.8% (11/23)
11. Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri – 44.0% (11/25)
12. Billy Napier, Florida – 41.9% (13/31)
13. Steve Sarkisian, Texas – 38.5% (20/52)
14. Shane Beamer, South Carolina – 31.8% (7/22)
15. Sam Pittman, Arkansas – 29.0% (9/31)
16. Kirby Smart, Georgia – 21.1% (4/19)

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