What is the “Saban Effect” anyway? Get The Picture quotes it as, “Since Saban arrived at Alabama in 2007, the other 11 schools that were in the SEC at the time have had 34 different head coaches, including at least three different coaches at eight of the 11 schools.”

44 coaches have left the SEC since Saban was hired at Alabama. Does that make it true?

In 2007, when Saban started at Alabama there were 12 SEC schools, now there are 14.

Let’s take a look at the 11 SEC schools (minus Alabama) up until 2012, when Missouri and A&M came into the SEC.

Tennessee

Butch Jones: according to the athletic director John Currie, “we haven’t won enough.” The day before, Tennessee had lost to Missouri 50-17. Tennessee was in danger of missing the chance to be in a bowl game for the first time since Butch was hired.

Jim Chaney: He was Tennessee’s interim coach until Butch came along.

Derek Dooley: He only won 4 SEC games in 23 tries and his record was 15-21.

Lane Kiffin: He left for a head football coaching position at USC.

Phillip Fulmer: He was fired because of a losing streak. At the point of his firing, they had lost ¾ games and were close to losing 7 games in a season which would have made it the second time in the school’s history. He was able to finish out the season as their coach and their record was 5-6.

LSU

Les Miles: He and the offensive coordinator left together. The day before, LSU lost to Auburn and made the record 2-2. Les had an overall record of 114-34 and won a national title in 2007. But since 2013, LSU had an overall record of 15-11 against SEC teams.

MISSISSIPPI

Hugh Freeze: He resigned because there were rumors that he made calls to an escort service.

Houston Nutt: In 2010, Ole Miss winning games was a rare occurrence. In 2011, Nutt set a coaching record at Ole Miss for 12 straight SEC losses. So, Nutt was fired.

Ed Orgeron: The day before his firing, Ole Miss lost to Mississippi State 17-14 and had an overall record of 3-9. Orgeron made Ole Miss winless in the SEC for the first time since 1982.

ARKANSAS

John L. Smith: He was fired because he led Arkansas to a season of 4-8 after they had been ranked 10 and was thought to go on and win the SEC and National Title. They lost to Louisiana-Monroe and were downhill after that.

Bobby Petrino: He was fired after an affair scandal.

Reggie Herring: He was an interim.

Houston Nutt: He resigned. But, he resigned after a victory over LSU. His record that season was 8-4.

Athletic Director: Jeff Long: Apparently, fans didn’t like him because he was a “Yankee” but also because Arkansas was no longer a 10-win team.

MISSISSIPPI STATE

Sylvester Croom: He resigned. However, he had a terrible, embarrassing loss the day before to Mississippi.

GEORGIA

Mark Richt: According to Dawg Nation, the Athletic Director said Mark Richt’s leaving had nothing to do with the game from the day before (where they won) but it was a mutual decision between the athletic director and Richt.

FLORIDA

Jim McElwain: He was fired after a number of things including terrible losses and a bad record.

D.J. Durkin: He was an interim and was hired as Defensive Coordinator at Michigan.

Will Muschamp: He stepped down. “I didn’t win enough games.”

Urban Meyer: He supposedly stepped down to focus on his health and family. (He looks fine coaching at OSU now... But no one asked me.)

KENTUCKY

Joker Phillips: He was fired because the day before he had lost to Vanderbilt 49-0 and that was the 9 loss that season.

Rich Brooks: He retired from coaching college football.

AUBURN

Gene Chizik: He was fired after the Iron Bowl; however, the 3-9 record didn’t help his coaching position, after they had won a national championship the season before.

Tommy Tuberville: He was fired after losing six out of the seven last games that he coached. In the scoring offense ranking, Auburn finished 110 of 119…

SOUTH CAROLINA

Shawn Elliot: He left to take the head coaching position at Georgia State.

VANDERBILT

James Franklin: He left to be at Penn State.

Robbie Caldwell: He stepped down. The record he left was 2-10.

Bobby Johnson: He retired suddenly. "Football is not life, but it's a way of life, and it consumes your life," Johnson said. "You only have so many years to live, and you want to see a different way.”

2012

Missouri

Gary Pinkel: He resigned because of health issues. He was diagnosed with lymphoma.

TEXAS A&M

Tim DeRuyter: He left to become the interim coach at Fresno State.

Mike Sherman: He was fired after a couple losing seasons under his belt.

Gary Darnell: He was an interim coach.

Now, let’s talk about who REALLY left because of Saban.

Well, none of those were actually fired because they couldn’t “win to Saban.” Yeah, Gene Chizik was fired RIGHT after the Iron Bowl, but look at the other games before that. He wasn’t a winning coach. Yes, they might have lost to Alabama but they also lost to the other teams they played, as well, so that’s not saying much.

As you can see, Saban didn’t really cause THAT many coaches to leave. Some of them left of their own free will, others were fired at the end of the season after their losing record, and others left because of legality issues.

Sources Used:

SBnation

USAtoday

ESPN

Sports Illustrated