While the Twitterverse is full of several reports listing University of Cincinnati head football coach Luke Fickell as a candidate at West Virginia, there are still a few details to be included in the story.

West Virginia announced Dana Holgorsen's departure via Mountaineers AD Shane Lyons Wednesday afternoon. Holgorsen is headed to Houston. Holgorsen was an offensive coordinator for the Cougars under Kevin Sumlin and also coached at Texas Tech under Mike Leach, so he is familiar with the state.

More:Reports: UC's Luke Fickell is a candidate to replace Dana Holgorsen at West Virginia

Indications are West Virginia would not meet Houston's offer for Holgorsen. Naturally when a position opens, various organizations "spitball" the next candidates. The first few to come out were former UC coach Butch Jones, who also assisted at WVU and former Mountaineers coach Rich Rodriguez, who for now is the offensive coordinator at Ole Miss. Jones was also reportedly taking an offensive job at Maryland in charge of tight ends.

Included on many lists because of his connection with WVU President E.Gordon Gee from his Ohio State days is Luke Fickell who guided the Bearcats to an 11-2 season and a 35-31 victory over Virginia Tech in the Military Bowl New Year's Eve. Gee has been a fan of Fickell for some time. Contacting several sources close to the situation New Year's Day, there was nothing anyone was aware of, with some feeling Troy's Neal Brown was the leading candidate.

"We don't comment on speculation," was the official word from UC Wednesday from Associate AD/Athletic Communications Ryan Koslen.

Neal Brown, who also appeared on "lists" for UC's job two years ago just guided Troy to a 42-32 win in the Dollar General Bowl over Buffalo. He formerly coached at Kentucky and Texas Tech and seemingly his offense would fit what Holgorsen had been doing at West Virginia. According to several outlets, Brown appears to be the frontrunner.

Again, in college football money changes hands in strange ways so as Cincinnati fans know well, there is no guarantee on anything.

Other listed candidates for the West Virginia job are Mike Norvell of Memphis, Jason Candle of Toledo, Seth Littrell of North Texas and UAB's Bill Clark. All are non-Power 5 coaches coming off successful seasons which make them logical candidates for many jobs.

For what it's worth, some West Virginia players have been behind in-house candidate Tony Gibson, the Mountaineers' defensive coordinator according to Bob Hertzel of the Times-West Virginian.

As for reasons Fickell would stay?

He's a native Ohioan who hand-selected Cincinnati as a destination for his wife Amy, and their six children. Fickell played at Columbus DeSales and the family sought out the area's Catholic community. Oldest son Landon plays football for the Moeller Crusaders under former UC offensive lineman and Director of Player Development Doug Rosfeld.

The staff also has local ties with quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli from Fort Thomas, Kentucky, plus another former Bearcat, Mike Mickens is on staff. Defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman also has a large family that would be difficult to uproot and defensive line coach Steve Stripling and receivers coach Joker Phillips returned to Cincinnati.

Fickell has continually stressed recruiting the "state of Cincinnati" and the current staff has made great inroads in that area. Plus, the Bearcats were one of the youngest Division I programs this past season with 81 underclassmen on a 112-man roster.

In the end, a big check can wipe all of those things away, but indications are the Fickells are content and mentioned in their interviews to get the UC job their plan to stay when the program became successful.

Mark Dantonio reportedly gave Fickell a big endorsement to get here and Urban Meyer does have a son playing baseball for the Bearcats. Meyer's sister Gigi Escoe is also a UC vice provost. Some reports have had Meyer speaking for Fickell at WVU, but the recently retired coach was a Bearcat himself.

Should Fickel staying content be the case, there could be contract changes coming. As it stands now in Fickell's original 6-year $13.4 million deal, he is in line to make $2.3 million next season. His contract includes bonuses, such as $75,000 for making a bowl and $25,000 for winning so those were met this season. His buyout is $3.5 million but reduces each season down to $750,000 by the sixth year.

A unique option is his contract is four free Final Four tickets with an option to buy 10 more should Mick Cronin's basketball Bearcats make the national semifinals.

Again, anything can happen. UC fans know it well. Mark Dantonio to Michigan State, Brian Kelly to Notre Dame and Butch Jones to Tennessee. Time will tell if this case is different. However, in addressing UC in relation to "Power 5" conferences, Fickell isn't a fan of the term.

"We try to say, 'What's the difference?'" Fickell said after the Military Bowl triumph. "I don't care what conference we're from. We try to believe that we're as equal and as the same as anybody. The way the game went, the ups and downs from both sides, give them all the credit in the world too. They played their hearts out too. To have our guys continue to battle through and come out the way we did, that's why you see so much joy."