The SEC has new coaches, new QBs, and a 3-year title drought. What are the vibes right now? – The Athletic
Indiana is the national champion, it’s Curt Cignetti’s world, and everyone in college football has to live with the consequences of that. And that means every program in the SEC.
Time will tell whether Cignetti is a unicorn, or IU’s unexpected championship run shows anybody truly can win it all. Kentucky, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, South Carolina … all on the clock? Or is this a clarion call for the SEC blue bloods to get back to the business of dominance. Georgia, Texas, Alabama, LSU … c’mon, let’s get going here.
Collectively, we know the vibe in the SEC: An identity crisis, born of three straight years without a championship. Let’s now take a look on a team-by-team basis.
There’s a lot still to be decided. The transfer portal has closed for entering, but teams can still add players from it. We don’t know if Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss or Tennessee’s Joey Aguilar will be returning. The offseason is a seven-month slog where plenty of things can and will happen.
As a reminder, this is not a pure ranking of how good teams are expected to be. That’s part of the criteria, but also weighed against program expectations, while also taking the temperature of the fan base, whether it has hope or angst. In short: How good are the vibes?
And yes, we are grading on a curve, which is why we begin with …
1. Kentucky
2025 record: 5-7, 2-6 SEC
It’s worth doing this story just to give credit to Kentucky’s administration for jarring the program back to life. All credit to Mark Stoops, one of the most successful coaches in Kentucky football history and a worthy hire for another program, but his tenure had run its course. His bosses knew that, but the question here, and among Kentucky’s fan base, was whether they cared enough about football to do anything about it. Well, they did, and hired perhaps the best coordinator candidate this head-coaching cycle in Oregon’s Will Stein. He then had a very good portal run: quarterback Kenny Minchey, who he flipped from Nebraska, Texas linebacker Elijah Barnes and some experienced offensive linemen.
Stein isn’t guaranteed to win, and if he does, it’s going to take some time. Cignetti is one thing. A first-time head coach turning around a moribund program right away is another. Still, Kentucky fans have reason to be excited for 2026.
2. Texas A&M
2025 record: 11-2, 7-1
Quarterback Marcel Reed is back. The Aggies had a productive portal season. And the disappointment of the first-round CFP loss is mitigated by seeing Miami and its defense go all the way to the national championship. The trajectory of this program since Mike Elko took over: 7-6 (before he got there) to 8-5 to 11-2. It’s probably asking too much to demand yet more improvement this year — but it’s possible.
All things considered, the Aggies are among the few programs in the SEC that feel pretty good about the past couple years and the future. With the exception of one thing Elko should put on his 2026 priority list: Beat Texas.
3. LSU
2025 record: 7-6, 3-5
The new villain of the sport — the coach, and by association, the program. The team everyone will be watching and the vast majority rooting against. And if you’re LSU, that’s … nice. A welcome change from the also-ran status of the past five years. It’s still open for debate whether Lane Kiffin — who has never won a conference championship and was fired from his last blue-blood head-coaching job — is the answer. But there’s a reason everyone wanted him, and he’s off to a good start, bringing former Arizona State starter Sam Leavitt in to be quarterback. The vibes are good in Baton Rouge because, as Huey Long could have said at some point, maybe they’re talkin’ bad about you, but at least they’re talkin’ about you.
How will Pete Golding fare in his first full season as head coach? A big question for 2026. (Norm Hall / Getty Images)
4. Ole Miss
2025 record: 13-2, 7-1
It’s complicated. The vibes should be great, coming off the program’s best season in more than 60 years. The pain, anger and uncertainty of Kiffin’s exit should be allayed by Pete Golding’s playoff run. The complication, of course, is whether Golding can sustain it. How will the offense — which returns star tailback Kewan Lacy — be without Charlie Weis Jr. calling plays? Will Chambliss win his court case? Will receiver Cayden Lee, who entered the portal, return if Chambliss is back? Either way, this is a program with pep in its step now. Deservedly so. Even with all the deserved questions about how long that pep will last.
5. Georgia
2025 record: 12-2, 7-1
This is the program that would probably get the most votes for being in the best shape. It has one of the two best coaches in college football — yes, Cignetti belongs in the same breath as Kirby Smart — and it has stability. Georgia has coaching staff stability; after keeping the same assistants in 2024 and 2025, it only had one change this offseason and promoted from within. Still, the question going forward is whether Smart and Georgia can still win big in the transfer portal era. In the three seasons since Georgia’s last national title, 11 programs have been in the CFP semifinals. Georgia is not one of those 11.
6. Texas
2025 record: 10-3, 6-2
It’s getting to desperation time. No, Steve Sarkisian doesn’t enter the season on the hot seat, per se … but you noticed we’re adding the “per se” there, not “what a ridiculous thought.” One disappointing season is just that, disappointing. Two disappointing seasons would mean hard questions.
The good thing about desperation — and Texas dollars — is you can turn it into immediate help: Texas lured Will Muschamp out of semi-retirement to run the defense. The portal yielded wide receiver Cam Coleman, running back Hollywood Smothers and edge rusher Colin Simmons. That, along with a good collection of returning players — yes, including Arch Manning — means the Longhorns should be very good. Or else.
7. Florida
2025 record: 4-8, 2-6
The vibes in Gainesville are conflicted. On the one hand, another Group of 5 coach? This was not the assignment, Scott Stricklin. But on the other hand — say this in that reluctant but confident tone — former Tulane coach Jon Sumrall does seem kind of good. He’s got more of a command-the-room aura than Billy Napier. He made a good offensive coordinator hire in Buster Faulkner, who brought quarterback Aaron Philo with him from Georgia Tech to replace DJ Lagway, and Sumrall can oversee the defense. Sumrall managed to retain key players like running back Jaden Baugh and receiver Dallas Wilson. Gator fans have been through enough the past four hires/fires to temper the optimism. Still, there’s optimism.
