Even though Texas has not yet fired Tom Herman, UT is reportedly pursuing Urban Meyer as the next head coach of the Longhorns. So what happens if Texas is unable to bring Meyer out of retirement? The Horns reportedly have two underwhelming candidates as fall-back options.

“If Meyer isn’t interested, look for the pecking order to start with Penn State’s James Franklin with Oregon’s Mario Cristobal next in line,” Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports reports.

College football fans everywhere will be interested to see how the Texas coaching drama plays out. One imagines that Franklin and Cristobal would be significant letdowns for Horns fans if Meyer turns them down.

According to John Brice of FootballScoop, both University of Texas president Jay Hartzell and athletics director Chris Del Conte flew to meet with Meyer in person this week. According to Brice, Meyer spent time in Los Angeles and Napa Valley during the week after his weekend work as a FOX college football analyst.

“They’re doing everything they can do to convince him,” Brice quoted a source with direct knowledge of the talks between Texas and Meyer.

Franklin’s Penn State Nittany Lions are just 1-5 this season. The former Vanderbilt head coach is 81-43 in nine-plus seasons as a head coach, leading Penn State to an 11-2 record last season.

Cristobal is 51-55 overall as a head coach, but 24-8 as Oregon’s head coach over the last two-plus seasons. The Ducks are 3-1 this season after a 12-2 Rose Bowl-winning season last year. Cristobal got his coaching start at FIU, where he went 27-47 and was fired after a 3-9 season in 2012. In between FIU and going to Oregon, Cristobal was on Nick Saban’s Alabama staff from 2013-16.