Week 13 is over and the coaching carousel is spinning again. Western Kentucky was one of multiple schools to fire its head coach, Mike Sanford, on Sunday.

According to WKU Insider, the early list of candidates is heavy with SEC connections. Former Tennessee head coach and current Alabama analyst Butch Jones, Arizona Hotshots (AAFL) offensive coordinator and former Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze and current Tennessee offensive coordinator Tyson Helton are among the current candidates.

For Freeze and Jones, WKU has shown it can be a good bounce back spot. Bobby Petrino was WKU’s head coach after his scandalous exit from Arkansas. He left WKU for a second stint with the Louisville Cardinals, another tenure that ended in scandal and disappointment on the field.

Helton, who was rumored to be potentially out as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator, could see it as a good opportunity to climb the coaching ranks. Willie Taggart coached at WKU before going to USF and later Power 5 jobs (Oregon, Florida State).