On the heels of an 4-8 campaign that marked the end to Brady Hoke's second tenure atop the San Diego State football program, the Aztecs are moving full-speed ahead in their search for Hoke's replacement.
A two-time Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year in a pair of different runs at SDSU, Hoke announced in early November that he intended to retire at season's end.
Two of the so-called Group of 5 Conferences' most appealing positions are presently open: San Diego State and Boise State, which earlier fired Andy Avalos.
At San Diego, a trio of names have emerged as central figures in the Aztecs' search according to multiple sources: Sean Lewis, Ryan Grubb and Brent Vigen.
Colorado offensive coordinator Lewis, a former MAC head coach at Kent State, has long been regarded as a strong offensive mind despite not finishing the 2023 season as the primary play-caller for Deion Sanders' Colorado Buffaloes.
Lewis led Kent State to a pair of bowl games -- the Idaho Potato Bowl and the Frisco Bowl -- and his Golden Flashes finished first or second in their division in three of his final four seasons. He had been a co-offensive coordinator at both Bowling Green and Syracuse before he climbed to the head coaching post at Kent State.
Sources tell FootballScoop Lewis is a strong, and likely leading candidate.
Grubb was nearly hired away from the Huskies after the 2022 season by Nick Saban and Alabama, but Grubb was rewarded with a raise to $2 million per year and extension.
He's continued to reward the Huskies this season with a sensational offense that's proved among the best in all of college football. The undefeated Huskies face one-loss Oregon this week for the final PAC-12 championship.
Prior to his past two seasons running the Michael Penix-led, high-powered Washington offense, Grubb was Kalen DeBoer's top assistant at Fresno State, where Grubb also helped run the Bulldogs' offense.
Montana State's head coach, Vigen has elevated the Bobcats to the upper tier of Football Championship Subdivision. MSU played for the FCS National Championship in 2021, Vigen's first year at the helm, and again advanced to the semifinals in 2022.
The Bobcats, the No. 6 national seed in this year's playoffs, host fellow FCS power North Dakota State Saturday.
Vigen has generated an 32-8 mark through his three seasons in Bozeman, Montana; Vigen honed his coaching career with 15 years on staff at North Dakota State, helping turn the Bison into a modern-day dynasty. NDSU has won nine FCS titles since 2011.
Additionally, Vigen served as offensive coordinator at Wyoming for seven seasons, closing that run with four years as the assistant head coach in Craig Bohl's Cowboys program.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest coaching news.
Tuesday afternoon update> Shortly after we published this, Pete Thamel confirmed Sean Lewis is the leading candidate adding a deal could be completed soon.
Sources tell FootballScoop Lewis will be the new head coach at SDSU.