Three SEC Coaches Named To ESPN's Hot Seat List For 2025

ESPN's Adam Rittenberg named three SEC head coaches in his "Way-too-early 2025 college football coaching hot seat tiers."

Those coaches included Auburn’s Hugh Freeze, Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer, and Oklahoma's Brent Venables. Here's some of what he had to say about each coach:

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Kalen DeBoer:
The prospect of following Nick Saban at Alabama was never going to be easy, even for a coach as gifted as DeBoer. It seemed to be a good move that Alabama looked outside the Saban sphere for his replacement, and DeBoer came to Tuscaloosa days after coaching Washington in the national title game. But DeBoer’s first season seemed to confirm fears about whether he could succeed in a different region, especially while replacing a legend.

Hugh Freeze:
Freeze’s return to the SEC in late 2022 sparked widespread reaction, but few could deny he fit Auburn’s vision for improvement. Auburn’s personnel had dropped off, and Freeze had the roots and results in the deep South to turn things around. But Tigers fans are still waiting, as Freeze sits at 11-14 overall and 5-11 in SEC play. His tenure includes home losses to New Mexico State, Cal, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State and Oklahoma.

Brent Venables:
Ideally, OU would maintain its championship trajectory under a coach who wants to end his career in Norman and make Riley regret his decision. But Venables is off to a shaky start. A Sooners team that never lost more than five games under Stoops and never more than two under Riley has dropped seven twice in three years under Venables. Other than a home win against Alabama, Oklahoma’s first season in the SEC contained few bright spots.

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