The calling card for the University of Cincinnati football team over the past three seasons has been its suffocating defense.
The Bearcats have had the best defense in the American Athletic Conference and one of the top defensive units in all of college football.
Several of its pieces, including junior first-team All-AAC defensive end Myjai Sanders, have elected to return for next season. But the orchestrator of that defense has not.
Notre Dame announced Friday night that defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman is joining former UC head coach Brian Kelly in South Bend, Indiana.
The two teams are scheduled to play next season at Notre Dame.
With his close friend no longer overseeing the defensive side of the ball, where does Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell turn to replace Freeman?
Here is our list of top candidates:
Mike Mickens, Notre Dame cornerbacks coach
Fickell could lure Mickens away from Kelly and Freeman and bring him back to Cincinnati.
Mickens joined Kelly's staff this season after spending the previous two years with Fickell and Freeman at UC.
Mickens was a three-time All-Big East selection and a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award (best defensive back) during his playing career with the Bearcats, which included two seasons under Kelly (2007-08). Mickens has the most interceptions in program history (14).
Mickens also spent four seasons as the cornerbacks coach at Bowling Green. He began his coaching career at Idaho after serving as a defensive assistant at Cincinnati and Indiana State.
Colin Hitschler, Cincinnati safeties coach
An internal option would be promoting Hitschler, who was Fickell's choice to step in for Freeman as defensive coordinator this season in the event Freeman was unable to coach due to COVID-19.
Hitschler moved into his current role after spending the 2019 season as UC’s senior defensive analyst. He came to the Bearcats in 2018 as a defensive quality control coach.
Prior to Cincinnati, Hitschler spent four seasons at the University of South Alabama. He coached the safeties in 2017, served as the director of football operations from 2015-16, and was a defensive graduate assistant in 2014.
Perry Eliano, Cincinnati cornerbacks coach
Eliano would be another solid in-house option. He took over the cornerbacks in March after Mickens left.
Eliano joined Fickell's staff after a two-year stint as the special teams coordinator and cornerbacks coach at New Mexico.
Eliano has nearly 20 years of experience on the sideline with stints at Bowling Green, UTSA, Central Arkansas, Sam Houston State and his alma mater, Stephen F. Austin.
Chad Wilt, Minnesota defensive line coach
Wilt joined P.J. Fleck's staff at Minnesota in January 2020 after spending the 2019 season coaching the defensive line at Cincinnati.
During his only year at UC, Wilt was part of a defensive staff that led the American Athletic Conference in total defense. The Bearcats had 96 tackles for loss and 31 sacks that season.
Wilt has also coached the defensive line at Army, Maryland, Ball State, Richmond, Virginia, Liberty and Central Connecticut State.
Larry Johnson, Ohio State associate head coach/defensive line coach
A former Buckeyes standout, Fickell could reach back into his Ohio State bag and bring in Johnson.
Johnson, who is considered one of the best defensive line coaches in the country, has had more Big Ten defensive players of the year or linemen of the year (16) than any other Big Ten program over the past 23 years.
Johnson has spent almost the past decade at Ohio State where he's mentored players like NFL defensive ends Chase Young, Nick Bosa and Joey Bosa.
Fickell and Johnson were both on the Buckeyes staff before Fickell took over at Cincinnati.
Willie Martinez, UCF assistant head coach/secondary coach
Martinez, who has more than 30 years of coaching experience, has been a part of the Knights' coaching staff since December 2017.
Martinez was Fickell's cornerbacks coach in 2017, Fickell's first season at Cincinnati.
Prior to joining the Bearcats, Martinez was Tennessee's assistant head coach and secondary coach from 2013-16. With the Volunteers, Martinez helped mentor a pair of All-Americans in Cameron Sutton and Evan Berry.