Amid a swirl of reports regarding candidates for UTSA’s head coaching vacancy, former San Antonio Commanders coach Mike Riley would like his name thrown in the hat.

A source close to Riley said the coach’s camp will be reaching out to Collegiate Sports Associates — UTSA’s search firm — to gauge whether the interest is mutual.

Riley, 66, was the head coach at Oregon State from 1997-98 and 2003-14, then coached at Nebraska from 2015-17. He owns a 112-99 career record as a collegiate head coach and led Oregon State to eight bowl games in 13 years, going 6-2. The Beavers have not made a bowl game in five seasons since his departure.

Riley posted just one winning season in three years at Nebraska and was fired after going 4-8 in 2017 — the lowest win total at the school since 1961. Riley also worked in the NFL as the head coach of the San Diego Chargers from 1999-2001, going 14-34, before becoming an assistant with the New Orleans Saints in 2002.

On ExpressNews.com: Frank Wilson fired as UTSA football coach after four seasons

He coached the San Antonio Commanders during the lone season of the Alliance of American Football this spring, then accepted a position as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach of the XFL’s Seattle Dragons during the summer.

The Commanders went 5-3 under Riley, averaging 27,720 fans for home games to lead the upstart league in attendance. AAF majority owner Tom Dundon suspended operations in April, with two games remaining in the league’s inaugural season.

Riley has owned a home in New Braunfels since 1991, when he began a two-year stint as the coach of the San Antonio Riders in the World League of American Football.

The source close to Riley also suggested the coach could bolster UTSA’s relationship with San Antonio billionaire and auto magnate Red McCombs — a longtime friend of Riley who visited a Commanders practice this spring.

On ExpressNews.com: UTSA Roadrunners players, commits react to Wilson’s departure

Multiple candidates have been connected to the UTSA program, with Football Scoop reporting Wednesday morning that Alabama defensive coordinator Pete Golding, former Arkansas head coach Chad Morris and former Houston head coach Major Applewhite are in the mix. A report from Horns247 said USC offensive coordinator Graham Harrell interviewed for the UTSA opening Monday.

Golding was the defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach at UTSA in 2016 and 2017 before leaving for the co-defensive coordinator job at Alabama in 2018. He’s also been an assistant at Southern Miss and Southeastern Louisiana.

Morris was dismissed at Arkansas after a 2-8 start this season, finishing a two-year tenure 4-18. He landed the position after going 14-22 in three seasons at SMU, increasing the team’s win total each year. Before starting his college coaching career with assistant roles at Tulsa and Clemson, Morris coached high school football in Texas from 1994-2009, leading Lake Travis High School to back-to-back state titles in 2008-09.

On ExpressNews.com: UTSA Roadrunners name Tony Ball interim head coach in wake of Frank Wilson’s firing

Applewhite was an analyst at Alabama this season. He was fired from Houston in December 2018 after posting a 15-10 record in two full seasons. The position with Houston was his first head-coaching job, following offensive coordinator roles at Houston, Texas, Alabama and Rice.

Harrell has never been a head coach, working as the offensive coordinator at USC this season after three years in the same position at North Texas.

Frank Wilson was fired from UTSA on Sunday after the Roadrunners closed the season 4-8. He finished his four-year tenure 19-29.

greg.luca@express-news.net

Twitter: @GregLuca