Four New Coaches Set to Make SEC Debuts This Weekend

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SEC football is finally kicking off this weekend! This means that we're getting a much fuller college football slate on Saturday after two weeks of games that for the most part you really had to talk/gamble yourself into having any reason to watch. There are four new coaches in the SEC this season -- here are the cliff notes on them and the schedule of their first matchups:

Sam Pittman - Arkansas

Pittman is a coaching lifer who is getting his first opportunity as a head coach; he's been an offensive line assistant since 1984, coaching in high school and eventually working his way up through community colleges, Northern Illinois, Cincinnati, Oklahoma, Western Michigan, Missouri, Kansas, back to Northern Illinois, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Georgia.

Arkansas plays Georgia on Saturday at 4pm ET on SEC Network.

Eli Drinkwitz - Missouri

Drinkwitz is on the other side of the spectrum from Pittman, where he is just 37 years old and has had a pretty fast rise through the coaching ranks. He was head coach of Appalachian State last year, following stints as an offensive coordinator at Boise State and NC State. He got his start in college coaching in the SEC, spending two seasons in quality control with Auburn from 2010-11.

Mizzou plays Alabama Saturday at 7:00 pm ET on ESPN.

Mike Leach - Mississippi State 

You don't really need an introduction for Leach. He spent a decade at Texas Tech and most of a decade at Washington State. Wazzu was 11-2 in 2018 but 6-7 last season. Win or lose, Leach is definitely going to be interesting. If he wins in Starkville they'd build him a statue.

Mississippi State plays at LSU Saturday at 3:30 pm ET on CBS.

Lane Kiffin - Ole Miss

You're also well aware of Kiffin's path from the Raiders to Tennessee to USC to Alabama to FAU to Ole Miss. This will be a litmus test as to whether he's learned from some of his youthful hubris at past head coaching spots. Like Leach, whatever happens, he won't be boring.

Ole Miss plays Florida Saturday at noon ET on ESPN.