Florida State football begins the race to find its next head coach after firing Mike Norvell. Already ex-Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher rose as a candidate to watch. But is he the ideal replacement here?

College football insider Pete Nakos released his hot board of candidates for the opening in Tallahassee. Yes indeed, the 2013 national champion coach rises to the top.

Nakos even revealed that Fisher is “lobbying behind the scenes for this job in recent weeks” including speaking with donors. But he's not the only name high on the insider's list.

Current Duke head coach Manny Diaz rises as another popular name to watch. Diaz is a Florida State alumnus and even worked under the late legendary Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden. Diaz is navigating through minimal NIL revenue at Duke, but has guided one Atlantic Coast Conference title run there and has the Blue Devils sitting at 6-2. This despite losing quarterback Darian Mensah to the transfer portal.

But there are some surprise candidates who could consider making the jump to Tallahassee. Even if it means defecting from the SEC. Eli Drinkwitz of Missouri rises here off those words.

“His ability to win without the most resources in the SEC should make him an attractive target,” Nakos wrote.

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One more surprise name is Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck, who's delivered some big wins this season with the Golden Gophers. He also took Western Michigan to the Cotton Bowl 10 years ago, which catapulted his name into the national stage. Fleck has gone 71-47 including 42-42 in Big Ten play.

Nakos adds these other head coach names to monitor: Rhett Lashlee (SMU), Jake Dickert (Wake Forest), Kenny Dillingham (Arizona State) and Willie Fritz (Houston).