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Here’s a Western Division breakdown of who’s out and who’s in for the 2010 season. Auburn was the only team in the league without any turnover:

ALABAMA

Who’s out: Associate head coach/linebackers coach James Willis

Who’s in: Alabama coach Nick Saban promoted Jeremy Pruitt from director of player development to fill the vacancy left by Willis, who went to Texas Tech to be Tommy Tuberville’s defensive coordinator. Pruitt had been Alabama’s director of player development for the last three seasons and coached at Hoover High School just outside Birmingham prior to that.

ARKANSAS

Who’s out: Offensive coordinator/receivers coach Paul Petrino, assistant head coach/offensive line coach Mike Summers and defensive ends coach Kirk Botkin.

Who’s in: Garrick McGee was promoted to offensive coordinator after Paul Petrino left to take the Illinois offensive coordinator’s job. Kris Cinkovich will coach receivers after spending the last six seasons coaching receivers at UNLV. Steve Caldwell, who was out of coaching last season, will coach ends. Caldwell was on Phillip Fulmer’s staff at Tennessee for 14 seasons. Chris Klenakis will coach offensive line after coming over from Nevada.

LSU

Who’s out: Assistant head coach/running backs coach Larry Porter, receivers coach D.J. McCarthy and tight ends/recruiting coordinator Don Yanowsky.

Who’s in: Frank Wilson, who was at Tennessee last season, will coach the running backs and serve as recruiting coordinator. Billy Gonzales will coach receivers and serve as the passing game coordinator. Gonzales spent the last five seasons at Florida. Steve Ensminger, a former quarterback at LSU, will coach tight ends. He spent last season coaching high school football, but was at Auburn the six seasons prior to that and has also coached at Georgia, Clemson and Texas A&M.

MISSISSIPPI STATE

Who’s out: Defensive coordinator Carl Torbush and defensive line coach David Turner.

Who’s in: Manny Diaz will be the Bulldogs’ defensive coordinator and also coach linebackers. He was the defensive coordinator at Middle Tennessee State the previous four seasons. Chris Wilson will serve as co-defensive coordinator and coach the defensive line. He spent the last five seasons coaching the defensive line at Oklahoma.

OLE MISS

Who’s out: Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Kent Austin.

Who’s in: Dave Rader will coach quarterbacks and take over as co-offensive coordinator for Austin, who left to take the head-coaching job at Cornell. Rader was out of coaching the last three seasons, but was the offensive coordinator at Alabama under Mike Shula from 2003 to 2006. He was also the head coach at Tulsa from 1988 to 1999. Rader will share the coordinator duties with Mike Markuson, who was promoted by Houston Nutt and will also continue to coach the offensive line.

Some SEC football treats to munch on:

• Former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow defends his upcoming Super Bowl anti-abortion advertisement despite growing criticism.
• Ellis Johnson, South Carolina's assistant head coach for the defense, is about to get a raise that would take him to $700,000 per year, reports Joe Person of The State newspaper.
• Ole Miss offensive coordinator Kent Austin is leaving to take the Cornell head coaching job.
• Tennessee coach Derek Dooley has still yet to sign a memorandum of understanding, but his focus has been recruiting.
• Former Arkansas offensive guard Mitch Petrus has turned some heads during the early practices at the Senior Bowl.
• Former Alabama star Jeremiah Castille works to strengthen personal and spiritual lives as the Crimson Tide's team chaplain.
• Former Auburn defensive end Antonio Coleman gets a belated invite to the NFL combine.

Players and coaches come and go every year in the SEC.

But rarely has there been a mass exodus like the one taking place at Ole Miss on offense.

Kent Austin, the Rebels’ offensive coordinator for the last two seasons, is the latest to leave. He will reportedly be named the head coach at Cornell on Wednesday.

Suffice it to say that the Rebels will be starting over on offense next season.

Quarterback Jevan Snead gave up his senior season to enter the NFL draft, and both of the Rebels’ top offensive playmakers – Dexter McCluster and Shay Hodge – were seniors.

Go back and look at what Ole Miss’ offensive production would have looked like last season without those two guys.

The middle of the Rebels’ offensive line was also gutted. Gone are senior guards John Jerry and Reid Neely and senior center Daverin Geralds.

As Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt searches for Austin’s replacement, one of his first calls will almost certainly be to David Lee, who was Nutt’s offensive coordinator at Arkansas in 2007. Lee followed Nutt to Ole Miss as offensive coordinator, but took a job with the Miami Dolphins as quarterbacks coach soon after arriving in Oxford.

No matter who Nutt hires, this spring ought to be an interesting time around the offensive side of the field at Ole Miss.

Sophomore Nathan Stanley and redshirt freshman Raymond Cotton will battle it out for the starting quarterback job. Once junior college newcomer Randall Mackey arrives in the summer, he's one of those guys capable of lining up at several different spots – including quarterback.

The Rebels have numbers at running back and receiver. They just need to find some consistent playmakers.

Jesse Grandy and Rodney Scott showed flashes as true freshmen. Grandy was sensational at times in the return game. It’s critical that Pat Patterson take a big step, too, after a hot and cold freshman season. He has all the physical gifts to be a marquee receiver in this league if he matures.

Running back Tim Simon won’t be around in the spring after suffering a serious knee injury last season, but the Rebels could get him back in time for the start of the season. Depending on how his recovery goes, the 6-1, 213-pound Simon could be the wild card for the Rebels in their offensive backfield.

And up front, Ole Miss will be counting more than ever on Bobby Massie, who ended his freshman season as the starting right tackle.

The bottom line: The Rebels are going to look a lot different on offense in 2010.

A check of what's making headlines in the SEC:

• Ole Miss offensive coordinator Kent Austin is one of the top candidates for the Cornell head coaching job, reports David Brandt of The Jackson Clarion-Ledger.
• Defensive end Carlos Thompson, one of the top two or three prospects in the state of Mississippi, will chose this week between Mississippi State and Ole Miss.
• Ray Melick of The Birmingham News wonders if Nicki Meyer will ever get her daddy back.
• A national coalition of women's groups is urging CBS to scrap an advertisement featuring Tim Tebow during the Super Bowl which is likely to include an anti-abortion message.
• Nick Reveiz, who lost most of last season to a knee injury, is on his way back to Tennessee's lineup, writes Austin Ward of The Knoxville News-Sentinel.
• Holding onto a pair of key commitments will be what's important for Vanderbilt on signing day, writes Jeff Lockridge of The Tennessean.
• LSU's picking up the pace on Louisiana commitments, writes Scott Hotard of The Baton Rouge Advocate.

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

Making the rounds on a Friday in the SEC:

• This year's Heisman Trophy race is going to go down to the wire, writes Bryan Mullen of The Tennessean.

• Eric Berry's new role on the Tennessee defense has diminished his interception numbers and hurt his chances of breaking the NCAA record for career return yardage.

• Alabama's "Band of Brothers" has turned the Crimson Tide's defense into a fortress this season.

• Florida linebacker A.J. Jones is having a breakthrough season, writes Robbie Andreu of The Gainesville Sun.

• Special teams have been pretty special this season for LSU, writes Gary Laney of The Baton Rouge Advocate.

• Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Bianchi isn't buying that linebacker Brandon Spikes "volunteered" to sit out the entire game against Vanderbilt and smells a little P.R. spin by the Gators.

• Ellis Johnson, South Carolina's assistant head coach for the defense, doesn't like the way safety Chris Culliver handled things last week, but says it's time for people to get off his back.

• Georgia strength coach Dave Van Halanger takes issue with some of the criticism out there that the Bulldogs are a weak football team.

• Ole Miss' staff is reassessing what the Rebels are doing on offense and may end up simplifying things. They've averaged just 17.2 points in five SEC games this season.

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

Coaches typically stick up for their players, and Ole Miss offensive coordinator Kent Austin is obviously tired of hearing about all the theories on junior quarterback Jevan Snead.

Snead has thrown an SEC-high 13 interceptions, prompting several in the media and several analysts to suggest that Snead has a habit of locking in on guys.

Listen to what Austin had to say about the "locking in" theory thanks to David Brandt's blog. Brandt covers Ole Miss for The Jackson Clarion-Ledger.

