Names on the radar

Okay Big Blue Nation, we know you’re unhappy. Joker Phillips has disappointed you and many others of the Wildcat faithful throughout his tenure as head football coach. Staying neutral in the debate — Joker offers plenty of positives to the program. For starters, we saw a glimpse of all that talented youth we keep hearing about against South Carolina. Joker has played a ton of freshmen so far, and injuries are forcing him to use even more. Twelve true freshmen have seen action this season, and of Kentucky’s 80 scholarship players, 55 are freshmen or sophomores. Kentucky has one of the youngest teams in college football. Jalen Whitlow, Dyshawn Mobley, Demarcus Sweat, A.J. Legree and Cody Quinn are just a few of the names making a statement. However, there is the whole losing a lot of games thing that has fans understandably upset. So hypothetically speaking, if a coaching change were to happen, what are some of the names that may be considered? Because it’s hard to assume a current head coach will want to be pulled away from his job, Kentucky may be looking at top-name assistants. Lucky for us, before the season began Yahoo Sports assembled a list of the top soon-to-be head coaches, in no particular order. -- Manny Diaz (Texas defensive coordinator) -- Bud Foster (Virginia Tech defensive coordinator) -- Bryan Harsin (Texas offensive coordinator) -- Josh Heupel (Oklahoma co-offensive coordinator) -- Todd Monken (Oklahoma State offensive coordinator) -- Chad Morris (Clemson offensive coordinator) -- Pat Narduzzi (Mighican State defensive coordinator) -- Kirby Smart (Alabama defensive coordinator) -- Everett Withers (Ohio State defensive coordinator) -- David Yost (Missouri offensive coordinator) Manny Diaz is a young up-and-coming coordinator who already seems ready to make the leap to the big office. He is known at Texas for his aggressive defense and ability to force mistakes on the other team. Another defensive coach making a name for himself is Kirby Smart at Alabama. His defensive units and National Championship rings speak for themselves. The big question now is: Would any of these coaches want to come to Kentucky? Who is your pick for the hottest name in college football?