Wisconsin is the latest Power 5 program to part with its head coach in the first half of the 2022 college football season.

The Badgers are going with defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard as interim head coach. Interim coaches are often candidates for the full-time gig, but there will be certainly a coaching search with outside candidates.

Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports shared an interesting list of candidates on Sunday, including some familiar names to SEC fans:

  • Dan Mullen (Former Florida/Mississippi State head coach)
  • Dave Aranda (Baylor)
  • Jim Leonhard (Wisconsin interim)
  • Lance Leipold (Kansas)
  • Matt Campbell (Iowa State)
  • Sean Lewis (Kent State)
  • Matt Rhule (Carolina Panthers)
  • Chris Petersen (Former Washington/Boise State head coach)

Mullen is currently a studio analyst for ESPN this year. He has no ties to the Big Ten in his coaching history. At Mississippi State (69-46) and Florida (34-15) he posted a 103-61 record over 13 seasons.

Aranda, a former LSU assistant, is in his third year as Baylor’s head coach, posting a 17-11 record with the Bears. Aranda was Wisconsin’s defensive coordinator from 2013-to-2015 before taking the same position at LSU in 2016.