"(Laughing) I'm sorry, I'm not even going to comment on that. What the flip would they know? That's F-L-I-P by the way. But I mean seriously, give me a break. What a -- that's ridiculous. They wouldn't have a clue what we're doing offensively. They couldn't come in and draw up one thing that we're doing right now and explain it. Not one thing. But I know they're analysts -- what a joke."

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

A little SEC linkage for you as we kick off the week and count down the hours to the start of another SEC media days on Wednesday:

• A night on the Bayou nets two big commitments for LSU, which is now up to 18 verbal commitments for the 2010 class.
• The man behind all of Ole Miss' offensive success is not necessarily Jevan Snead or Dexter McCluster, but offensive coordinator Kent Austin, writes David Brandt of The Jackson Clarion-Ledger.
• Tennessee will find out Wednesday if highly rated Jesse Scroggins of Lakewood, Calif., is its quarterback of the future or if the Vols have to keep looking.
• Columnist Wally Hall of The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette writes that there's a singular purpose about Bobby Petrino's second Arkansas team.
• Auburn is now up to 11 commitments, the latest from speedy in-state prospect D.J. Howard.

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

Kent Austin's first tour through the SEC as an offensive coordinator was a smashing success.

Ole Miss' offensive numbers from a year ago are proof enough, and that's not to mention the job he did in developing Jevan Snead.

Had it not been for David Lee, though, Austin would probably still be up in Canada braving the frigid winters.

When Lee left Houston Nutt to take a job on the Miami Dolphins' staff prior to the 2008 season, he told Nutt that the best man to replace him was Austin.

A former star quarterback at Ole Miss, Austin had carved out a successful playing and coaching career in the CFL, but Nutt didn't know much about him.

That's where Lee came in. He recruited Austin to Ole Miss and was his quarterbacks coach in college.

"I felt like I knew him through David Lee," Nutt said. "Kent picked up a lot of the same characteristics of David -- the work ethic, the teaching of the quarterbacks. It was a fit."

And so was Austin's offensive philosophy, which initially was a bit surprising to Nutt.

"What you didn't know, because he came from Canada, was how wide open he was," Nutt recalled. "I still wanted to have a physical attitude, a physical personality, to be able to run the ball with two backs, to keep that going with play-action, and he loved it.

"That's where it all took off, the chemistry part of it with us. I knew we could get in four wides and five wides. I knew he had all that and wanted all that. What I didn't know was how much he loved to run the ball, how much he loved play-action, how much he loved different things with the Wild Rebel, the reverses, the screens.

"It's just been a real good fit, and I'm very fortunate to have him."

Austin plans to open up the playbook even more this season, especially with Snead being a year older and a year wiser. The Rebels also feel like they have even more offensive weapons than a year ago.

"We're all anxious to see how much we can grow as an offense," Nutt said.

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

Without any further ado, let's get right to No. 3 in our countdown.

This time last year, he was an unknown quantity, a guy who'd transferred from Texas looking for a new lease on life in the SEC.

Now, he enters the 2009 season as one of the top NFL draft prospects at quarterback in the country.

Snead

No. 3: Jevan Snead, QB, Ole Miss -- What a rise it's been for Snead, who's become the kind of franchise quarterback every school covets. His 2,762 passing yards and 26 touchdowns last season were the most in a season for an Ole Miss quarterback not named Eli Manning. He has great arm strength, great poise and is always a threat to find his target no matter who's chasing him or who's hanging onto him. Very few quarterbacks in college football are as good under duress or on the move as Snead, who's always looking down the field to make a play. He also improved tremendously as his first season as a starter progressed. During the Rebels' six-game winning streak to end the season, he threw 16 touchdown passes and only three interceptions. That's after throwing 10 interceptions in his first seven games. Ole Miss offensive coordinator Kent Austin plans to broaden the offense now that Snead has been through the league one time. He's the kind of talent at quarterback that doesn't come along very often, and more importantly, the kind of talent you build championship teams around.

Here are the links to Nos. 30-26, Nos. 25-21, Nos. 20-16, Nos. 15-11, No. 10, No. 9, No. 8, No. 7, No. 6, No. 5 and No. 4.

