If it's all right with you, I'd like to use this article detailing the highest-paid offensive line coaches in college football to tell a story illustrating the state of play in the Southeastern Conference.
When this project began a year ago, Georgia's offensive line coach topped the list with a salary of $825,000 a year. Georgia's line coach will once again lead the list with a $900,000 salary, except those salaries will be collected by two different people.
Georgia's former O-line coach, Sam Pittman, left to become the head coach at Arkansas.
He was replaced by Matt Luke, who was formerly the head coach at Ole Miss.
The man Pittman replaced at Arkansas, Chad Morris, is now the offensive coordinator at Auburn.
The man who replaced Luke at Ole Miss, Lane Kiffin, is formerly the head coach at Tennessee and the offensive coordinator at Alabama.
Mixed among all that upheaval, former Ole Miss offensive line coach Jack Bicknell, Jr., (a $400,000 salary in 2019) left for Auburn once Luke was not retained in Oxford.
Got all that?
1. Matt Luke, Georgia -- $900,000
2. Will Friend, Tennessee -- $805,000
3. Bill Bedebaugh, Oklahoma -- $750,000
4. Justin Frye, UCLA -- $700,000
5. Eric Wolford, South Carolina -- $700,000
6. Kyle Flood, Alabama -- $650,000
6. Herb Hand, Texas -- $650,000
8. Robbie Caldwell, Clemson -- $640,000
9. Ed Warinner, Michigan -- $625,000
10. Josh Henson, Texas A&M -- $605,000
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Additional notes:
-- Joe Rudolph earns $770,000 at Wisconsin, but he's also Wisconsin's offensive coordinator. As is Louisville's Dwayne Ledford and his $650,000 salary.
-- Josh Henson earned a 41 percent raise in leaving Oklahoma State for Texas A&M. His replacement, Charlie Dickey, earns $500,000.
-- We don't yet know what Randy Clements will earn at Ole Miss, nor Phil Trautwein at Penn State. Clements made $475,000 at Florida State in 2019; Trautwein's salary at Boston College was private.
-- Brandon Jones earns $500,000 as the offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator at Houston. This makes him the highest-paid assistant in all of Group of 5.
-- Number of non-SEC/Clemson coaches on the list through three position groups: 10.