A combination of bad coaching hires and subpar quarterback play is the culprit for SEC's recent swoon

From 2006 to 2023, an SEC team won a staggering 13 of a possible 17 national championships during the era of both the BCS and College Football Playoff.However, the once-dominant Southeastern Conference hasn't won a championship in three years despite adding two traditional powers to its ranks (Oklahoma and Texas) and hasn't even reached the title game since Georgia won it all in January 2023.PERCEPTION IS REALITY, AND THE SEC NEEDS TO START WINNING AGAIN BEFORE IT CONTINUES TO PUFF OUT ITS CHESTMany people like to point to the advents of NIL and the transfer portal as the boogie men responsible for the SEC's downfall, but to me, it's a far more nuanced conversation than just saying "paying players is legal now, therefore the SEC sucks."While there may not be a single issue that is easily identifiable, I can think of two reasons as to why the SEC has experienced its recent CFP swoon.Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett (13) gestures to the crowd during the trophy presentation the Southeastern Conference Championship football game Saturday, Dec.3, 2022 in Atlanta.

(AP Photo/John Bazemore)First, and perhaps most importantly, the coaching hires at several top-flight SEC programs have left much to be desired.Some coaching changes were flat out downgrades from their predecessors while others, while not necessarily poor coaches in their own right, were terrible fits and never should have been considered in the first place.Let's start with the two tentpole programs of the conference since the league went to a championship game format, Alabama and Florida.Since the SEC expanded to 12 teams in 1992 and implemented the SEC Championship Game, both the Tide and Gators are first and second in league titles, with 11 and seven, respectively.When the conference was in its early stages of ascending to dominance in the late 2000s, two of the greatest coaches of their era called Tuscaloosa and Gainesville home.Nick Saban won six national championships while coaching the Crimson Tide, b...