• No. 4: Brandon Spikes, LB, Florida
• No. 5: Julio Jones, WR, Alabama
• No. 6: A.J. Green, WR, Georgia
• No. 7: Rolando McClain, LB, Alabama
• No. 8: Trevard Lindley, CB, Kentucky
• No. 9: Greg Hardy, DE, Ole Miss
• No. 10: Carlos Dunlap, DE, Florida
• No. 11: Eric Norwood, OLB, South Carolina
• No. 12: Antonio Coleman, DE, Auburn
• No. 13: Ciron Black, OT, LSU
• No. 14: Terrence Cody, NG, Alabama
• No. 15: D.J. Williams, TE, Arkansas
• No. 16: Rennie Curran, LB, Georgia
• No. 17: Joe Haden, CB, Florida
• No. 18: Michael Smith, RB, Arkansas
• No. 19: Charles Scott, RB, LSU
• No. 20: Malcolm Sheppard, DT, Arkansas
• No. 21: Brandon LaFell, WR, LSU
• No. 22: Jeffery Demps, RB/WR, Florida
• No. 23: John Jerry, OT, Ole Miss
• No. 24: Chad Jones, S, LSU
• No. 25: Geno Atkins, DT, Georgia
• No. 26: Anthony Dixon, RB, Mississippi State
• No. 27: Javier Arenas, CB/RS, Alabama
• No. 28: Micah Johnson, LB, Kentucky
• No. 29: Dexter McCluster, RB/WR, Ole Miss
• No. 30: Myron Lewis, CB, Vanderbilt

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

Finally, we get to some SEC teams in bowl games. Vanderbilt kicks it off on Wednesday afternoon against Boston College in the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl, while LSU faces Georgia Tech on Wednesday night in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. The Thursday schedule has South Carolina facing Iowa in the Outback Bowl and Georgia meeting Michigan State in the Capital One Bowl. Then on Friday, there are three games involving SEC teams. Ole Miss clashes with Texas Tech in the AT&T Cotton Bowl. Kentucky takes on East Carolina in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, and Alabama faces Utah that night in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. Here's a checklist of what to watch in those games:

1. Playing without Andre: Alabama at least has a few days to get over the shock of playing without its best player. That doesn't make it any easier once you step onto the field. Without Andre Smith, the Crimson Tide simply aren't as good offensively. He's one of the best left tackles to play in this league in a long time, and the tendency is to lean on a player of that caliber. Alabama won't be able to do that against Utah, which will undoubtedly do everything it can to take advantage of Smith's absence. The Crimson Tide will probably start by sliding junior Mike Johnson over to left tackle from left guard, with sophomore David Ross entering the starting lineup at left guard. Another option would be moving junior Drew Davis from right tackle to left tackle and inserting freshman John Michael Boswell into the rotation at right tackle. The best thing the Tide have going for them is offensive line coach Joe Pendry, who will have his guys ready up front.

2. In Julio they trust: Assuming the running game might not be quite the same without Smith, Alabama has a pretty nice Plan B to go to -- freshman receiver Julio Jones. Even before Smith's suspension became public, Utah was almost certainly going to dare Alabama to pass. Getting the ball to Jones will be more important than ever in this game. He's the guy with the big-play skills and tackle-breaking ability that can open up more things for everybody. Jones will also become a key cog in the red zone. In the past, Alabama ran right behind Smith in key situations. He was almost automatic near the goal line. The next closest thing may be one-on-one matchups with Jones, who seems to win those battles no matter who he's matched up against.

3. Getting to Harrell: Everybody knows that Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell was one of the hardest quarterbacks in the country to sack this season. He doesn't waste any time getting rid of the ball. The word is also out that Ole Miss is pretty stout in the defensive line. Peria Jerry, Greg Hardy and the boys led the SEC with 35 sacks this season. Harrell's not going to allow you to get to him repeatedly. He's too good, and Texas Tech's offense is designed to throw it quickly, which means Ole Miss' cornerbacks will be on point to make Harrell hold the ball longer than he wants to. And when Harrell does complete passes in front of the Rebels, they need to tackle well and make sure those short passes remain short gains.

