Auburn fired Gene Chizik on Sunday, making it four coaching openings in the SEC. Meanwhile, a man that many people had buried last year, Mark Richt, prepares to lead Georgia into the SEC championship game for a second straight year.

Richt will always have his critics, at least until he finally wins a national championship. But stability continues to be the hallmark at Georgia: In the 12 years since it hired Richt, the rest of the (pre-expansion) SEC schools have churned through a combined 33 coaches, not counting the four new ones to be hired, or interim coaches:

ALABAMA (3)
Dennis Franchione (2001-02)
Mike shula (2003-2006)
Nick Saban (2007-present)

ARKANSAS (3)
Houston Nutt (1998-2007)
Bobby Petrino (2008-2011)
John L. Smith (2012)

AUBURN (2)
Tommy Tuberville (1999-2008)
Gene Chizik (2009-2012)

FLORIDA (4)
Steve Spurrier (1990-2001)
Ron Zook (2002-2004)
Urban Meyer (2005-2010)
Will Muschamp (2011-present)

KENTUCKY (3)
Guy Morriss (2001-2002)
Rich Brooks (2003-2009)
Joker Phillips (2010-2012)

LSU (2)
Nick Saban (2000-2004)
Les Miles (2005-present)

OLE MISS (4)
David Cutcliff (1998-2004)
Ed Orgeron (2005-07)
Houston Nutt (2008-2011)
Hugh Freeze (2012-present)

MISSISSIPPI STATE (3)
Jackie Sherrill (1991-2003)
Sylvester Croom (2004-2008)
Dan Mullen (2009-present)

SOUTH CAROLINA (2)
Lou Holtz (1999-2004)
Steve Spurrier (2005-present)

TENNESSEE (3)
Phillip Fulmer (1992-2008)
Lane Kiffin (2009)
Derek Dooley (2010-2012)

VANDERBILT (4)
Woody Widenhofer (1997-2001)
Bobby Johnson (2002-2009)
Robbie Caldwell (2010)
James Franklin (2011-present)

If you included Missouri and Texas A&M, it would be 38 coaches since 2001: Missouri's Gary Pinkel, hired at the same time as Richt, would match Richt's longevity in one place. Texas A&M is on its fourth coach since 2001.

Obviously, what programs like Auburn, Florida, Alabama and LSU have over the past 12 years is a BCS title. Unlike Georgia.

Even so, Richt has consistency and stability: In fact during his 12 years Richt has had only three defensive coordinators (VanGorder, Martinez and Grantham), two offensive coordinators (himself, Bobo), and one special teams coordinator (Mr. Nobody).