The first college football coach of the season has finally been fired. Mike Locksley is out at MarThe first college football coach of the season has finally been fired. Mike Locksley is out at Maryland, and that means the college football coaching carousel is officially underway.

The Terrapins won’t be the only program searching for a new head coach. More jobs will open in the coming weeks, and athletic directors nationwide will scramble to find the right fit. Before things ramp up, let’s look at five candidates who could be on the table for any of these openings.

The rising head coaches who have earned a bigger job

First up is Wake Forest’s Jake Dickert. After a season and a half with the Demon Deacons, he owns a 14-5 record. Wake Forest is ranked and looks like the second-best team in the ACC. Its only loss this season came against Miami early in the year 33-20.

Wake Forest has the makings of a team that could do some damage down the stretch. If that happens, Dickert will be at the forefront of a lot of conversations. A coach who wins at a program like Wake Forest is exactly the kind of hire bigger schools love.

Also, keep an eye on New Mexico’s Jason Eck. He is 40-18 in his head coaching career across stops at Idaho and New Mexico. Neither program has been competitive recently, which makes his record even more impressive.

Additionally, Eck is a former Wisconsin offensive lineman. That background will surely draw a lot of attention if any Big Ten jobs open up. Programs in that conference value coaches who understand the league’s physical identity, and there’s no doubt that Eck checks that box.

Indiana’s coordinators are the hottest names in the country

Both Bryant Haines and Mike Shanahan, Indiana’s coordinators, will be brought up for so many openings. It’s the same situation we saw with Tosh Lupoi and Will Stein at Oregon a season ago.

Haines and Shanahan were crucial to the Hoosiers’ national championship run last season. They’re two of the best coordinators in the country, and their time to lead a program is coming. Haines won the Broyles Award, which goes to the nation’s top assistant coach. Given how Indiana is playing, both coordinators will likely be in the mix again.

Of course, the challenge in hiring a coordinator is projecting how he’ll handle the jump to the top job. However, the track record at Indiana speaks for itself. Any program that lands one of these two will be getting someone who has been part of building a champion from the ground up.

Brian Kelly is the wild card

Lastly, nobody can forget about Brian Kelly. The former LSU and Notre Dame head coach has one of the most accomplished resumes on the market.

I don’t know if Kelly is going to take a big job. That said, he could take a different path and go the Dan Mullen route. Mullen took a step down from the Power Four level to rebuild his career, and Kelly could follow a similar blueprint. A smaller program with less pressure might be the perfect landing spot for a coach with his experience.