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COLUMBIA, Mo. — The door, as they say, is a revolving one.

After defensive coordinator Blake Baker left Missouri for a return to Louisiana State, the Tigers are now looking to replace their highly regarded assistant coach.

The search comes as a surprise, considering Baker departed just a couple of weeks after signing a three-year contract extension that would have paid him an average salary of $2 million, per a source familiar with the negotiations, putting him among the country’s highest-paid assistant coaches.

But the hunt for a replacement is underway nonetheless.

“Within every obstacle is an opportunity to improve our condition,� MU coach Eli Drinkwitz wrote on X, formerly Twitter, Friday night after Baker’s departure was made official. “Mizzou football is a brotherhood that is strong! Our search for a new leader of Death Row Defense has begun!�

By Saturday morning, Baker’s name had been pulled from Missouri’s coaching staff list.

Mizzou’s next defensive coordinator will be looking to re-tool a defense that held Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl to one of its worst offensive performances in the last several seasons — but is losing key contributors to the NFL. With a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff looking like a legitimate possibility next year, candidates who can swiftly step into the role seem like the most likely mold for Missouri.

Regardless of whether Drinkwitz hires from within his program or looks to an external candidate, money will not be an object in persuading a candidate to take the defensive helm: MU was willing, per a source, to pay Baker even more than the $2 million average salary agreed to in his extension. Opening the coffers to that extent might not be necessary — that financial flexibility stemmed from a strong desire to keep Baker in Columbia — but it does suggest Missouri will be aggressive in pursuing its pick for the position.

Here are three names to watch for during Mizzou’s defensive coordinator search:

DJ Smith, Missouri

At the top of any internal list is DJ Smith, the Tigers’ linebackers coach who also received the Co-Defensive Coordinator title ahead of the 2022 season, around the time of Baker’s hire. Smith is also Mizzou’s recruiting coordinator.

The latter part is key, given the incoming arrival of edge rusher Williams Nwaneri, the nation’s top-ranked defensive prospect, who will enroll ahead of the 2024 season. Smith’s role in the recruiting process would bring some continuity to Missouri’s roster building.

He also, as the co-coordinator, has familiarity with the broader schemes run under Baker, but has never called the shots by himself before.

As a position coach, Smith has developed the likes of Super Bowl winner Nick Bolton, Ty’Ron Hopper and Blaze Alldredge.

Smith followed Drinkwitz to Missouri from Appalachian State, where Smith played in the 2000s and coached linebackers during two Sun Belt Conference championship runs in 2018 and 2019. As a player, Smith was a sixth-round draft pick in 2011 by the Green Bay Packers.

Other internal names to watch include Kevin Peoples, the edge rushers coach and a Broyles Award semifinalist, and cornerbacks coach Al Pogue.

Jim Leonhard, Illinois

Jim Leonhard, currently a senior analyst with Illinois, is young but would bring power conference experience.

At 41, he already has several years of experience as a defensive coordinator after leading Wisconsin’s defense from 2017-2022. Leonhard took charge of the Badgers’ defense early in his coaching career and turned them into one of the nation’s stingiest — landing in the top five total defenses and top 10 in scoring defense in four seasons.

During the 2021 season, Leonhard’s group gave up only 239.1 yards per game, the lowest amount conceded by any Football Bowl Subdivision defense since 2011.

He was Wisconsin’s interim head coach for a stretch of the 2022 season, converting the 2-3 Badgers into a bowl-eligible team.

Leonhard doesn’t have any SEC coaching or playing experience but emerges as a well-thought of defensive mind who might snap up a chance to return to a coordinator role.

Greg Gasparato, Tulane

Hiring Greg Gasparato from Tulane would require another Baker situation, of sorts, to take place. He took the defensive coordinator job with the Green Wave 10 days ago, migrating from Troy.

In his first season as a defensive coordinator, Gasparato turned the Trojans into one of the best Group of Five defenses. He also served as Troy’s interim head coach for a brief time in December.

Gasparato has coached safeties, the position group that fell under Baker’s purview, at Louisville, Army and Appalachian State, where he was on staff with Drinkwitz and Smith in 2019.

That connection to Drinkwitz and an ability to quickly take effective charge of a defense fall under Gasparato’s pros, but coaxing him away from a new job and no experience coaching — much less running a defense — at the SEC level limit the likelihood of his hire.