Ranking college football jobs used to be simple. Athletic department resources, facilities, size of alumni and fan base, tradition, access to talent … that was about it.

Now Penn State can pine for the Indiana coach and everyone says, “Ehhhh, I don’t know.” Then, Indiana makes the Indiana coach the third-highest-paid in the game so the Hoosiers can resume stalking a national championship. That’s where we are in college football. It’s a strange, and mostly exhilarating, era. But to be clear in this example: The era does not deserve primary credit for turning Indiana into a primo job.

Curt Cignetti did that. Indiana made nary a ripple in the college football landscape when it hired him. Everyone just wondered if he’d be able to hang around and get the Hoosiers to bowl games more often than not. He was instantly awesome beyond imagination, so support followed. Resources. Momentum. Recruits and transfers. Growing realization of the opportunity this era provides. More resources.

And voila. A microwave football school.

So before attempting to rank the SEC football jobs, let’s all agree that for any of the 16, a home run coaching hire is possible and could, in short order, put that program into the College Football Playoff.

We don’t and won’t have updated name, image and likeness funding ledgers for these programs, but everyone knows it’s important now and is investing. The items from the first paragraph correlate to some extent. They all still matter, just not as much.

Alignment is another traditional factor in assessing a football job, but everyone is aligned now at the Power 4 level: You have to win at football to have a chance.

See: Indiana and Vanderbilt.

Here’s a stab at ranking the SEC jobs, now that Florida is open again and people are wondering whether Lane Kiffin might be tempted to leave Ole Miss for Gainesville.

1. Georgia

Everything is in place, including fans who have tasted recent national championships and may be able to handle some twists, turns and dips better than most. That’s not nothing. This is no different than the ranking would have been before the NIL/transfer portal era. But until we have a national champion that isn’t consistently among the top recruiters of high school talent in America and that doesn’t have one of the most talented rosters in that regard, location and overall resources must rank high.

2. Texas

The national leader by far in revenue — and in valuation projections, ahead of Georgia, as calculated by The Athletic’s Matt Baker — Texas has a case for the top spot. It has a case to be lower than this, too, because such starvation for a title can cause dysfunction. I mean, look, we all deserve some blame for the overhyping of Arch Manning, but you can’t tell me the fact that he plays for Texas hasn’t intensified all of it a bit.

3. Alabama

Go back a few years and you’ve got other programs getting a head start in the NIL game and Nick Saban having to motivate his money people with public scoldings. Saban had no use for this era and got out, but Alabama remains built to win titles. Kalen DeBoer was in the crosshairs after the season-opening loss at Florida State (which gets more bizarre by the week), but things might actually turn out OK for the Tide.

4. LSU

LSU at night is generally agreed upon as the best and nastiest game-day scene in college football. The tailgating, both in terms of consumption and accompanying Cajun cuisine, is hard to beat. Every little thing counts when you’re splitting hairs among the top programs in this league. The case for LSU to be higher: Ed Orgeron and Les Miles won national championships in Baton Rouge.

5. Florida

This will draw some ire. But as we’ve detailed, Florida has done everything needed to invest in football — in ways it wasn’t doing under Dan Mullen — and it’s really just about making a good coaching hire at this point. Nothing else is missing.

Florida has had five losing season since Urban Meyer departed after the 2010 season — but it’s still an elite job. (Joe Murphy / Getty Images)

6. Oklahoma

Now that we’re getting deeper into the pool of SEC football programs with essentially everything going for them, doesn’t it sound a lot better to be in the Big Ten? Oklahoma hasn’t won a championship since Bob Stoops did it 25 years ago, but the Sooners have knocked on the door more years than not since then. If Brent Venables can’t deliver a CFP berth this year, a coaching upgrade is a totally fair thing to consider.

7. Texas A&M

Money, access to talent, living alumni, estimated fans — by most measures, Texas A&M could be higher on the list. Yet we’re going back to 1939 for the last national championship in College Station. Why? I’m going to arbitrarily blame “yell practice” for that and for my annual sense that the Aggies are going to screw it up somehow.

8. Tennessee

So we’re eight programs deep and still very much in the realm of all the advantages, all the money, no reason you can’t win the whole thing. Tennessee last did it in 1998, and that owes itself in part to some severe and prolonged dysfunction that no longer exists at the top. But with the San Francisco Giants pursuing baseball coach Tony Vitello, a thought: If you have four programs of high importance — baseball and both men’s and women’s basketball matter and are funded at UT — can that make NIL money tight at times? It shouldn’t, not for football. But it could still be a hassle. Coaches with strong personalities fight for money.

9. Auburn

We’re in the back half of the league and we’re talking about a program that played for a national championship 12 years ago and won one 15 years ago — with Gus Malzahn and Gene Chizik, respectively, at the helm. Like Tennessee, some of the rumblings about booster behavior over the years go beyond the usual meddling millionaire stuff. Also, Auburn is staring at a sixth straight season of being unranked in the final poll. But the ingredients are there.

10. Vanderbilt

It will be hard for some to reconcile Vanderbilt’s history as a football doormat with its current opportunity. But the opportunity is prime. The chancellor is all in on football. The AD is raising money and getting things done. The facilities are no longer embarrassing. The alumni base is small but successful and motivated. The city is the best in the SEC. Same with the quality of the school — and yeah, that absolutely wins some recruiting battles. Also, though we haven’t indulged low expectations on this list, a coach who wins 7-8 games regularly at Vanderbilt has security.

11. Arkansas

There’s something to be said for Texas proximity. And for being the lone major football school in your own state. And for that sweet Tyson Foods chicken money. This is just behind where Arkansas ranked in our program valuations, 10th in the SEC (and 23rd nationally). But Arkansas has more basketball heritage than football heritage, and John Calipari was making more than recently fired football coach Sam Pittman.

12. Ole Miss

A Florida fan might look at this list and say, “See! Lane Kiffin can jump seven spots! Why wouldn’t he?” Because Ole Miss still offers enough to give a coach a chance. Because relationships matter. Because if you’ve got the money people you need and they’re all in, there’s something to be said for building something at a place that hasn’t experienced it. If it boils down to Kiffin for the Gators and he stays, that’s more loud commentary on how the sport has changed.

13. South Carolina

We’re into smaller budgets and never national champions and still, if you’ve ever experienced “Sandstorm” during a big night game at Williams-Brice Stadium, you’ve seen how hair-raising that place can be. It’s been a nightmare 2025 season for Shane Beamer’s crew, but that’s not because they failed to shell out major money to keep some highly coveted players. South Carolina is serious.

14. Missouri

Eli Drinkwitz doesn’t get enough credit for what he’s done at Missouri. He has legitimized a program that does not have the same advantages as some of the teams it is beating regularly. Also, like South Carolina, serious roster investment has helped. But take it easy, Mizzou, and stay focused on what matters most: sportswriter development.

15. Kentucky

There was “best job in the SEC” talk back when Mark Stoops got a moribund program rolling, earned some major investment as a result and enjoyed savior status without having to worry about winning championships. But now he can’t meet the expectations that he raised, and people want him out. Mostly, they’re on to basketball season. This is the one SEC school where hearts and minds will never favor football.

16. Mississippi State

Please don’t consider this negative commentary whatsoever on the wonder of Stark Vegas. Someone has to be last.