Circus music plays between Greg Davis' ears.

UT typically doesn’t have to go digging in the lower-BCS and mid-major ranks for up-and-comers, but rather courts the guys who are already getting it done at the highest echelon and paying him more than anyone else. Sort of Yankee-like, I guess, but a whole lot less irritating when it’s coaches.

So who are the best in the business right now? The following are guys I’d consider for the DC position:

Charlie Strong, DC, Florida. He probably has his eye on his own HC job, and DC at Texas is a good stepping stone to that end. If Mack retires and Muschamp is elevated within two years, and Strong is still available, this might be within the realm of possibility. But I think that Strong will find himself in a head coaching job at a BCS school within four years at most either way. He coaches the linebackers, and does a fine job of it.

Dan McCarney, Asst. HC for defense and DL coach, Florida. You probably remember him as the HC for Iowa State. I think he’d be a good addition. He did a lot of good things with not-so-good recruits, and I think he’s shown he can do some great things with great talent like he has at UF. The reason I think he’d actually be a good complement to Akina is that he’s been more DL/LB-oriented, which does not conflict with what Akina does. That goes for both McCarney and Strong, in fact.

Bud Foster, DC, Va Tech. I don’t think he gets a whole lot of credit for it, but he’s run a very consistent, turnover-minded defense for years at VT. I think he’d fit well with Muschamp’s philosophy on defense, namely “Beat the fv(k out of them, make them pay, and then kill their souls.”

Jim Heacock, DC, Ohio State. He runs a vicious defense and specializes in defensive line and linebackers.

John Chavis, DC, LSU. He coached some of the best defenses in the country under Fulmer at Tennessee, including a ton of guys who developed into fine NFL players, like Al Wilson. Notice Eric Berry was a lot more effective with a guy like Chavis coaching him than with Monte Kiffin. He’s the master of the zone blitz.

Tyrone Nix, DC, Ole Miss. Ugh, he’d have the stench of Nutt on him, but he does a pretty good job for that program, he’s young, he’s pretty exciting, and I think he’d fit in well with Muschamp.

There are some longshot guys who could be worth a look, like Manny Diaz (DC of Middle Tennessee St.), Ken Norton, Jr. (LBs coach at USC), and Kevin Steele (LBs coach at Clemson, formerly LBs coach for Carolina in NFL, LBs for Alabama under Saban, FSU under Bowden, and HC at Baylor).

As far as Texas players/assistants who could return:

Vance Bedford is a former UT defensive back who was OC at Okie Lite, DBs coach at Michigan, and is now DBs coach at Florida. Not sure what position he’d take, as I doubt he’d be a pick for DC, and I don’t think I’d consider replacing Akina with him as DBs coach.

Jerry Gray, another former UT safety, was a fairly successful defensive coordinator for the Bills, and now coaches DBs for the Redskins.

Some of the more outside-the-box possibilities include current college head coaches who are good defensive coaches, but not great at running a program, as well as NFL HCs and DCs who might lose their jobs. Wade Phillips came to mind, but I think he’d probably take an NFL DC job first, or failing that, the HC job at U. of Houston if Sumlin leaves. Eric Mangini’s, well, not an attractive candidate, because his personality probably wouldn’t mesh well with Muschamp’s. Rather, it probably wouldn’t fit in the same room. Perhaps my favorite candidate of current NFL assistants is Greg Blache. He’s the Redskins’ current DC, and most definitely not the reason the Skins suck so much this year. He employs a little different defense than Muschamp does, but I think they could work out the details, and Blache has coached at a high level in the college ranks (Notre Dame and Tulane before the NFL). The main concern I’d have with him is that he is a little older, like about 60. Bob Slowik was a pretty good defensive coordinator for ECU, then a solid assistant under Wanny in Dallas for the Super Bowl years and several other teams as DC in the NFL.

So…ideas?

Sort of, at least. When Chizik left to go coach at Iowa State in 2007, Texas brought in Larry MacDuff and had him and Akina work as co-coordinators of the defense. Akina was in charge of calling the plays. That didn’t work out too well (UT set a dubious school record for most yards allowed in a season), and thank heavens Akina and Mack had a great working relationship, because they amicably agreed for Akina to return to coaching the defensive backs (and helping w/ STs) for the 2008 season to the present.

Again, I don’t think it’d be smart to re-promote Akina. I say keep giving him raises—it’s easier than going on hunts for top assistants.