Arizona football coaching search: Top 5 potential Jedd Fisch replacements if he leaves the program

Nick Saban's retirement sent shockwaves through the world of college football, and Arizona is at the end of a chain reaction that originated at Tuscaloosa.

The Crimson Tide quickly got their replacement for the legendary coach, getting 2023 coach of the year Kalen DeBoer. His departure from Washington means that the 2023 finalists also had to enter the market for a new coach.

Their choice is Jedd Fisch, the head of the Arizona Wildcats. Fisch led the Wildcats to a solid 10-3 season, which ended with an Alamo Bowl victory over the Oklahoma Sooners.

Their season included stunning upsets over Utah, UCLA and Oregon State, and close defeats to USC and Colorado, who won by three points.

Here are five possible replacements for Jedd Fisch in Arizona:

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Five potential coaches for Arizona

#1 Jason Candle - Toledo

Toledo got into the AP Poll No. 23 spot for two weeks towards the end of the season.

They were the favorites to win the Mid-American Conference, but Miami got the upset over them. Nonetheless, this is Candle's second 11-win season with the Rockets, and he has two MAC titles.

#2 Jamey Chadwell - Liberty

The Flames were, without a doubt, the best team in the group of five. They ended the regular season 13-0, winning the Conference USA and earning a spot at the Fiesta Bowl.

The heavy defeat to the Oregon Ducks is hardly Chadwell's fault, who was clearly mismatched.

#3 Troy Calhoun - Air Force

Competing with a service school is always challenging, given the academic and physical standards to which the cadets are beholden.

Calhoun has achieved moderate success on a consistent basis with the Falcons in 2007. Before the debacle of the last leg of the regular season, they looked like a contender for a New Year's Six. Calhoun's record at Air Force is 130-82.

#4 Brennan Carroll - Arizona's OC

Noah Fifita and the Wildcat's offense were a big part of Arizona's success this year.

Their offense ended the year as the No. 20th in the nation, with an average yardage of 448 per game. It wouldn't be a crazy thing to promote the man behind this success despite his lack of coaching experience.

#5 Will Stein - Oregon's OC

Speaking of high-flying offenses, Stein is the man behind another great Pac-12 offense.

With the help of Bo Nix and with Dan Lanning at the helm, Stein carved up the second-best offense in the nation at Oregon. The Ducks averaged 531.4 yards per game in 2023.

This would be his first experience as a coach, and there could be some questions about his ability to recruit in a region where he has only been working since 2023.