Phillip Fulmer is ready to go. He's got a staff picked out, a wealth of knowledge gained over a year spent picking the brains of other football coaches and he's even kept up on recruiting.

All the former Tennessee coach needs now is a job. But that might be hard to come by this year because relatively few college football teams are likely to be in the market for a coach. And most of the spots that do come open probably won't meet Fulmer's standards.

"I'm not going to put myself and my family in a position where I'm going to a place that is a stepping-stone ... a place that doesn't have a history of doing well," he said in a recent phone interview. "I'm looking for a place that has some history. If I have to sit or not coach that's kind of the way it's going to be I guess."

Fulmer, who was ousted last year by Tennessee after a long and mostly successful run with the Volunteers, is one of several coaches with eye-catching resumes currently out of the business but hoping to get back in.

Also keeping an eye out for openings these days are former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville, former Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione, out of coaching the last two seasons, ex-Colorado coach Gary Barnett, who hasn't coached the last four seasons, and former Minnesota coach Glen Mason, three seasons removed from his last game with the Gophers.

All of those coaches have kept busy and involved with college football by taking broadcasting jobs.

"That great thing about being at ESPN is you get to a lot of sites and can visit with a lot of coaches," said Franchione, who has been working as a radio analyst for the network. "You get to see all the other programs. Coaches, when they are coaching, don't get to do that.

"You get to evaluate a lot of different programs and see how people do things ... From Pete Carroll at USC to Urban Meyer at Florida to Frank Spaziani at Boston College. I think sometimes because of doing all that, I'm almost a better coach today than I was two years ago."

Coaching turnover tends to be cyclical. Coming into this season, 21 coaches were in their first seasons with a new team.

Heading into Thanksgiving, three teams have already fired their coach, a number that is down from last season. Early changes have been a trend in recent years because it allows schools to get a jump on reaching out to top candidates.

Fulmer was forced out at Tennessee in the first week of November last season and his replacement, Lane Kiffin, was hired before the month was over.

While the world _ or at least it seems that way _ waits for Notre Dame to decide the future of Charlie Weis, only Memphis, UNLV, San Jose State and Western Kentucky are actively searching for a coach.