The last time the SEC had potentially this much of a shakeup in its coaching ranks, there were only 48 states and Bear Bryant and Bob Neyland were prominently involved.
The year was 1946 and America was coming off World War II. Six schools in the 12-team SEC had new coaches that fall.
Bryant had taken over the Kentucky program after a year at Maryland. Neyland, a brigadier general, had retired from the U.S. Army for a second time to begin his third (and final) stint at Tennessee.
Also new to the league were coaches at Florida (Raymond Wolf), Ole Miss (Red Drew), Vanderbilt (Henry Sanders) and Tulane (Henry Frnka). Sanders was in his second stint as Commodores head coach, after a number of years as the school's athletic director.
Since that season 71 years ago, the most new coaches we've seen in the SEC in a given year is four. It happened in 1962, 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2016.
It appears, though, that we might be on pace to challenge (and perhaps surpass) 1946 for all-time turnover in the SEC. Two schools (Florida and Ole Miss) have already made coaching changes, and up to five more might do as well.
ESPN's Booger McFarland said Monday that Tennessee's Butch Jones, Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin and Arkansas' Bret Bielema are all but gone, and I tend to agree with him. So that's five coaching changes.
This might be the year that Mississippi State's Dan Mullen finally leaves for another job. He's been prominently mentioned for the opening at Florida, as well as some others that might become available.
So that would be six. So who's the seventh?
How about Auburn's Gus Malzahn? Things are going fairly well for Malzahn now, but should the Tigers lose to both Georgia and Alabama for the fourth straight year, the heat would be turned up.
With Jay Jacobs set to retire in the spring, Malzahn no longer has the protection of the AD who hired him. McFarland speculated that Malzahn could leave Auburn for Arkansas (his home state school) should Bielema be fired. It's certainly a situation that bears watching.
Right now, it appears that only Alabama's Nick Saban, Georgia's Kirby Smart, South Carolina's Will Muschamp and LSU's Ed Orgeron are virtual locks to be back at their schools next season. Things are also looking good for Missouri's Barry Odom, and Vanderbilt's Derek Mason is not yet on the hot seat (though that could change).
So what's your number for SEC coaching changes before the 2018 season? I'll take your questions and comments on that or anything else on your mind beginning at 10 a.m.