5 Best Candidates to Take Oklahoma Offensive Coordinator Job

Oklahoma has fired its second co-offensive coordinator in less than a week, this time sending a pink slip to school legend Josh Heupel—who quarterbacked the Sooners to a national title in 2000—per Thayer Evans of SI.com.

Heupel confirmed the news with a letter to the fans on Twitter.

Heupel joins Jay Norvell as collateral damage after an 8-5 season that ended in ugly fashion against Clemson in the Russell Athletic Bowl. The Tigers beat OU 40-6 in front of a national audience and sent the Sooners spiraling into an offensive identity crisis.

Head coach Bob Stoops has lost some luster this past half-decade, and the failure to maximize what appeared to be a talented roster in 2014 has led to anxiousness down in Norman.

Where might the head coach look to replace Heupel and Norvell?

Here are five names to keep an eye on.

OC Doug Meacham, TCU

The No. 1 name on Oklahoma's list should be—and probably is—TCU co-offensive coordinator Doug Meacham.

A Broyles Award finalist in 2014, Meacham helped the Horned Frogs turn around their program and finish No. 3 in the country in scoring offense (46.3 points per game) and No. 5 in total offense (533 yards per game). He and Sonnie Cumbie brought a fresh, innovate spread system to Fort Worth and needed less than one year to install it.

Before that, Meacham spent one year as the offensive coordinator at Houston and eight years as the tight ends coach/passing game coordinator at Oklahoma State, so he knows the Sooners' recruiting territory well. He is the perfect hire for a(nother) reeling offense that needs a new direction.

But can the Sooners lure him away from TCU?

OC Mark Mangino, Iowa State

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Mark Mangino was Oklahoma's offensive coordinator when it won the national title (with Josh Heupel at quarterback) in 2000. He won the Broyles Award as the top assistant coach in the country and left one year later to become the head coach at Kansas.

After a mostly successful run in Lawrence—one that included a Big 12 Coach of the Year Award in 2007—he was fired in 2009 amid concerns about his treatment of players. But he returned to the FBS coaching ranks as the offensive coordinator at Iowa State this season, and there didn't seem to be any problems with his decorum.

Stoops is familiar and comfortable with Mangino, who has proved, unlike Heupel, that he can execute a game plan with consistency. Stoops even admitted he considered bringing Mangino back to Norman before the 2013 season, saying: "Between he and I, there was thought of it," per Eric Birch of The Des Moines Register.

He's a risk because of all the off-field stuff, and he's not a young up-and-comer like some of the other names on this list, but Mangino would give the Sooners an air of nostalgia and continuity.

Plus, you know, a pretty great offensive mind.

OC Lincoln Riley, East Carolina

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Lincoln Riley has been mentioned for a few high-profile jobs, and he won't stop being mentioned until he takes one.

The 31-year-old coordinator has put East Carolina on the map these past few seasons, integrating his own brand off the Air Raid offense he learned under Mike Leach at Texas Tech.

Riley was the receivers coach who developed Michael Crabtree and Danny Amendola in Lubbock, and his current star pupil, Justin Hardy, just broke the NCAA all-time career receptions record (387) this season. He took that title from former Sooner Ryan Broyles.

In a way, that would make this kind of fitting.

OC Tyson Helton, Western Kentucky

Tyson Helton has turned into a hot commodity after the way Western Kentucky finished the season.

The Hilltoppers scored 67 points to upset Marshall and 49 points to win the Bahamas Bowl over Central Michigan. They finished the year No. 4 in the country in total offense (534.6 yards per game).

Helton plied his trade at UAB in the late aughts before becoming the tight ends coach at Cincinnati in 2013 and eventually landing the coordinator gig at WKU this season. He is the least experienced and most anonymous name on this list, but it's hard to ignore the work he did with limited talent in 2014.

He's an underdog, but he's definitely worth watching.

OC Jake Spavital, Teas A&M

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Jake Spavital is the boy-wonder offensive coordinator at Texas A&M and a disciple of some of the best offensive minds in the country.

He's spent the past two years under Kevin Sumlin in College Station. He spent the two years before that coaching quarterbacks (i.e., Geno Smith) under Dana Holgorsen at West Virginia. He spent the year before that as a graduate assistant under Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State. And his first gig was as a quality control coach under Gus Malzahn at Tulsa.

Not a bad list of mentors.

There's no doubt Spavital has soaked in enough knowledge to run his own offense. What's the harm in sending out a feeler call (or six) to his agent?