Sports

SEC Coaches Talk Anonymously About Conference Foes for 2026

By Athlon Sports Athlon Sports

Updated May 18, 2026 2:02 PM

It's not easy getting college football coaches to honestly comment on another coach, player or team. Most coaches don't want to give opposing teams bulletin board material, which is why there is a lot of coach speak or overused cliches used during the year.

In order to get an accurate assessment of teams heading into 2026, Athlon asked coaches in the SEC to talk anonymously about their opponents.

Note: These scouting reports come directly from coaching staffs and do not necessarily reflect the views of Athlon's editorial staff.

[Editor's note: This article is from Athlon Sports' 2026 College Football Preview print magazine. Order your copy today online, or pick one up at retail racks and newsstands nationwide.]

"With whoever was going to follow Nick Saban, there was going to be a measuring stick on the toughness or the softness of the program. The run-game statistics do not vouch for toughness. They have to fix that. Losing [QB Ty Simpson] doesn't help that. The top two running backs are gone, three of the top offensive linemen are gone and [WR] Germie Bernard was a special player. Losing all of them doesn't allow people to play you honest so that you can run the ball. People are going to be able to play two-high safeties, create multiple looks and create issues for them."

"Double-digit [point] losses were never a thing [under Saban]. Now, they're a thing. That creates concern, talking points and narratives, which is tough to deal with because the players see it."

"They're not considered a sleeping giant. Ryan Silverfield is a great coach who might have taken the wrong Power 4 job at the wrong time."

"If you look at their SEC schedule, the nine teams that they have to play are pretty daunting, and then you add Utah. That doesn't set up for Year 1 success. In this day and age, if you don't have Year 1 success, narratives get forced upon you that you've gotta find a way to shake."

"[Silverfield] has always had excellent offenses. They put a lot on their quarterback to make checks and reads. He's very calm on game day, and very, very bright. He understands the ending of games and how to handle those situations with timeouts."

"Honestly, [Alex Golesh] is a pretty good fit. You see him paired with [defensive coordinator] DJ [Durkin], and he's a grinder. I see how the system could be attractive. You bring your quarterback with you, and there's not a big learning curve there. I could see them having success."

"They were really good on defense last year. They were the best defense that we saw. You add some offense with it, and they can be pretty good. I sense that there's gonna be a mentality to be who they are and not conform to the past and how things have been run there."

"Teams that play them early, there's gonna be a surprise with how efficient they are with the guys that have been in that system."

"[Jon Sumrall] has hired extremely well. It feels like they've really opened up the checkbook."

"The question marks would still be along the offensive line and quarterback. They got [Aaron Philo] from Georgia Tech, who knows the system, but in this league, it's about making critical throws on third down and in the red zone, and that's yet to be seen. "

"Hiring [offensive coordinator] Buster Faulkner was a home-run move. Then getting Philo to come with him, and getting [Auburn wide receiver transfer] Eric Singleton, too."

"Faulkner can coach offensive football. It is such a departure from what anybody in the SEC does offensively, and they're gonna have a couple games where they have an advantage because everything is so new schematically."

"Do they still have the depth that they had in 2020? I think the answer to that is ‘no.' Those backups or third-string guys are playing for Missouri or Georgia Tech. I don't know that their process is the same. I don't know that their depth is the same. Are those elite programs getting better? Probably not. They have a thinner margin for error."

"They'll look really similar to how they looked this past year. I think they'll be a playoff team, but I don't know that they're an elite SEC team like the ones you saw in the early 2020s. What they seek to be offensively is ‘Don't blow the game. Let's run the ball. Let's let the quarterback get in the rhythm.'

"Their confidence in [QB Gunner Stockton] throwing the ball will determine how aggressive they are."

"With the talent base that [new head coach Will Stein] inherited, the only thing I wonder about is the fact that he had more talent than everybody else at Oregon for most of the games. It'll be interesting to see him going from one of the haves to one of the have-nots and how that's going to transition while still not losing your enthusiasm, your connection with the players and all of those kinds of things."

"I haven't seen a ton of [Notre Dame QB transfer Kenny Minchey], but I've heard good things about him as an athlete and as a person. He clearly has legit talent, and those guys are hard to find."

"Any offense that Lane [Kiffin] has had, they've been unique, they've been multiple, they've been unconventional. Schematically, with [offensive coordinator] Charlie Weis Jr., I think they're gonna make people play 11-on-11 football. I could see them easily getting back to doing what LSU does. It's gonna be a four-quarter game against those guys every time you play them with the tempo and the athletes they always have."

"[LSU defensive coordinator] Blake Baker does such a great job of messing with a quarterback's eyes. He's a really big pain on third down. Ultimately, it's about what you can get your quarterback to know, and [Baker] makes it really hard on quarterbacks with what they think they see and what the reality is."

"Bringing back [defensive coordinator] Zach Arnett was a tremendous hire. Every single time his defense shows up, it's an anomaly for offenses. They don't see it week to week, and the way they run it and the aggressiveness behind it create problems. The thing they don't have there is the ability to sign two to four elite defensive tackles every year. Well, in that scheme, you just have to have one. They can have success without having to do what everybody else in the SEC has to do with a four-down front."

