It’s an audition and finale rolled into one.

And a really good chance for Tulsa to get another victory in what has been an extremely disappointing season.

Tulsa (3-8, 1-6 AAC) is playing a struggling Florida Atlantic (2-9, 0-7) Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. in a battle of teams playing with interim head coaches after their coaches were fired during the season.

The firing almost a week ago of second-year Tulsa coach Kevin Wilson brought some shockwaves along with hope of Tulsa getting a new coach that can turn things around after three consecutive losing seasons.

Ryan Switzer takes over for the final week as interim Golden Hurricane coach knowing he isn’t going to be getting the job full-time. But this week is a chance for the guy who coached receivers that last two years for TU, as well as being the recruiting coordinator, to audition for either a continued assistant job at TU or at another university.

A highly thought of coach and recruiter, the 30-year-old Switzer, a 5-year veteran of the NFL, including being a 4th round draft choice by the Dallas Cowboys who returned a punt for a TD for the Cowboys, will have little trouble getting a job in college football after FAU game, regardless of the outcome.

“There is a great focus among the guys. I think they are singularly focused on what we’re trying to get done,” Switzer said. “I think they’ve bought in to my plan knowing that I have their back.

“One week or not, I do not take lightly the challenge of the task I’ve been called to do. It’s a tremendous opportunity for me.

“I want to say thank you to coach Wilson. Coach Wilson, he trusted me, he took a chance on me. And I’m thankful for that.”

The interesting part will be who ends up on the roster when fall camp rolls around in 2025. It wouldn’t be surprising to see half the roster or more turned over, depending on the coach.

Will Tulsa's coaching search turn to fan favorites it passed on two years ago, who probably should have gotten the job? Or will it be one of new AD Justin Moore’s connections from his Texas A&M days? Or someone completely off the radar, like Steve Kragthorpe was in perhaps the most brilliant hire in TU history for the 2003 football season that completely resurrected a dying program?

Whoever the new hire is, the season finale becomes more interesting, and interest is there as it always is when a new coaching hire is about to happen.

Obviously, most, if not all, of the current staff will be elsewhere before 2025 rolls around. The new coaching hire likely won’t take long. If anyone thinks Moore didn’t already have a list of go-to coaches ready to go long before the decision on Wilson was made, they are sorely mistaken.

There is a plan. New coaches may pop up unexpectedly, but rest assured, there is a plan. With early signing day beginning on Dec. 4, there had better be a plan to get it done quickly. Without a quality new transfusion of players, it won’t matter much who is the new coach.