The never-ending story in the SEC, and I don't mean Rocky Top

At the end of the 1998 season, I was fortunate to cover my first national championship, which turned out to be Tennessee vs. Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl. I had seen the Seminoles play a couple of times before (including the Orange Bowl against Notre Dame), but it was my first experience with the Volunteers.
After Tennessee won, and I struggled to get Al Gore to answer a question, I left Sun Devil Stadium with two things on my mind:
1) If I never hear the song "Rocky Top" again, that would be fine with me (talk about overkill).
2) How much job security does a national title provide?
If you believe some of the speculation coming out of Knoxville, the answer is apparently about a decade. The vultures are clearly circling both there and Auburn, even though Phillip Fulmer and Tommy Tuberville have been incredibly successful.
Last time I checked, both had been named national coach of the year. Tennessee was in the SEC Championship game last year and Auburn has won six straight against Alabama, right?
I jokingly suggested here once before that the programs may just want to trade coaches, but what the probably need the most are new offensive coordinators.
Nevertheless, fickle fans calling for their coaches' heads might want to take a peek at the rest of the league and realize how tough it really is.
They should then be careful what they wish for.
In many ways Alabama was incredibly fortunate to land Nick Saban, who is already a huge source of angst for both schools - after years of filling the void caused by the Crimson Tide's struggles. He's beating up on them in recruiting and in just his second year has the Crimson Tide at No. 2.
That, in turn, reminds me of Charlie McClendon. LSU's all-time winningest coach, with 137 victories, was fired in part because he couldn't beat Paul W. "Bear" Bryant, who won six national championships at Alabama.
It prompted Auburn's Shug Jordan to say: "You go by that and they'll have to fire us all."
It isn't fair to compare Saban to Bryant yet, but there's no denying Saban already has the competition concerned about the future, and the Tide's two biggest rivals reeling.
"In football and life, you've got to keep proving yourself," McClendon said. "If you're looking back, you're in trouble."