HOOVER, Ala. -- The difference between Les Miles keeping his job or not is ... what?

The administration has already drawn up sort of a template for us to go by for 2016: beat Alabama, win the SEC West and play for the conference championship for the first time in five years.

When Miles didn't do any of that last year, he came within 30 minutes of being fired. That administration decided at halftime of the regular-season finale against Texas A&M that Miles was too expensive ($15 million buyout), too popular (with the fans) and too good to can.

Having survived The Big Haircut, Miles suddenly enters his 12th season at LSU as the dean of SEC coaches.

"I think, really being called a 'dean,' I should probably get, like, a robe, right?" Miles asked reporters Thursday at the 2016 SEC Media Days. "And maybe a hat that maybe sits to the side."

The previous king of SEC coaches is not dead, but Steve Spurrier is retired. Long live the Mad Hatter?

The man who is No. 1 in SEC seniority also finds himself also No. 1 in at least one set of hot seat rankings.

"I feel so bad for him," LSU cornerback Tre White said. "I felt like I failed him as a player. We know how much work Coach Miles puts into it."

White was speaking only of the 30-16 loss to Alabama last November. Miles' job security suddenly became an issue after he lost to the Tide for a fifth year in a row. That game kick-started a three-game losing streak, LSU's longest since 1999.

It may be the first time a coach with a top-five ranked team and a .778 winning percentage returning the nation's leading rusher has to defend his continued employment.

Such is life in the SEC.

"Everyone says it's the most [talent] that has ever come back to LSU," Leonard Fournette said.

Or close to it.

Fournette fell 47 rushing yards of 2,000 last season. The secondary is so good, it has a running feud with its Florida counterparts over who owns the label, "DBU" (Defensive Back University).

Miles ignored the chatter and signed a top-five recruiting class, per the 247Sports Composite, supplementing a roster stacked with 18 starters returning from a 9-3 season.

In a climate of anticipation and speculation, Miles begins the season as a weekly discussion point. Again, the administration has seen to it.

"I don't feel like we're playing for his job," White said.

There was no such scrutiny last season when the Tigers started 7-0 and got to No. 2 in the College Football Playoff Rankings.

Such pressure on Miles remains a mystery.

Since 2010, only three coaches nationally have been fired after seasons of at least nine wins: Ralph Friedgen (Maryland, 2010), Bo Pelini (Nebraska, 2014) and Mark Richt (Georgia, 2015).

If the standard is beating Saban, there are only three active coaches who have achieved victories over Alabama's coach in consecutive games: Ole Miss' Hugh Freeze, Cincinnati's Tommy Tuberville and Miles.

Saban opens the season 32-6 lifetime against the current SEC coaches. Four of those losses are to Miles and Freeze.

"I hated it for Les," Freeze said Thursday. "I love Les ... I know how hard it is to win consistently in this league. To see people like Mark Richt and Les Miles [criticized], we live in a society that wants results right now. They want punishment handed down right now."

As mentioned, Miles may have to get to Atlanta -- at least -- to save his job. He'll need better quarterback play to do it.

So far, junior Brandon Harris has more confidence than accuracy. He was 95th nationally in completion percentage last season (53.6 percent)

Harris told ESPN.com recently, "I feel like I have the best arm in college football, the best team in college football."

Fournette was asked what it would mean for Harris to improve modestly to becoming a 60 percent passer.

"National championship," he said.

"I have to be better than a 60 percent passer," Harris messaged to CBS Sports on Thursday. "I look to be around 67-69 percent for us to obtain those goals. Those are in reach."

Improvement may be as simple as more offensive balance. In Cam Cameron's three seasons as LSU offensive coordinator, the Tigers have run the ball 63 percent of the time.

Among Power Five schools, only Auburn, Boston College and Georgia Tech have run it more frequently.

But how do you take carries away from Fournette, who has 458 of them in his two seasons?

"We can't run the ball 100 out of 100 times. We can't pass the ball 100 out of 100 times," center Ethan Pocic said. "At the end, we'll do what we need to do to win. You need balance but to an extent."

As the king, er, coach ascended the throne, er, podium for his 12th SEC Media Days, the objectives were clear.

"We want to win the West and play in the conference championship and then go on to the playoff and win the national championship. Again," Miles said.

He may have no other choice.

An earlier version of this story omitted Mark Richt as a coach who had been fired after winning nine or more games in a season since 2009.