Who Could Replace Ty Willingham at Washington? Names to Be Thinking About

You can consider the coaching search on now, even if there will be no decision on Willingham until the end of the season. UW, for the record, would prefer for it to go down like that. However, I am not sure if he can survive a big loss on the road to Arizona.

The dream on category

I think the signing of Gary Pinkel or Jim Mora would excite the fan base and kick things off in the right direction. The problem is they both have a couple of pretty good jobs. Of the two, I would go with Pinkel first. The program builder always comes first in my opinion.

1. Gary Pinkel (Missouri)
2. Jim Mora Jr. (Seahawks)
3. Jeff Tedford (California)
4. Nick Saban (Alabama)
5. Mike Holmgren (Seahawks)
6. Don James (Retired)
7. Gil Dobie (Deceased)

The college head coach category

There is a pretty good chance that all the guys listed here would at least listen. A few of them, such as Hill or Holtz, wouldn't turn it down. Kelly and Patterson are two guys from outside the region that I would take a good look at.

1. Chris Petersen (Boise State)
2. Brian Kelly (Cincinnati)
3. Mike Riley (Oregon State)
4. Gary Patterson (Texas Christian)
5. Kyle Whittingham (Utah)
6. Pat Hill (Fresno State)
7. Al Golden (Temple)
8. Jim Harbaugh (Stanford)
9. Randy Edsall (UConn)
10. Todd Graham (Tulsa)
11. Skip Holtz (East Carolina)

The unemployed category

Three of these guys are looking for work and have expressed interest in coaching at UW in the past. Mariucci and Bowden are a couple of names to throw out there.

1. Lane Kiffin
2. Chan Gailey 
3. Steve Mariucci
4. Terry Bowden
5. Scott Linehan
6. Mike Tice
7. John Mackovic

The hot assistant coach category

Christensen is a guy I can see them talking to. Expect them to talk to Walker too. Either of these guys would leap at the job.

1. Dave Christensen (Missouri)
2. Bud Foster (Virginia Tech)
3. Major Applewhite (Alabama)
4. DeWayne Walker (UCLA)
5. Chip Kelly (Oregon)
6. Steve Sarkisian (USC)
7. Will Muschamp (Texas)
8. Norm Chow (UCLA)