Nick Saban didn't want to talk about the finished product after No. 1 Alabama annihilated Ole Miss 66-3 on Saturday.
Through two weeks, Alabama has outscored two SEC opponents by a score of 125-3 and is the front runner barreling toward a fourth straight SEC championship and berth in the College Football Playoff.
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"I really don't care how many points we've scored in the last four games. I only care about how many points we score in the next game," Saban said via al.com. "I don't have any feeling about how many points we've scored in four games, or five games or however many SEC games we've played. I'm really worried about how many we score in our next game and how we stop the next team we play. That's the focus, on what we need to dominate next."
Mercy, as in none.
That statement doesn't take long to unpack. Saban doesn't care about points, has no feelings and is worried about the next conquest. For the rest of the SEC coaches, there's constant uncertainty about job security.
Saban is a coach- and program-destroyer. He has done that on multiple occasions. Alabama indirectly — and in some cases directly — will affect the next round of firings and hirings within in the SEC. Just look at the current composition of the conference.
The "safest" coaches are former Saban assistants in Florida's Jim McElwain, Georgia's Kirby Smart and South Carolina's Will Muschamp. They will be on the sideline for those schools in 2018.
Vanderbilt's Derek Mason and Ole Miss' Matt Luke just felt that 125-3 buzzsaw. Mason is a hot candidate to move to a bigger job, and Ole Miss likely will come open. Missouri's Barry Odom and Kentucky's Mark Stoops avoid Alabama this year, but neither is a serious threat to the throne. They are probably safe.
That leaves the six SEC coaches left on Alabama's schedule, a six-pack hot seat rotation that includes (in order) Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin, Arkansas' Bret Bielema, Tennessee's Butch Jones, LSU's Ed Orgeron, Mississippi State's Dan Mullen and Auburn's Gus Malzahn. Those schools combined for an 18-10 record in September.
Malzahn and Mullen aren't on the hot seat, but that could change through October. Auburn could just as easily lose to LSU, Georgia and Alabama in the second half of the season. Mississippi State, a preseason sleeper pick, lost the last two games by a combined score of 80-13.
Sumlin watched the Aggies blow a 44-10 lead to UCLA. Jones lost to Florida on a Hail Mary before getting blown out by Georgia 41-0. Bielema lost two September games. Orgeron lost to Troy.
All four of those coaches are on the hot seat, and they just happen to be the next four coaches on Alabama's schedule.
Mercy, as in none.
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These SEC schools are going to face a hard choice, and it's not an easy one when you consider the amount of money on some of the buyouts. Do you fire these coaches and hire a replacement in a landscape that lacks home run candidates? What if Chip Kelly says no? What if the coach you're targeting chooses another conference — like Tom Herman did by picking Texas over LSU last year?
The other options involve the waiting game. Wait another year for a more suitable replacement. Wait and see if another Saban disciple is worth it. And wait, of course, for Saban to retire. He can't coach forever. Can he?
Until he leaves the SEC in peace (or pieces), the landscape of the conference isn't changing. Alabama is dominating opponents one at a time, and the grip appears to somehow be getting tighter with each passing victory. Saban says he has no feelings, but this team is playing angry, violent, bitter and better than ever.
That's the grim reality heading into October for SEC coaches and teams. Alabama will have a wide-ranging impact on those six programs left on the schedule. Perhaps one does the impossible and knocks off the Tide, but more than likely will be adding points to that absurd 125-3 total.
Saban isn't stopping. He's thinking about what he's going to dominate next.
The rest of the SEC better read his statement again. Remember that before firing these coaches: The next one will have the same problem. It's a tough question to answer and an even more excruciating waiting game. The product, however, is the same:
Mercy, as in none.