4. Going back home: Nobody's more excited to be playing in the Cotton Bowl than Ole Miss sophomore quarterback Jevan Snead, who's from Stephenville, Texas, and can't wait to do his thing in front of the home folks. During the Rebels' five-game winning streak to end the season, he put it all together and threw 13 touchdown passes and only two interceptions. He simply grew up as a quarterback after admittedly trying to force too many throws earlier in the season. Props go to Ole Miss first-year offensive coordinator Kent Austin, who's the unsung hero in Snead's development. They share a special relationship, and Snead has really responded to Austin's tutelage.

5. Moreno vs. Ringer: If you like to watch good running backs, be sure you're in front of your television for the Capital One Bowl. Moreno rushed for 1,338 yards and 16 touchdowns this season for Georgia, while Ringer rushed for 1,590 yards and 21 touchdowns for Michigan State. Who's the better back? They're different kinds of players. Moreno has more burst, more moves and is a big-time breakaway threat. In the open field, few tailbacks are any better. Ringer is more of a pound-you-into-submission runner. He led the nation this season with 370 carries, which averages out to 30.8 carries per game. His strength is his durability. He just keeps coming at you. Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said of his star runner, "He's a warrior."

6. Waking from the dead: Which version of South Carolina will show up in Tampa? If it's the same team that slumbered through its last two games against Florida and Clemson in blowout losses, the Gamecocks might want to have the team bus up and running early in the fourth quarter. If it's the team that fought back to win on the road at Ole Miss and won six of its seven games during the middle portion of the schedule, then the Gamecocks have an excellent chance to win only their fifth bowl game in school history. Slowing down Iowa tailback Shonn Greene, who won the Doak Walker Award as the nation's top running back, won't be easy. But Ellis Johnson's defense was pretty stingy all season against the run and will load up the line of scrimmage to stop Greene.

7. ACC power: The SEC can't make a lot of jokes about the ACC being a basketball conference after what happened this season. The ACC was 6-4 in head-to-head matchups against the SEC, and Georgia Tech gets a chance to run its record to 3-0 against the SEC this season when it tangles with LSU in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. The Tigers have won 17 straight over ACC teams starting with a win over Duke in 1958. The Yellow Jackets, though, have not only beaten the two SEC teams they've faced this season, but they've feasted on them. In their 38-7 win over Mississippi State and 45-42 win over Georgia, they rushed for a combined 847 yards. What gives? Did they drop the Defending the Option class in the SEC?

8. One last hoorah: The LSU defense gets one final shot at redemption. Coordinators Bradley Dale Peveto and Doug Mallory are both on their way out to other jobs following this game, and former Tennessee defensive coordinator John Chavis is on his way in. This is also it for seniors Tyson Jackson, Darry Beckwith and Kirston Pittman. The Tigers haven't stopped anybody of note defensively this season, and it's been ugly at times. Most of their trouble has come against the pass. That won't be a problem against Georgia Tech, which runs the option offense as well as anybody. Just ask Georgia, which was torched for 409 rushing yards by the Yellow Jackets a month ago. The Tigers are far more talented than they've played on defense this season. Here's one final chance to prove it.

9. Nickson to get first shot: Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson hasn't said anything publicly, but most indications are that fifth-year senior Chris Nickson will get the start at quarterback against Boston College. Look for junior Mackenzi Adams to also play. Both Nickson and Adams were knocked out of the regular-season finale against Wake Forest, paving the way for redshirt freshman Larry Smith to see his most extensive time of the season. Smith led the Commodores to their only scoring drive in that game, and Johnson has suggested that he may also use Smith against the Eagles depending on the situation. Who finishes this game at quarterback for Vanderbilt is anybody's guess. Johnson will probably just go with the hot hand. The only problem is that hot hands at the quarterback position have been few and far between this season. The Commodores rank 112th nationally in passing offense.

10. Farewell for Brooks?: Nobody's trying to push Rich Brooks out the door, because he's done a terrific job in getting Kentucky's program back to respectability. But you can't help but wonder, especially if the Wildcats play well on Friday and beat East Carolina in the Liberty Bowl, if he hangs it up and hands the keys to the program to coach-in-waiting Joker Phillips. The Wildcats are making their third straight bowl appearance, the first time since 1949-51 that they've played in the postseason for three straight years. It would be a good time to walk away, and the 67-year-old Brooks could exit with the satisfaction of knowing that he leaves the program much better than he found it. A win would give the Wildcats 23 wins over the last three seasons, matching their best three-year win total since 1976-78.

