Coaching Carousel (Kentucky Wildcats)

What was longer rumored to happen has finally come true.  It was announced that Joker Phillips would no longer be the head coach after the season was over.  Phillips was the "Head Coach in Waiting" under Rich Brooks and took over in 2010.

But much like other "HCIW" Phillips hasn't had much success.  His career record is 12-23 and never won more than 6 games in a season.  Joker's best year was his first where he took the Wildcats to the Compass Bowl where they lost to Pittsburgh. Phillips has been known as a offensive mind, but his offensives at Kentucky have been relatively pedestrian.

The Kentucky job isn't the greatest gig in college football, but it isn't terrible.  They play in the marquee conference (SEC) but are in the East Division which is easier (relatively speaking) than the West.  They've been able to attract talent, so that won't scare too many coaches away.

Potential Candidates
Bobby Petrino (Former Arkansas Head Coach)
Petrino is the top name in the search and would be the best case scenario for the the Wildcats.  Petrino is a proven winner and has had success in the blue grass state before.  He turned Louisville into a BCS team before leaving for the Atlanta Falcons.  He'd bring instant credibility to the Wildcats with the recruits. However he has some baggage.  But as we've seen with Kentucky and John Calipari, they're not afraid of that if you win.

Dirk Koetter (Atlanta Falcons Offensive Coordinator)
Since Phillips has been in a sense fired, one name that has surfaced is Koetter's.  Koetter has head coaching experience at Boise State and Arizona State.  He had success at both spots, but couldn't sustain it at ASU.  He is the current OC with the Falcons who are enjoying a breakout season from Matt Ryan.  Koetter might not be the biggest name or even the Wildcats top choice, but he could be their fall back guy if their top choices decline.

Willie Taggert (Western Kentucky Head Coach)
Ever since Western Kentucky came into Lexington and knocked off the Wildcats people have had their eye on Taggert.  Taggert is an up and coming coach who is in his first gig as a head coach.  He was the RB coach at Stanford before.  He's been trained under Jim Harbaugh and that is a good thing.  Plus he has experience recruiting in the Kentucky area.  The draw back is that Taggert is coaching at his Alma Mater and may hold out for the perfect job to come up.  This may not be it.

Sonny Dykes (Louisiana Tech Head Coach)
Another up and coming name to consider is the current Louisiana Tech head coach Sonny Dykes.  Dykes has the Bulldogs at 9-1 and will likely win the WAC and have an outside shot at a BCS Bowl.  Dykes is a spread offense guru who learned his trade under Mike Leach and Hal Mumme.  Before taking over at LaTech he was the offensive coordinator at Arizona and Texas Tech.  Dykes also was an assistant for two stints at Kentucky when Hal Mumme.  He probably won't be their first choice, but it would be hard to find a better coach who would want this job than Dykes.

David Cutcliff (Duke Head Coach)
An under the radar coach who could do well might be the current Duke head coach.  Cutcliff is no stranger to the SEC after he was the OC for Tennessee in the Peyton Manning era and then was the Mississippi HC also.  Even though Cutcliff was fired from Ole Miss the Rebels were relatively successful and haven't gotten back to the level of success he had there.  Now at Duke he has turned this doormat program into being bowl eligible for the first time in over 15 years and are still in the race for the Division Title.  If Cutcliff can do that at Duke, what could he do at Kentucky?