LSU’s coaching staff has zeroed in on 3 candidates, and an announcement about the next head coach could come as soon as a matter of days.

The candidates are Baylor head coach Dave Aranda, Louisiana-Lafayette head coach Billy Napier and Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell, according to a report from Glenn Guilbeau of Outkick.

Aranda, 45, appears to be in the lead as he has quickly turned around the Baylor program. The Bears (9-2, 6-2 Big 12) were ranked No. 11 in the College Football Playoff rankings last week after upsetting Oklahoma, 27-14, on Nov. 13.

Aranda comes with a strong reputation. He was a very successful defensive coordinator at LSU from 2016-19 and left for Baylor after the Tigers won the national championship at the end of the 2019 season. As a coordinator at Wisconsin (2013-15), Aranda consistently had highly ranked defenses.

Napier has the Cajuns at 10-1 this season and 7-0 in the Sun Belt Conference in his fourth season. He previously coached at Arizona State, Alabama and Clemson. Campbell, 41, is in his sixth season at Iowa State, which has dropped to 6-5 and 4-4 in the Big 12 this season after a 9-3 and 8-1 season last year.