The search for a new football coach at a reasonably successful SEC program usually fosters both high hopes and high anxiety.

The anxiety might be even higher at Alabama, which, despite all its practice, keeps hiring the wrong Mike. But just because Mike DuBose, Mike Price and Mike Shula didn't work out, Alabama fans have plenty of reasons to believe their next coach will be an improvement.

And I'm not writing that just because the recently dismissed Shula was one of the worst hires in SEC history. In fact, the recent track record indicates the SEC's top eight programs -- and that still includes Alabama -- improve when they fire one coach and hire another.

Usually, when a coach is fired, that means the program is faltering, so the next guy can't help but improve it. But the improvement goes beyond that.

Take Arkansas for the first example. In 1997, it fired Danny Ford, who went 26-30-1. It replaced him with Houston Nutt, who is 67-43 and has won three West Division championships.

Georgia is an even better example. It fired Ray Goff (46-34-1) after the 1995 season and replaced him with Jim Donnan (40-19). The Bulldogs improved again when they fired Donnan and hired Mark Richt, who is 60-17 and hasn't won fewer than eight games in any of his six seasons.

Twice, the Bulldogs fired winning coaches. And twice, they won even more.

Tennessee can relate to that. Its program was in great shape when it fired longtime coach Johnny Majors during the 1992 season. But from 1995 through 1998 under coach Phillip Fulmer, the program soared even higher. The Vols went 46-5 in that four-year stretch and won a national title in 1998.

Florida and LSU have improved their programs dramatically by firing coaches.

Florida's firing of Galen Hall led to the hiring of Steve Spurrier, who quickly turned the Gators into the SEC's marquee program.

Two years ago, Florida hired Ron Zook, who was 23-14 after three seasons. His replacement was Urban Meyer, who is 21-4 after two seasons.

LSU fired Curley Hallman (16-28) after the 1994 season. It replaced him with Gerry DiNardo (32-24-1), who was fired in 1999. His replacement, Nick Saban, went 48-16 and won a national championship before he took a head-coaching job with the Miami Dolphins.

Auburn also improved drastically by firing Doug Barfield in 1980. Barfield was only four games over .500 in four years. His successor, Pat Dye, was 99-39-4 and won three SEC championships.

Dye resigned under fire after the 1992 season. But for discussion purposes, let's call that a firing.

He was replaced by Terry Bowden, who won his first 20 games while the program was on NCAA probation. When Bowden was forced out in 1998, he was 47-17-1 with a slightly higher winning percentage than Dye.

His firing led to the hiring of Tommy Tuberville, who led the Tigers to a 13-0 season in 2004. Just as importantly, Tuberville has beaten Alabama five consecutive times.

South Carolina fired Brad Scott (23-32-1) after the 1998 season and hired Lou Holtz (33-37), whose record was skewed by an 0-11 first season.

Even Alabama has improved by firing coaches.

Gene Stallings, who won a national championship in 1992, was an improvement over Bill Curry. Although he only stayed two years, Dennis Franchione (17-8) was an upgrade over Mike DuBose, who went 24-23 and put the Tide on NCAA probation.

And whoever Alabama hires next will be an improvement over Shula.