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Some potential candidates for the Detroit Lions coaching position include (from left to right) Penn State's Bill O'Brien, Cincinnati's Jay Gruden, Stanford's David Shaw, San Francisco's Greg Roman and San Diego's Ken Whisenhunt.

(AP Photos)

With the news that the Detroit Lions have fired coach Jim Schwartz after five seasons, here is a list of 10 potential replacements:

Bill O'Brien

Reportedly a top candidate for the Houston Texans' opening, O'Brien led the Penn State Nittany Lions to a 15-9 mark in two seasons. Prior to going back to the college ranks, O'Brien served five years as an offensive assistant, and later coordinator, in New England under Bill Belichick.

Jay Gruden

The younger brother of Jon Gruden, Jay took a unique road to the NFL, playing quarterback and coaching for more than a decade in the Arena Football League. He worked with his brother for six years in Tampa Bay, then went back to the Arena League, then the UFL, before joining Marvin Lewis' staff in Cincinnati as an offensive coordinator in 2011.

Jay has elevated the Bengals into a top-10 offense and steadily developed quarterback Andy Dalton in his three seasons with the club.

Jon Gruden

Jon has been in the broadcasting booth since 2009, but continues to hint about returning to coaching. He has a 95-81 record as a head coach and led the Tampa Bay Bucs to a Super Bowl win back in 2002. He also took the Oakland Raiders to the AFC championship in 2000.

The downside is he hasn't won a playoff game since the Super Bowl victory. He missed the playoffs four times in his final six seasons with the Bucs and was bounced in first round the other two years, despite home-field advantage.

Ray Horton

Horton is a 3-4 defensive coordinator, known for his aggressive blitzing style. His hiring would signal a commitment to changing defensive schemes and would also require the addition of a bright offensive mind to run the offense.

A former cornerback and secondary coach, Horton could work wonders with the young talent in Detroit's secondary. He spent two seasons as the Lions secondary coach in 2002-03.

Brian Kelly

Kelly has rocketed through the college coaching ranks, starting at tiny Assumption College (where he also played linebacker), moving on to Grand Valley State, Central Michigan, Cincinnati, and currently Notre Dame.

In four seasons with the Fighting Irish, Kelly has tallied a 37-15 mark, leading the team to the BCS Championship game in his third year at the school.

Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford wouldn't be an ideal fit for Kelly's offense, but if Chip Kelly can make it work with Nick Foles in Philadelphia, anything is possible.

Greg Roman

Roman has been Jim Harbaugh's offensive coordinator the past five seasons, between Stanford and San Francisco. He's shown an impressive ability to utilize multiple looks to accomplish what he wants to do with an offense, while maximizing to the skill sets of his players.

If the Lions decided to go with Roman, you can expect Detroit to find room on the roster for a fullback, because he likes to run the ball with brute force.

David Shaw

In he's willing to make the jump to the NFL, Shaw might be an ideal candidate. He's young (41) and he's had great success taking over for Jim Harbaugh at Stanford, leading the Cardinal to a 34-6 mark and three consecutive BCS bowl appearances.

Shaw also has some NFL experience, working nine years as a quality control and position coach under Jon Gruden in Oakland and Brian Billick in Baltimore.

Lovie Smith

No one will have a better understanding of the NFC North than Smith, who coached in Chicago for nine seasons until he was fired after the 2012 campaign. He posted an 81-63 record with the Bears, leading the team to three postseason berths, including the 2006 Super Bowl.

A downside might be the Tampa-2 Smith runs. Lions fans aren't fond of the defensive scheme after Rod Marinelli's stint in Detroit and current middle linebacker Stephen Tulloch wouldn't be a great fit.

Ken Whisenhunt

The Lions admire the Pittsburgh Steelers and Whisenhunt spent a good portion of his formative coaching years working under Bill Cowher, first as a tight ends coach, then as the team's offensive coordinator.

After Cowher stepped down following a Super Bowl win in 2006, Whisenhunt went to Arizona, where he went 45-51 in six seasons with the Cardinals, leading the team to an improbable Super Bowl run in 2008.

Most recently, Whisenhunt has been serving as the offensive coordinator in San Diego, where he's transformed the Chargers from one of the league's worst offenses into one of the best behind a resurgent Philip Rivers.

Mike Zimmer

Zimmer has spent the past 14 seasons as a defensive coordinator, the last six in Cincinnati under Marvin Lewis. The Bengals have finished with a top-seven defense four of the past five years, including this season, despite the loss of star players Leon Hall and Geno Atkins to injury.

Zimmer runs a 4-3 scheme that would not require an overhaul to the personnel already on the Lions' roster.

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