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With Tom Herman accepting the job at Texas, Houston is in the market for a new coach. It's a familiar situation for the Cougars, who said goodbye to Kevin Sumlin after the 2011 season. So now the question is: How do you maintain the success and buzz Herman brought to the program over the past two seasons?

For Houston, the answer could involve bringing in a big-name head coach. According to ESPN's Brett McMurphy, both Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin and former LSU coach Les Miles have "emerged as candidates" for the job.

Miles' ties to the Houston area from recruiting to LSU and Oklahoma State have made him an attractive candidate. "It could be what Miles is looking for," a source told McMurphy. He is reportedly on a list, per Houston's Board of Regents chairman, of about five or six names that Houston hopes to work through by the "middle of next week."

Houston is also expected to interview current defensive coordinator (and interim coach) Todd Orlando and offensive coordinator Major Applewhite for the the job. Multiple reports have suggested that Houston might contact West Virginia's Dana Holgorsen (a former Houston assistant), though ESPN reports that it's "highly unlikely" he would leave a Power Five job for Houston.

As for Kiffin, it's expected that he will have a number of choices for his next move after wrapping up Alabama's 2016 season. The worst-kept secret in college football is that LSU coach Ed Orgeron wants Kiffin on staff as his offensive coordinator, though what is not known is if the former Tennessee and USC head coach wants to spend another season as an assistant. Houston, or another high-profile Group of Five job, could be equally appealing to Kiffin, who hasn't been allowed to comment on these potential opportunities as part of Nick Saban's media policy which keeps assistants from speaking to the media.

"I don't know anything about that," Saban said of Kiffin and LSU on Sunday. "He hasn't come to me about it, and I'm sure he would."

Former Cougars coach Art Briles has also been mentioned for the job, but Board of Regents chairman Tilman Fertitta told the Houston Chronicle there is a "clarity issue" that makes it hard for the school to consider him as a candidate for the job.

"There's a lot of administrator and ex-administrators and board of regents from Baylor that say that Art Briles was a scapegoat at Baylor," Fertitta said. "I've had calls from ex-chairman of the board of regents there, current big booster there, lawyers that represent Baylor. I have not had one negative call about Art Briles. But there still seems to be a clarity issue."