5 possible replacements for Sonny Dykes at California

After the firing of Sonny Dykes on Sunday, here are five candidates to be the new head coach at California.

After a 5-7 season, and his interview for the open job at Baylor last month, Sonny Dykes was fired as head football coach of the California Golden Bears on Sunday.

Dykes had interviewed for multiple job openings in recent years, which athletic director Mike Williams fairly openly lamented in a statement explaining the decision to seek a new football coach.

Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jake Spavital was immediately named interim head coach. But a search is surely coming, and the late move to fire Dykes points toward a list of candidates being built and some options not being available until recently. The search should also move quickly, with National Signing Day looming in a few weeks, and the likely repercussions of recruits de-committing and committing to Cal based on the coaching switch.

There is a lot to like about the situation at Cal, and while Dykes turned things around off the field for the Golden Bears he did not replicate the on-field success of predecessor Jeff Tedford. With all of that in mind, here are five candidates to become the next head coach at Cal.

5. Jake Spavital

The aforementioned Spavital is the current interim head coach, and he has to be a candidate for the permanent job. He is just 31 years old, but he has a solid resume as quarterbacks coach at West Virginia (2011-2012) and offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Texas A&M (2013-2015 before landing at Cal this past season.

Despite losing quarterback Jared Goff and the top six pass catchers from 2015, the Golden Bears finished 10th in the country in total offense this season. Spavital deserves a lot of credit for that, and he is also considered a strong recruiter. Depending on what Cal is looking for, and how big of a splash they want to make with a coaching hire, Spavital could easily become the best candidate for the job.