Sean Isabella

For the third straight year, Louisiana Tech is in search of a new head coach in one of its major sports.

Baseball coach Greg Goff is leaving for Alabama after two years, leaving a void in a program that is on the rise. Tech will now have to make its second baseball hire since 2014. The program also hired new women's baseball coaches in 2014 and 2016.

A majority of Tech's players are away playing summer ball. Tech may not be in a complete rush to make a hire. Tech took about two and a half weeks to hire Goff after it fired Wade Simoneaux in 2014.

The following list is complete speculation, but here are some possible options for Tech.

Lane Burroughs, Northwestern State head coach

Burroughs led NSU to a 33-24 record in 2016 with a RPI in the top 50 that put the Demons in the at-large conversation toward the end of the year. He is 113-113 in four seasons. Due to his extensive Mississippi ties — Burroughs spent more than a decade combined as an assistant at Southern Miss and Mississippi State — he could be waiting for a move back to the state.

NSU has produced coaches like John Cohen and Mitch Gaspard, who ended up parlaying it into SEC jobs. But Burroughs inherited a program with two straight losing seasons and endured a 16-40 campaign in 2013 before turning the program back around. Tech athletic director Tommy McClelland is a graduate of NSU, and he already showed an ability to hire from his alma mater after bringing in Brooke Stoehr as Tech's new women's basketball coach in April.

Rick McCarty, Dallas Baptist pitching coach

McCarty may be the best candidate if Tech wants to roll with the train that Goff started in Ruston. McCarty's relationship with Goff dates back the past couple decades and he spent four years with Goff at Campbell and as Tech's pitching coach in 2015. McCarty was on staff in the fall of 2015 when Tech signed 21 junior college players, many of whom played a key role in the 2016 run at Tech.

McCarty is highly respected at Tech. He's often referred to as one of the better assistants coaches and players have dealt with. In 2015, he helped lower Tech's ERA from 4.85 to 4.52 and improved strikeout numbers from 247 to 342.

Christian Ostrander, Louisiana Tech pitching coach

Ostrander would be a deserving candidate to earn a promotion as a first-time Division I head coach. The Monroe native spent seven years as the head coach at Jones County Junior College in Mississippi. Ostrander led Jones Country to a runner-up finish in the Division II World Series in 2011. This year, JCJC won the national championship with the players Ostrander helped recruit.

The Monroe native played for Goff at Delta State during the 1990s. He was also s an assistant at Arkansas State from 2002-2006 and as the pitching coach at Delta State from 1999-02. Despite joining staff last December, Ostrander quickly gelled with the pitching staff and played a key role in grooming Casey Sutton into a first-team all-conference selection. Like McCarty, Ostrander is highly respected among Tech players and staff. If Ostrander isn't considered, he'll likely follow Goff to Alabama.

Justin Hill, McNeese State head coach

A West Monroe native, Hill has spent the last three years at McNeese while compiling 89 wins. Hill has stops at LSU, ULM, Southeastern and Sam House State under his belt. He played at Bossier Parish Community College and two years at LSU and also spent time on staff at West Monroe High School. McClelland is the former athletic director at McNeese State, so he would have ties in the vetting process.

Matt Riser, Southeastern Louisiana head coach

Like his last name, Riser has shot up the coaching ranks at the young age of 31. He took SELA to the NCAA Tournament during his first year in 2014 and followed it up with consecutive 40-win seasons, although the Lions missed out on an at-large bid. Riser played two years at Tulane and spent 2007-13 as an assistant at Tulane and SELA.

Matt Deggs, Sam Houston State head coach

Deggs is another coach with in-state ties. He served as UL Lafayette's assistant from 2012-14. Deggs took Sam Houston's program in 2014 when David Pierce left for Tulane. Coincidentally, Pierce was a candidate for the Alabama job. Deggs led Sam Houston to a 42-22 mark and a trip to the regionals in 2016. He previously was Texas A&M's associate head coach from 2006-11.

Greg Lovelady, Wright State head coach

Lovelady, 37, just wrapped up his third year at Wright State with the previous two seasons resulting in 40-win campaigns and two trips to the NCAA Tournament. A two-time College World Series winner during his collegiate days at Miami, Lovelady also served as an assistant for the Hurricanes and Wright State.

Steve Owens, Bryant head coach

Owens, 50, doesn't fit the mold as an up-and-comer due to his long list of experience at the Division II and Division III ranks in New York, but all he's done is win at Bryant during the last four years with a 150-77-1 record and two NCAA Tournaments berths in 2015 and 2016.