Who's next? Many options

Set to embark on a "swift" national search for its next football coach, the University of South Florida won't have to look too hard for intriguing prospects.

Former Auburn coaches Tommy Tuberville and Terry Bowden, former Clemson coach Tommy Bowden and East Carolina coach Skip Holtz were among the potential candidates mentioned Friday in the hours after Jim Leavitt's firing.

Southern Mississippi coach Larry Fedora and prominent assistants Dan McCarney of Florida, Calvin Magee of Michigan and Rich Bisaccia of the Bucs are also considered possibilities, as is ex-Boston College coach Jeff Jagodzinski.

Other names undoubtedly will surface.

While Leavitt's staff was retained for the time being, interim coach Carl Franks and offensive coordinator Mike Canales are regarded as long shots for the head coaching job.

And since assistant director of athletics Chris Freet said the next coach will be free to name his own staff, most if not all of Leavitt's assistants could find themselves out of work.

USF wasn't in position to attract interest from proven head coaches 14 years ago when it hired its first coach, but now, in large part because of Leavitt's work in building the program, the job is appealing.

"It's a prime situation," said Rivals.com's Jeremy Crabtree. "Coach Leavitt built it from the ground up and made upgrades along the way. It's a fertile recruiting territory. ... It would not shock me to see coaches fighting over this position."

The most interesting name floated Friday was that of Tuberville, 55, who was national Coach of the Year at Auburn after a 13-0 season. He has expressed interest in the vacant Texas Tech job, and neither he nor his agent, Jimmy Sexton, returned phone calls.

Tuberville resigned after a 5-7 season in 2008, but before that he had eight consecutive bowl seasons, including an 11-2 campaign in 2006. At one point, the Tigers had beaten rival Alabama seven out of eight times.

Well established in Florida, Tuberville and won three national titles as an assistant at Miami under coaches Jimmy Johnson and Dennis Erickson. He was 25-20 at Ole Miss and had a 10-0-1 season as defensive coordinator at Texas A&M.

Despite an awkward departure from Auburn and some complaints that while he was a stellar big-game coach he sometimes lost to lesser teams, Tuberville was respected at Auburn, according to Opelika-Auburn News sports editor Mike Szvetitz.

"He would be a good fit at USF," Szvetitz suggested. "He's probably the opposite of Coach Leavitt in that he isn't hands-on with the X's and O's, but he's comfortable dealing with the media and the boosters."

Neither Tommy Bowden, who was fired at Clemson halfway through the 2008 season despite a 72-45 record, nor Terry Bowden, who was fired by Auburn in 1998 with a 47-17-1 record, returned phone calls.

Terry Bowden guided Division II North Alabama to an 11-2 record this season and is under contract, so USF would need permission to talk to him. Holtz, also the son of a famous coach, is under contract at East Carolina.

USF doesn't have a specific timetable for naming a coach, but because of recruiting implications, the school will almost surely try to move quickly.

"From a recruiting standpoint, the timing of this couldn't be any worse," Rivals.com's Crabtree said. "We're halfway through the vital official visit period. Kids are starting to make up their minds, if they haven't already.

"USF might be into the third week of January without a head coach, and National Signing Day is right around the corner. The timing of this is rough."