8. Vanderbilt
2025 record: 10-3, 6-2
Out: Diego Pavia. (At least we’re pretty sure. We think we’re sure.) In: Jared Curtis, the Nashville five-star quarterback Clark Lea pulled from Georgia before signing day, another validation of where Lea has vaulted this program. Everyone will now wonder whether it was entirely due to Pavia, or whether he just arrived when Lea had built things to where Vandy could capitalize.
If Oklahoma QB John Mateer can get back to his best form, the Sooners could be a CFP contender again. (Brian Bahr / Getty Images)
9. Oklahoma
2025 record: 10-3, 6-2
The Sooners, unlike the Aggies, did not have their first-round CFP home loss mitigated: Alabama being run off the field by Indiana should reinforce that Brent Venables’ team has plenty more work to do. A good start would be quarterback John Mateer looking more like he did the first part of last season. General manager Jim Nagy got him help out of the portal with Trell Harris (Virginia’s leading receiver) and Parker Livingstone (Texas’ third-leading receiver). But the Playoff also showed that a running game is still key, and who knows if the Sooners will have that. The offense needs to take pressure off Venables’ defense to be great every week.
10. Mississippi State
2025 record: 5-8, 1-7
Dave Barry, in his classic book on American history, wrote that the highlight of president Millard Filmore’s tenure was that “The earth did not crash into the sun.” That sums up the Mississippi State offseason. A 5-8 season was actually improvement. Mississippi State hasn’t been ravaged by the portal, nor has it hit homers. It isn’t generating huge buzz to improve or fall back. It’s just there. And considering where things were this time last year — James Buchanan level — it’ll take the Fillmore treatment. And hey, coach Jeff Lebby’s recruiting class included a five-star (cornerback Bralan Womack) and was ranked ahead of Auburn, Missouri … and Indiana! So maybe this is more William McKinley territory?
11. Missouri
2025 record: 8-5, 4-4
Has Mizzou hit a bit of a lull? After back-to-back 10-win seasons, it fell to 8-5, which was acceptable given the quarterback injuries. But the offseason hasn’t seen any obvious home run portal additions, while sack leader Damon Wilson entered the portal. The recruiting class was solid but not great (33rd in the 247Sports Composite, no top-100 signees.) The hire of offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey from Michigan was greeted in Rock Nation with something short of excitement. Still, coach Eli Drinkwitz has earned the right to ask Mizzou fans to trust him.
12. Alabama
2025 record: 11-4, 7-1
It’s possible that Alabama has one of the best coaches in college football. The question is whether it has the right coach for Alabama. Kalen DeBoer is Cignetti Lite, a winner wherever he’s been, and while he’s not winning at Nick Saban levels, he did win more in his second year than his first year. The third year doesn’t strike as make-or-break for DeBoer. More like pretty important for The Vibes.
13. South Carolina
2025 record: 4-8, 1-7
A very bad season, followed by so far a very good offseason: quarterback LaNorris Sellers, edge rusher Dylan Stewart and wide receiver Nyck Harbor are all returning, and on paper, South Carolina upgraded at offensive coordinator, hiring Kendal Briles, who at TCU guided the fourth-ranked offense in the Big 12 last season. Does this mean the Gamecocks will return to 2024 form, 2025 is instantly forgotten and all the good feelings are back? Well no, because those players have to actually return to 2024 form, especially Sellers. But it does mean that 2026 isn’t a fait accompli for Shane Beamer. The Gamecocks have a chance again.
New Auburn QB Byrum Brown led all FBS quarterbacks in passing and rushing yards combined per game (347.2) at USF. (Julio Aguilar / Getty Images)
14. Auburn
2025 record: 5-7, 1-7
Auburn needs players. Wide receivers Cam Coleman and Eric Singleton Jr. leaving was not good for the offense. The quarterback will be Byrum Brown, who played well for new coach Alex Golesh at South Florida, but that wasn’t in the SEC. The defense returns good players from one of the SEC’s better units, but also lost much of its front seven, so it may rely on transfers. There’s a chance — if Golesh elevates the offense and returning defensive coordinator DJ Durkin keeps the defense level — that Auburn surprises this season. But the expectations aren’t high.
15. Arkansas
2025 record: 2-10, 0-8
The perception — or reality — was the Razorbacks ended up last in the SEC hiring pecking order when it ended up with Memphis’ Ryan Silverfield. If Silverfield does turn it Arkansas around, it may take a while. The quarterback job is wide open, and this will be a very portal-laden team. At least in the age of Cignetti, that provides some hope. (But if you google Silverfield, you won’t be quite as impressed.)
16. Tennessee
2025 record: 8-5, 4-4
The view here on coach Josh Heupel has been that so far, he’s had a low ceiling — something short of national championship caliber — but his offense has kept the floor high. This year may be the test of that. The Vols are appearing in a few too-early top 25s, but near the end, and were not in colleague Stewart Mandel’s at all. If Aguilar can’t return, the quarterback is … well, who knows. Heupel also pushed the panic button a bit on defense by firing defensive coordinator Tim Banks and bringing in Jim Knowles. Maybe it’ll work. But this is a key offseason for Heupel, whose fan base is starting to get antsy. That was inevitable: Heupel earned credibility by getting the Vols out of the wilderness, but the ambitions of the program go further than 8-5.
And now, thanks to Cignetti and Indiana, so do everyone’s ambitions.
