SEC Unfiltered: Auburn's Bryan Harsin alone on the SEC hot seat now, but he'll have company soon

Welcome to SEC Unfiltered, the USA TODAY NETWORK's newsletter on SEC sports. Look for this newsletter in your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Today, Knoxville News Sentinel columnist Johtakes over:

Auburn coach Bryan Harsin needs company. He’s all alone on the SEC coaching hot seat this preseason.

That’s rare for a conference as competitive as this one. It’s common to have several coaches on shaky ground at the SEC Media Days, which will begin Monday in Atlanta.

Of course, you could argue that the temperature beneath Harsin is hot enough for two coaches. So what if he’s beginning only his second season at Auburn? His first ended with the Tigers in the throes of a five-game losing that left them 6-7.

That was bad enough. But Auburn compounded matters by holding Harsin up to public scrutiny, hinting strongly that one year of the former Boise State coach was one too many.

A wave of unfavorable publicity worked in Harsin’s favor, though. Just one year earlier, Auburn paid former coach Gus Malzahn $21 million to vacate the premises. Even though this program has the patience of a gnat, it couldn’t justify firing another coach so soon.

So, Harsin remains on the job, albeit with the seat blazing beneath him.

In the best of all SEC media worlds, sportswriters and broadcasters would be bandying about the possible firing of two or three more coaches. I encourage those frustrated media types to be patient. Preseason job security in the SEC is fleeting.

For example, take former Florida coach Dan Mullen, who became an SEC Media Days cliché by proudly brandishing his latest pair of sneakers every July. If he’s wearing new tennis shoes this summer, he’s not wearing them to work. He was fired last season, just a year after leading the Gators to an SEC East championship.

Nobody saw that coming at the 2021 media days when Mullen’s three-year, 29-9 record at Florida was as spiffy as his sneakers.

Could another SEC coach be headed for the hot seat by midseason? Unfortunately, I can’t answer that. If I could, that coach already would be drawing heat.

However, if one of my 17 editors demanded a hot-seat prediction, I would nominate Missouri coach Eliah Drinkwitz.

Never mind that he’s just beginning his third season with the Tigers. Or that he has upgraded Missouri’s recruiting while taking it to back-to-back bowls. His overall record is 11-12, and the upcoming schedule should raise expectations for improvement.

But what if Missouri loses a nonconference game to Kansas State and falters in the SEC against either Auburn or Vanderbilt, generally regarded as the worst teams in their respective divisions?

Then if Harsin still has a job, he could have company on the hot seat.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: SEC Unfiltered: Who will join Auburn's Bryan Harsin on the SEC hot seat?