All seems quiet on the defensive coordinator front for Texas A&M. It’s been about a week and very few details or updates have come out in regards to the Aggies’ search.

Last week, Kevin Sumlin addressed the search when he met with the media alongside West Virginia’s Dana Holgorsen at the Liberty Bowl press conference in Memphis.

“The time table obviously is we’d like to get somebody as quickly as possible,” Sumlin told the media. “To me, it’s not about the time, but it’s about the person.”

One of the Aggies’ perceived targets, Will Muschamp, has already taken another job with SEC West rival Auburn, but there big names still out there.

Bud Foster is one name that keeps coming up in regards to the Aggies job. Frank Beamer’s longtime defensive coordinator at Virginia Tech, Foster has never fielded a defense ranked lower than 52nd nationally in total defense. The Aggies, by comparison, have ranked 111th and 103rd in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Foster’s defenses at Virginia Tech have been 4th and 17th in those two seasons.

Foster is already the highest-paid assistant coach in the country at $1.37 million, but a closer inspection of his salary reveals a one-time bonus of $800,000 this year, due on Dec. 31, making his base salary at about $570,000. That’s about $150,000 less than what Texas A&M was paying former coordinator Mark Snyder, and many presume that Texas A&M’s athletics department will be ready to crack open the vault if they can get the right guy.

Foster has told the media that no other teams have contacted him about potential job openings, and there hasn’t been anything other than speculation linking him to Texas A&M. When there’s a high-profile position open and no one is saying much about it, rumors are bound to fly.

Other names that have floated around with varying levels of buzz are Clemson’s Brent Venables, former Southern Cal coordinator Clancy Pendergrast and Florida’s DJ Durkin, who is out of a job after the Gators hired Mississippi State’s Geoff Collins earlier this week.

An interesting point from Sumlin in his press conference last week: he didn’t say that A&M is looking for a particular style.

“I’ll say this, you’ll know what direction we’re headed in when we announce who it is,” he said at the press conference.

That leaves the door open for a variety of candidates, probably wider than many expected. With Myles Garrett, the Aggies already have a very good 4-3 defensive end. Garrett is only listed at 250 lbs., though, making you wonder if he could fit in as a 3-4 outside linebacker. It’s harder to recruit defenders to play in a 3-4, as it’s a tougher sell to get high school kids to line up as a nose tackle over center.

A&M is thriving in recruiting even without a defensive coordinator or recruiting coordinator (David Beaty, who formerly held down that role, is now the head coach at Kansas). If it hasn’t taken a toll in that regard, there’s no need for Sumlin to rush to make a hire.

As the coach said, getting the right coordinator is more important to the program than making a quick hire. If Sumlin can find the right coach to build even an average defense, Texas A&M will be a true force in the SEC West.