Who Will the Next Texas Head Coach Be? The Tuesday Morning Hot Board

By Dustin Hawkins December 17, 2013

Mack Brown officially announced his plans to step down after the season on Saturday, but the Texas coaching search had been rolling long before that. Texas is believed to have a wishlist of NFL coaches and elite college coaches, as well as several backups in mind if their reach candidates don't work out. The athletic department has reached out to some of these individuals already, and there are a few NFL coaches that will be contacted if their team misses the playoffs and they become available in the next few weeks.

Last night's Monday Night Football game was a crucial matchup for one of these candidates, and Texas officials couldn't have been too happy when Justin Tucker nailed his 61-yard game winner. John Harbaugh is one of the top targets for the Longhorns, and now that his Ravens are back in the Wild Card matchup, he's much less likely to be available in the timeframe Texas is looking for.

As things stand, here are the five most likely candidates for the Texas job:

5. Les Miles, LSU Head Coach

It sounds like David Shaw wasn't kidding - he really isn't interested in leaving Stanford yet. Miles recruits heavily within Texas and has already been the subject of a lot of internal discussion at UT.

4. Urban Meyer, Ohio State Head Coach

A definite reach candidate given his current salary (over $4M per year) and how quickly he'd be leaving another marquee program. Still, Texas officials hold Meyer in extremely high regard, and he might be the biggest name in the college coaching world other than Nick Saban.

3. Jimbo Fisher, Florida State Head Coach

Fisher's stock is on the rise with the Seminoles in the national title game, and there have been whispers for some time that he'd be willing to listen if Texas came calling. From everything we've heard, there's definite mutual interest here.

2. Art Briles, Baylor Head Coach

A Texas guy through and through, Briles commands incredible respect in coaching circles. There are few people on the planet with a better offensive mind, and if Texas can figure out a way to deal with Briles' contract (which runs through 2023), things will heat up in a big way.

1. Gus Malzahn, Auburn Head Coach

Malzahn has done an incredible job with Auburn so far, and he's been coy enough with the media to suggest that there's something already going on here. He's already labeled Texas as his dream job, and if none of the NFL candidates pan out (which looks likely), Malzahn and Urban Meyer will be the next guys up.