"[QB Kamario Taylor] is a phenom. He's athletically gifted. He can do a lot of things for them this year, not only with his arm, but also with his feet. He can keep plays alive, which turn into big plays."

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"[Ahmad Hardy] is one of the top five running backs in college football in the last decade. That kid is special."

"Hiring [offensive coordinator] Chip Lindsey was a great hire for who they are and what they're trying to build as a program."

"They've got really good receivers. Last year, I don't think they could get downfield the way that they wanted to."

"With [Ole Miss QB transfer Austin Simmons], I think they'll be much better on offense. They'll run what he wants to run. Last year, they ran more gun-run for Beau [Pribula], and Simmons isn't really a gun-run guy. They're really more of a stretch-run and get downfield with a passing tree. This year, they'll be able to do that."

"[QB John Mateer] has a ridiculously high ceiling."

"That offense has answers for everything. They don't do a ton, but everything they do complements the other thing. When he just executes and then makes splash plays here and there, they complement their elite defense very well."

"I was impressed with how [head coach] Brent [Venables] and [general manager] Jim Nagy structured the team, and it feels like they finally hit on what the recipe is to be successful there."

"Defensively, it's so many multiples. Week to week, they won't do the same pre-snap look again, so whatever you prepare for, you're not gonna get. Obviously, you want to create indecision with young quarterbacks or new quarterbacks in the system, and they do that at a really high level."

"In those three games that he coached last year, Pete Golding was Pete Golding. He was himself. He naturally transitioned into his role while staying the same dude. That's gonna be the challenge. Can he continue to rely on all the things that have made him a big-time ball coach, or is he going to try to be the anti-Lane [Kiffin]? A lot of people in Oxford want him to be the anti-Lane, but he just needs to be Pete Golding."

"[Trinidad Chambliss] is absolutely the top returning quarterback in the country. He's a winner, he's got a feel for the game, he's got presence, he looks like he's got tremendous leadership skills."

"But can that defense be improved enough to let the growth happen offensively without [former offensive coordinator] Charlie Weis Jr.?"

"I don't know that they're gonna be better. I haven't felt very good about them the last couple of years, other than that they have an elite edge rusher. But they've already got a couple of tackles hurt, which could factor into it. My guess is they'll be decent, middle of the pack."

"[QB LaNorris Sellers] is an elite athlete. He's very hot and cold. If they can protect him but allow him to show his athleticism, they can be a legitimate problem. He's one of the strongest people I've ever seen live. He's a mismatch for almost everybody. If he feels overwhelmed like he did last year, that wouldn't be good. But I think they're gonna make it easy and get the ball out of his hands, as well as some designed runs where he's taking on a DB in space or out-athleting D-linemen."

"Having the [Joey] Aguilar deal not go their way is a good thing for the SEC. They're unproven at quarterback."

"It's a pivotal year for them to succeed. I don't think they'll be better."

"Without a veteran quarterback in that system, you don't feel the same energy and excitement around that program. Every time we've faced them or versions of them, it all runs through their quarterback and how confident he is at stretching the field and how mobile he is."

"They want to run the ball. But do they have enough of a threat downfield to open up the run lanes? The last time they were extremely potent was when [former offensive coordinator Alex] Golesh was there."

"They made some bold moves. Obviously, there's a ton of money in that program, so you've gotta feel like they made moves that they felt they had to make to make their program better. What's that gonna look like after a loss or two? I don't know."

"I thought Arch [Manning] got better as the season went on. Is he what he was unfairly hyped to be? Probably not, but I think he's a good solid quarterback in this league."

"On paper, I think they're the team to beat in the SEC. They might be preseason No. 1 again."

"[Manning] is gonna be just fine. I think he did such a good job of managing it, but he was put in a tough situation. It was literally a ‘Heisman or bust' situation for a kid who hadn't played yet. But he's super talented, he does everything right, he prepares hard, he'll be just fine."

"I always thought [QB Marcel Reed] was a great athlete. Respect him, but I always judge those guys on, ‘Do they win those big games? Are they the main difference?' He's got a year under his belt, but there's gonna be more pressure on him facing the top half of the league and not have it just come down to the Texas game at the end."

"Mike Elko is a real-deal ball coach. The way they carry themselves, the way they compete, how physical they are on both sides of the line of scrimmage. They play complete team football. You watch them and you see the way they handle adversity at times throughout the season - that doesn't just happen unless you've got a culture."

"Do I think they'll be as good without Diego [Pavia]? No. Absolutely not. Do I think they'll be competitive and in there somewhere in the middle? Yes."

"That time with Diego will help them recruit at a higher level, and they'll have more sustained success than they've had, but they won't be at the same level in the next year or two without Diego. I think the injection of belief and swag that [Pavia] brought to the program can carry over. They fed off it, then it became more than just him."

[Offensive coordinator] Tim Beck does such a great job of being so fundamentally sound in what they do. There's repetitiveness of technique and play-calling, but there's multiplicity in the pre-snap looks and the pre-snap motions that makes it a complete pain."

This story was originally published May 18, 2026 at 1:48 PM.

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