Two Tennessee Vols assistants could be head coach options for a recently opened college football job.

Luke Fickell stepped down as the Cincinnati Bearcats' head coach this past weekend to become the new head coach at Wisconsin.

Cincinnati will now look for a new head coach for the first time since late 2016.

The Athletic's Bruce Feldman named Vols offensive coordinator Alex Golesh as a potential option on Monday.

From The Athletic:

Golesh grew up in Dublin, Ohio, near Columbus, and began his career as a student assistant on Jim Tressel’s staff at Ohio State. He then helped Campbell get things rolling at Iowa State and before going to UCF with Josh Heupel. The 38-year-old, who handles play-calling duties for the Vols, had a key role in the prorgam going from No. 102 in total offense to No. 7 in 2021 to No. 1 this year. The Broyles Award finalist is another prime candidate.

The feeling is that Golesh will be a head coach sooner rather than later. But I'm not sure if he's ready to jump headfirst into a job now or if he'll follow the Kirby Smart path and wait for the right job to open up while gaining as much SEC experience as possible (many promising coaching careers have been ruined because assistants tried to climb the ladder too fast).

Vols defensive coordinator Tim Banks is a name that isn't gaining as much steam in this young coaching search, but I wouldn't be surprised if his name is tossed out there at some point as well.

Banks' defense at Tennessee struggled at times this season, but that was mostly due to the personnel he had to work with (outside of the South Carolina game…I didn't think Banks had a great plan in that game).

One thing to remember about coaching searches is that a great coordinator doesn't always equate to a great head coach.

Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, for example, didn't have much luck as the Houston Texans' defensive coordinator before taking over in Nashville. Vrabel has since become one of the top head coaches in the NFL.

Banks is a well thought of coach and he was the defensive coordinator at Cincinnati from 2010 to 2011 before leaving for the same job at Illinois. He has familiarity with the program and the area (he also recruited Ohio when he was the co-defensive coordinator at Penn State), and he has plenty of experience.

If Banks becomes a realistic option, he might pursue the job more aggressively than Golesh. Banks is 12 years older than Golesh and could feel like time is running out on his chance to become a head coach.

Featured image via George Walker IV / Tennessean.com / USA TODAY NETWORK