Memphis fired head coach Tommy West on Monday morning, although he'll coach the Tigers' final three games.

According to the Web site FootballScoop.com, Auburn wide receivers/assistant head coach Trooper Taylor is on Memphis' short list for a replacement:

"Memphis: FootballScoop has learned that Tommy West has been dismissed as the head coach at Memphis. Our sources tell us that FedEx CEO Fred Smith and CFO Dave Bronczek will strongly consider Gunter Brewer and Trooper Taylor for the head coaching position. Smith and Bronczek will likely work closely with Memphis athletic director RC Johnson in making the next hire. Brewer serves as the OC/wide receivers coach at Oklahoma State. Taylor coaches the wide receivers at Auburn. There will be numerous coaches trying to get involved with the job including Lambuth University head coach Hugh Freeze."

Taylor, 40, coached as an assistant at Tennessee from 2004-07 before going to Oklahoma State for a year as co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach. He's in the first year of a three-year deal at Auburn that pays him $320,000 a year.

West earned $950,000 in his final year at Memphis, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

During Tennessee week, Taylor told the Knoxville News that he wanted to stay put for a while (all I could find was this cached page of the article by Dave Hooker).

“They’ve changed a little bit,” Taylor said of his priorities. “Now I’m at the point to where I want to make sure I’m not moving my kids around in high school so I want to be established at a place for the next four or five years where they can set their roots.”

Taylor’s wife, Evi, and their children — son, Blaise, and daughter, Starr — have followed their father to six schools during his 18-year career. The moves have been made by choice.

Taylor has continually proved himself as a position coach and a recruiter. But when a promotion or title was offered, he was often lured elsewhere.

Taylor’s oldest child, Blaise, will begin high school next year. Does that mean Taylor is ready to set up permanent roots?

“They understand how football is,” Taylor said of his family. “Something could happen that they’d have to move, but it would have to be a pretty good job for me to change in the middle of their high school careers.”

UPDATE: I just saw this link on ESPN that had Chris Low, Mark Schlabach and Graham Watson as contributors. It throws a few more names into the ring (and quite honestly, that's an easy thing to do in a coaching search). There are some interesting names out there. I wonder how many are legit and how many are just for message board fodder?

Sources told ESPN.com that Memphis is expected to attempt to hire a high-profile coach. Possible candidates include former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville; Division II North Alabama coach Terry Bowden, another former Auburn coach; Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn; and LSU assistant Larry Porter, the former Memphis running back.

I don't know how many of these guys are serious candidates, but it's certainly interesting to see a whole bunch of Auburn names getting thrown out there.