California coach Sonny Dykes is interviewing for the head-coaching vacancy at Missouri, following Gary Pinkel's recent retirement, a source confirmed to ESPN's Kyle Bonagura on Tuesday.

The interview was first reported by Yahoo! Sports.

Missouri has begun searching for Pinkel's replacement after he announced his retirement last month. Pinkel was diagnosed with lymphoma and said he wanted to get away from the grind of football.

Missouri athletic director Mack Rhoades interviewed Dykes last year, when he was searching for a new coach at Houston, and is now taking another look at him.

Dykes has two years remaining on his contract at Cal, and the two sides have exchanged numbers on a possible extension. Cal is currently waiting for Dykes' camp to respond to its latest proposal.

Dykes' buyout penalty is $2 million if he were to leave for any school.

Cal athletic director Michael Williams did not take over the full-time job until the past spring and did not hire Dykes, who was brought on during Sandy Barbour's tenure as athletic director.

Sonny Dykes has compiled a 13-23 record in three seasons with the Golden Bears. Brian Bahr/Getty Images

Dykes has a 13-23 record in three seasons with the Golden Bears. Cal has shown improvement each season, going from one win in Dykes' first year in 2013 to five last year to a 7-5 record this season.

Dykes has been integral in improved academic performance for the Cal football team since it posted one of the lowest graduation rates in the country late in the tenure of previous coach Jeff Tedford. The school has increased admission standards since Dykes arrived, thereby eliminating some potential recruits from consideration.

Although the Bears improved each year under Dykes, in 12 tries, they have failed to win a game against their three in-state Pac-12 rivals -- Stanford, UCLA and USC -- or against Pac-12 North powerhouse Oregon.

Cal got off to a 5-0 start this season behind star quarterback Jared Goff before losing four straight games in conference play. The Bears won two of their final three regular-season games, including a dramatic comeback against Arizona State last week, to become bowl-eligible for the first time since 2011.

Dykes previously spent three seasons as head coach at Louisiana Tech. He also had stints as an assistant at Arizona, Texas Tech and Kentucky.

The Tigers went 5-7 this season under Pinkel. He had a 117-70 record in 15 seasons at Missouri and five 10-win seasons, after the school had just one double-digit win campaign in the previous 110.

Missouri defensive coordinator Barry Odom, who was removed from consideration for the Memphis vacancy, also is among a number of candidates to replace Pinkel, a source told ESPN's Brett McMurphy on Wednesday.

Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.