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

Making the rounds in the SEC to see what else is out there:

• LSU is prepared to go the whole way in the Chick-fil-A Bowl with freshman Jordan Jefferson at quarterback.
• Blocking issues have haunted Georgia reserve tailback Caleb King, who has yet to live up to the hype.
• Alabama's investigation of offensive tackle Andre Smith for improper contact with a sports agent involved phone records and a family member, The Tuscaloosa News reports. Smith has been suspended for the Allstate Sugar Bowl, and his career at Alabama is likely over.
• Kent Austin's circuitous route back to his alma mater has paid big dividends for Ole Miss, writes Jackson Clarion-Ledger columnist Rick Cleveland.
• Will the Music City Bowl be D.J. Moore's last game in a Vanderbilt uniform?

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

He's the best young quarterback in the SEC, and his strong right arm was a big reason Ole Miss ended the season with five straight wins and now heads to the AT&T Cotton Bowl to take on Texas Tech on Jan. 2.

	Joe Murphy/Getty Images
	Jevan Snead is looking forward to his team's matchup with Texas Tech on Jan. 2.

Jevan Snead, after sitting out a year following his transfer from Texas, had a stellar debut season in the SEC. He ranks third in passing efficiency behind only Tim Tebow and Matthew Stafford and threw for 2,470 yards and 23 touchdowns.

The 6-foot-3, 215-pound sophomore had a stretch where he threw too many interceptions, but he closed the season with 13 touchdown passes and only two interceptions during the Rebels' five-game winning streak. Of his 12 interceptions, 10 came in the first seven games.

The Stephenville, Texas, product is pumped about going back home for Ole Miss' first bowl game since the 2003 season. I had a chance to catch up with Snead for a Q&A before the Rebels broke for Christmas.

What were the growing pains like for you in your first season in the SEC?

Jevan Snead: I started out all right, but I went through a spell where I was throwing too many picks. I wish I had a couple of those games back, but I feel like I grew throughout the season and did my best to learn as much as I could from each game. I think I took something from each of them.

How big a role did first-year offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Kent Austin play in your development this season?

JS: I'm extremely lucky to be coached by somebody like coach Austin. He did a great job of preparing me and teaching me the offense and making sure I really understood it. He's helped me a lot as far as my footwork and mechanics. When he showed up last spring, he talked to me about the things I needed to work on and we worked on them together. There's no doubt that he really improved my game.

(Read full post)

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

We take our daily stroll to see what others are saying and writing about SEC football:

• South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier continues to search for answers at quarterback.

• Tennessee running back Arian Foster sticks by his decision to stay for his senior season.

• First-year Ole Miss offensive coordinator Kent Austin has been a hit in Oxford.

• Arkansas' Michael Smith is likely out along with several other starters for Hogs' final game against LSU.

• The Iron Bowl is never just a game. Just ask Nick Saban.

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

The sudden firing of Auburn offensive coordinator Tony Franklin on Wednesday is a reminder of how tenuous the coaching profession can be.

It also drives home the point of how vital a good staff is to any head coach. Good assistants make a good head coach. Great assistants make a great head coach and don't usually stay assistants for very long.

Having taken the pulse of several around the league, here's my list of the 10 best offensive or defensive coordinators in the SEC. This list can change every year, every few weeks in this conference. They're listed alphabetically. I'll come back later with my list of the best position coaches in the league. Let me know who I've left off and why:

• Kent Austin, Ole Miss, offensive coordinator
• John Chavis, Tennessee, defensive coordinator
• Gary Crowton, LSU, offensive coordinato
• Bruce Fowler, Vanderbilt, defensive coordinator
• Ellis Johnson, South Carolina, defensive coordinator
• Willie Martinez, Georgia, defensive coordinator
• Jim McElwain, Alabama, offensive coordinator
• Dan Mullen, Florida, offensive coordinator
• Joker Phillips, Kentucky, offensive coordinator
• Paul Rhoads, Auburn, defensive coordinator

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

	John Sokolowski/US Presswire
	Kent Austin, former coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, is returning to his stateside football home at Ole Miss.

