MADISON, WI (WSAU) The search is well underway for Wisconsin’s next head football coach. Media reports say athletic director Barry Alvarez has already spoken to Western Kentucky coach Willie Taggart about the opening. And he also expects to talk with ex-Badger Mel Tucker, who’s now the defensive coordinator for the N-F-L’s Jacksonville Jaguars.

Miami coach Al Golden is also said to be a candidate, along with Chris Petersen of Boise State. But the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Pittsburgh coach Paul Chryst remains the top candidate.

It would cost the U-W six-million-dollars to buy out the contract Chryst signed a year ago, when he left his former post as the Badgers’ offensive coordinator.

The paper says the buyout would not stop Alvarez from pursuing Chryst.