With the start of the college football season just a week away, let’s take a look at the Southeastern Conference. Here are the coaches under the most pressure coming into the 2016 season.

1.Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M – After posting an 11-2 debut season in College Station, Sumlin has struggled to maintain position among the conference’s elite. The Aggies have posted a record of 16-10 over the past two seasons, finishing 6th and 5th in the Western Division, respectfully. Texas A&M is coming off of a 2015 season that saw them limp to the finish line, losing its final two games to rival LSU and Music City Bowl opponent Louisville. The program has seen major changes this offseason with the departure of quarterbacks Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray and offensive coordinator Jake Spavital. In the hyper-competitive SEC West someone has to finish last, and that very well could be Texas A&M. If that happens, Sumlin will find himself like his former star pupil, unemployed.

2.Gus Malzahn, Auburn – Similar to Sumlin, Malzahn enjoyed early success, but has been unable to sustain it. Entering the 2015 season with high hopes, Auburn quickly faded. Auburn was trounced by LSU then beaten at home by Mississippi State. The preseason favorites quickly found themselves out of the SEC West race. Malzahn was unable to find a successor to Nick Marshall last season which has handicapped their offense. The “Gus Bus” has an uphill battle starting with Clemson on September 3rd. Malzahn must recapture the faith of the fan base which is not very easy with the recent success of their Iron Bowl counterparts.

3.Mark Stoops, Kentucky – It isn’t easy putting Stoops here because I know how hard it is to win at Kentucky. The fact is, he enters his fourth season and has yet to make a bowl game. The Wildcats began the 2014 season 5-1, but failed to win another game, finishing 5-7. 2015 was much of the same with Kentucky starting 4-1 and ending the season 5-7 again. While Stoops has raised the profile of Kentucky football, he must take the next step and make the postseason. A tough conference schedule with road trips to Florida, Alabama, and Tennessee isn’t going to make it easy on Stoops.

4.Les Miles, LSU – After the circus surrounding his job in 2015, Les Miles comes into 2016 with high expectations. LSU returns eighteen starters including Heisman favorite Leonard Fournette. Miles went out and hired two high profile assistants to his coaching staff in defensive coordinator Dave Aranda and wide receivers coach Dameyune Craig. In addition, the Tigers pulled in one of the top recruiting classes in the country. Miles and LSU will start the season in the top five, so the pressure is on to maintain that ranking. Everyone knows about the game on November 5th. If LSU wins that game, Miles will have finally have the monkey off his back after losing five in a row to Alabama. However, a loss could lead to another rough November for Miles. Can he survive another one?