OXFORD, Miss. -- When Kent Austin journeyed to Saskatchewan, Canada 21 years ago to begin his CFL playing career, they kidded him about his Southern accent.

When he returned to his alma mater earlier this year to take on the offensive coordinator duties at Ole Miss, they kidded him about his Canadian accent.

"I've heard it both ways," Austin joked.

Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt hasn't really noticed. He's just thrilled to have the former Ole Miss great on his staff.

"Kent's brought a lot of good ideas to us in the passing game," Nutt said. "The connection was (former Arkansas offensive coordinator) David Lee, who I've worked with for a long time. David had recruited Kent and knew him very, very well. That's when I started looking at him from afar.

"To me, the very unique quarterback coach is one who truly tries to help somebody fundamentally. A lot of coordinators ... what they all try to do is get up on the board and put up as many plays as they can. Kent is a teacher first and fundamentally very sound and also has the expertise when it comes to strategy and X's and O's."

Austin, who ranks among Ole Miss' all-time passing leaders, had spent his entire professional playing career and all of his coaching career in Canada until he got the call from Nutt.

At that point, Austin had pretty well decided that Canada was where he'd finish his career. He'd won Grey Cups as a player, assistant coach and head coach. And as a rookie head coach for Saskatchewan last season, Austin was named CFL Coach of the Year after leading the Roughriders to the Grey Cup championship.

But the combination of coming home and coaching under Nutt was too hard to turn down.

"It wasn't just that it was my alma mater," said Austin, who was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2000. "If it wasn't for the fact that Houston was here, I don't know if I would have come back. I was a head coach at the time. And for me to leave and take a coordinator's job, it was going to have to be somebody that embodies all the qualities that Houston embodies for me to come work for him.

"He's a winner, an outstanding coach, and more importantly, an outstanding human being."

One of the more intriguing storylines this season for the Rebels will be how well Nutt's run-oriented offense marries with Austin's pass-heavy style.

"It will be a hybrid of his run and play-action stuff and my drop-back stuff," Austin said. "You're going to see multiple formations, multiple personnel groupings and a lot of movement. We're not just going to be in shotgun all the time, and we'll spread the ball around. We'll go from two tight ends, to no tight ends all the way up to five receivers.

"How much we can absorb as an offense will determine how deep we go into the different formations and personnel groupings. I believe in variety."

It's no secret that the CFL game is markedly different from American football and features different nuances, from the longer fields, to 12 players rather than 11 and three downs rather than four.

If anything, Austin thinks the adjustment from the CFL game will only help him.

"I come from a league that's very creative and rewards creativity," Austin said. "It's not easy getting first downs in the CFL in three-down football. You don't have a throw-away down, and that forces you to re-think the game and forces you to focus on being efficient on every down and distance.

"If you're consistently in second-and-long, you're probably in for a long day in the CFL. You have no choice but to create a passing game that's very efficient."

Austin has been pleased with the Rebels' play-making ability at receiver. Mike Wallace is a proven deep threat, and Austin said Dexter McCluster will line up all over the field.

"But in the SEC, you've still got to be able to run the football," Austin said. "Whether we're pass-blocking or run-blocking, we've got to be able to control the line of scrimmage. We've got to do some things from a play-calling standpoint to help our line, but I think we've got some athletes that can go create some things in space. And I think Jevan (Snead) will flourish in that environment because of his ability to get rid of the ball so quickly and the fact that he's very accurate."

It's still a bit surreal for Austin that he's back at Ole Miss after last quarterbacking the Rebels during the 1985 season. He admits that never in his wildest dreams did he expect Nutt to call. In fact, he and his family were on vacation in California when Nutt did call.

And it wasn't like Austin's phone had been ringing off the hook to come back and coach in the United States -- despite all of his success in the CFL.

"You're sort of out of sight, out of mind up there, which is really unfortunate because there are a lot of good coaches in Canada," Austin said. "It's really a profession of who you know and who you trust. When you get away from that network, it's hard to stay plugged in."

Then again, there's probably only one call Austin could have received from a college football program and been genuinely interested.

He got that call.

"I believe that doors open and close for a reason," Austin said. "When a door closes, you're supposed to find out why. And when a door opens, you're supposed to find out why.

"I'm glad this door opened."