Tennessee football is entering year six of the Josh Heupel Era this upcoming 2026 season. While he’s reached the heights of two double-digit win regular seasons and a College Football Playoffs berth, he’s also coming off a turbulent year that featured an 8-5 record and a loss in the Music City Bowl.
With strange circumstances, such as the sudden departure of Nico Iamaleava last spring, surrounding some of Heupel’s low points, he can be a tough coach to rank. Nonetheless, Chris Low of On3 and the co-host of the RTI Low-Down gave his rankings of all 16 coaches in the SEC.
Low has Heupel placed at No. 6 in the conference. This comfortably slots him in the top half of coaches in the league. However, it’s probably worth noting that there are five first-year SEC head coaches in the conference this season.
NEW: SEC head football coach rankings‼️
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— On3 (@On3) June 15, 2026
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Topping the list was the obvious choice, Georgia’s Kirby Smart. He’s the longest tenured head coach in the conference and has multiple national titles. Behind him and ahead of Heupel are Texas’ Steve Sarkisian, LSU’s Lane Kiffin, Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer and Texas A&M’s Mike Elko.
Then, behind Heupel are Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz, Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea, Oklahoma’s Brent Venables, Florida’s Jon Sumrall, South Carolina’s Shane Beamer, Ole Miss’ Pete Golding, Auburn’s Alex Golesh, Mississippi State’s Jeff Lebby, Arkansas’ Ryan Silverfield and Kentucky’s Will Stein.
Heupel enters this season with a 45-20 record at Tennessee and a 24-16 mark in SEC play. Including his three years at Central Florida, his overall head coaching record is at 73-28.
