Four SEC football coaches were fired last season amid a pandemic that ate away at athletic department earnings.
That came after preseason speculation that coach firings would reduce during the pandemic as universities looked to avoid paying costly buyouts.
So much for that idea.
Auburn owed Gus Malzahn a $21.45 million after its December firing of a coach who has never had a losing season.
The year before that, four other coaches were fired.
On this edition of "SEC Football Unfiltered," hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams of the USA TODAY Network examine the SEC's four first-year coaches – Auburn's Bryan Harsin, South Carolina's Shane Beamer, Tennessee's Josh Heupel and Vanderbilt's Clark Lea – and debate which will be fired first.