Cal football: Sonny Dykes reportedly linked to Houston coaching job for third time in five years

As the offseason draws closer, the coaching rumor mill keeps on drawing up new stories.

Or an old story. But it's a familiar one now.

A report from Gridiron Now (run by current college football beat writers) links Sonny Dykes to the Houston coaching job. Again.

But Dykes — who spent three seasons as Louisiana Tech's coach before being hired at Cal — is seeking a contract extension, and his overtures have been rebuffed, for now at least. There are significant academic restrictions in place at Cal, especially when compared to other state schools around the nation, and Dykes also is the lowest-paid coach in the Pac-12.

Insiders tell GN that Dykes — who is a Texas native who coached for 12 years at various levels in the state — would be interested in the Houston job were it to come open. Houston is an AAC member, and while the AAC is a solid league, it isn't nearly as deep as the Pac-12, meaning it's easier to win at Houston than at Cal. In addition, Art Briles, Kevin Sumlin and, presumably, Herman will have shown in the past decade that Houston can be used as a springboard to a "big" job.

This isn't the first time Dykes has been linked to the Houston job. It's happened twice in the previous four years.

• 2011: When he was the coach at Lousiana Tech in his second year, Dykes's name was circulated as a potential candidate to replace Kevin Sumlin when he left for Texas A&M. Dykes eventually signed an extension at Louisiana Tech to end that speculation, although he would eventually bolt for Cal in Year 3.
• 2014: After a disappointing finish, Dykes's name again popped up for the Houston job when their job opened up, and it seems like there was some mutual interest there according to multiple sources.

With Houston standing at 8-0 and competing for a potential New Year's Day bowl bid, Herman is likely to receive multiple offers from Power 5 programs this offseason. Houston could be looking for a coach again, and Dykes's name again pops up.

So maybe it's not Dykes's agent leaking this particular rumor. Maybe someone at Houston just really, really wants to bring Sonny to the Cougars.

I don't know what to make of it. What do you guys think?