ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

In the realm of college coaching, familiarity often times breeds contempt.

The longest tenured coaches in the SEC, Tennessee's Phillip Fulmer and Auburn's Tommy Tuberville, are being reminded of that more than ever this season.

Fulmer is in his 17th season at Tennessee and in the fight of his coaching life. Tuberville is in his 10th season at Auburn, and there are increasing rumblings that he could be in trouble on the Plains.

No other SEC coach has been at his current school longer than eight years. Mark Richt started at Georgia in 2001.

"I've heard administrative people and even coaches say that after 10 or 12 years, maybe it is best to have someone else come in," said South Carolina's Steve Spurrier, who was at Florida for 12 seasons before leaving for the NFL.

More than anything, Spurrier wasn't enamored with fans grumbling about 10-win seasons after the Gators had won the national title in 1996. He also wanted a new coaching challenge and decided on his own terms to get out.

He admits that's not the norm any longer for coaches who've been at one place for an extended period of time.

"It can be done, but it is sort of unlikely because once you reach a level of excellence like 10 and 11-win seasons in a row and then it doesn't happen, you're going backward," Spurrier said. "And when coaches start going backward, that's when people want change."

Kentucky's Rich Brooks said there's typically very little middle ground with coaches who've been at one place for a long time.

"When you've been somewhere at least 10 years, I think there's nobody in that middle on you anymore," said Brooks, who was at Oregon for 18 years. "They either don't like you, or they like you. Usually, early in a coach's career and through the first five to seven years, there's quite a few people in the middle.

"But that middle goes away the longer you're at a school."