The coaching carousel is speeding along at a very gentle pace right now with four FBS head coaching jobs there for the taking. The pace will pick up rapidly when (yes, when) the two major openings of Florida and Michigan become available. Before the pace gets too dizzying, we take a look at the best realistic hires for each likely head coach opening.

Job: Florida

Hire: Hugh Freeze, head coach, Ole Miss

While Dan Mullen is the coach with ties to Gainesville, it’s the other coach in Mississippi that is the Florida fit. In short order, Hugh Freeze has taken Ole Miss directly from SEC doormat to national title contender. He’s done it with an engaging recruiting mentality, an exciting on-field product and by corralling a sleeping giant fanbase and gameday atmosphere.

All of those ingredients are factors that Florida is lacking. The Gators haven’t recruited or evaluated well since Urban Meyer’s departure. The offense has been stale at best, inept at worst. The Swamp is as dormant as it’s been since Steve Spurrier came to town.

While Freeze’s offense hasn’t always been a juggernaut, it would be a totally different animal with the personnel he’d be able to attract at Florida. His recruiting chops are up there with anyone in the country and Florida remains a top five job from a recruiting perspective. Sure, he’s built something special at Ole Miss, but Freeze would be crazy not to consider a jump to an easier division, an easier recruiting job with a higher annual ceiling.

Job: Michigan

Hire: Dan Mullen, head coach, Mississippi State

Dan Mullen has taken Mississippi State to heights that it has never seen. If there was ever a time to sell high, it’s this year coming off a national title run by a veteran team. Michigan can chase the Harbaughs all it wants but the best man for the job is in Starkville.

From a personality standpoint, Mullen fits. He may not be a Michigan man or have roots in the Bo Schemechler coaching tree but he’s certainly cut from the same cloth. Who has found success in a more blue collar way than Mullen? Playing in college football’s toughest division, he’s scrapped his way to the top by out-evaluating, out-developing and out-working his competition.

Mullen is a New Hampshire native with coaching stops in the Midwest at both Notre Dame and Bowling Green so recruiting the Midwest shouldn’t be an issue. As an offensive coach with an outstanding track record developing quarterbacks and scoring points, Mullen would inherit a Michigan team whose biggest wart has been consistency and identity at the quarterback position.

Job: Kansas

Hire: David Beaty, WR coach, Texas A&M

There hasn’t been a lot of success historically on the football field at Kansas, but it can be done. Beaty has the right profile to do it again. He’s an offensive guy that knows how to scheme points. At a Kansas program that isn’t typically going to beat the Oklahomas or TCUs of the world by lining up and out-muscling the opponent, you’re going to need a scheme that is attractive to skill guys that can spread defenses out. Beaty can get that done.

When it comes to recruiting the right skill players, Beaty has the resume for that as well. He’s been the recruiting coordinator at Texas A&M for the past two years, among the best recruiting years the Aggies have ever seen. He’s also a dominant recruiting fixture in Dallas due to his high school background and that is an area that Kansas must recruit well. With two stints at Kansas as an assistant, Beaty also knows the landscape of recruiting to Lawrence and should be able to step into the program with an understanding and a plan of how to be successful.

The other aspect that you have to like about Beaty’s profile is that wherever he goes, he seems to be successful. As a wide receiver coach, he developed a basketball player in Mike Evans into a first round draft pick and he’s got one of the best wide receiver groups in the country in College Station annually. At Kansas he helped develop Kerry Meier, a high school quarterback, into a fifth round draft pick and Dezmon Briscoe into a 6th round pick. Prior to that he produced NFL wide receiver at Rice in Jarrett Dillard and James Casey. The pattern of success is easy to follow and that pattern of consistency has been lacking at Kansas.

Job: Troy

Hire: Chris Kiffin, DL coach, Ole Miss

Troy is a much better job than its recent product suggests and Larry Blakeny is to thank for that. With his retirement though, Troy will need a shot in the arm and an energetic young coach is the direction it should turn. In doing that, looking down the road to Oxord, Miss. and Chris Kiffin would be a great move.

Kiffin has a name that would immediately bring some attention to the Troy program and most importantly, he’s one of the nation’s top recruiters. Playing an integral role in the recruitment of program-changers Robert Nkemdiche and Laremy Tunsil, Kiffin would bring some names to Troy that we’re not used to seeing in the Sun Belt. He’d also be the perfect candidate to capitalize on the state of Alabama’s talent. If Auburn or Alabama don’t offer an in-state prospect, they often fly under-the-radar. That’s how players like De’Runnya Wilson at Mississippi State, Jordan Matthews at Vanderbilt or Ameer Abdullah at Nebraska end up slipping away and dominating. Kiffin has the chops to capitalize on those opportunities.

But Kiffin is more than just a recruiter. Ole Miss probably has the best defense in the country this season and a tenacious defensive line is the driving force behind that unit. Whether it is getting the most out of a five-star like Robert Nkemdiche, or finding a recruiting diamond like freshman Marquis Haynes, Kiffin’s defensive line has been nothing but productive in Oxford. With the right offensive coordinator, he’d bring an appealing package to Troy.

Job: SMU

Hire: Chad Morris, offensive coordinator, Clemson

A couple of years ago, Gus Malzahn went from being one of the most high profile head coaching candidates in the country to a Sun Belt head coach at Arkansas State. That ended up working out pretty well for all parties and if I’m SMU I’m making a similar play for Morris.

He’s a perfect fit on SMU’s end. An offensive coach that can jump start the scoring in Dallas. Culturally his offense fits what June Jones has established at SMU. He’s a legendary Texas high school coach that would have tremendous success recruiting the state and would be a hit locally. But he’s also a coach that has developed the brand name to make a splash nationally.

As a popular candidate for head coaching jobs on an annual basis, Morris has become the nation’s highest paid coordinator at more than $1 Million annual salary. That has allowed him to be picky about what job he takes but being back home could be enough of a carrot to reel him in. On SMU’s side, there’s a clear danger of Morris using it as a stepping stone but after the disaster of 2014, Morris would have to leave the program in a much better spot than he found it if he were to find a better opportunity anywhere else.

Job: Buffalo

Hire: Joe Moorehead, head coach, Fordham

Buffalo athletic director Danny White has talked about Buffalo being New York’s program. If he wants to continue to build on that goal Moorehead is the right hire. Moorehead went to the Bronx and turned a 1-10 Fordham team into an FCS championship contender and he did it quickly. From 6-5 in 2012 to 12-2 and an FCS playoff run in 2013, Fordham is off to a 7-1 start in 2014, lighting up the scoreboard along the way.

Moorehead was part of unprecedented success at UConn including a Fiesta Bowl appearance in 2011. He knows offense and he’s been successful everywhere he’s gone. At a MAC program that would struggle to lure a big-name coordinator, Moorehead has the profile to turn things around.

When you look at some of the recent success in the MAC you see Bowling Green is winning with former Eastern Illinois head coach Dino Babers (and former Richmond head coach Dave Clawson before him). Jerry Kill made Northern Illinois a threat after a stint as the head coach at Southern Illinois. Pete Lembo made Ball State relevant after head coaching stints at Elon and Lehigh. Moorehead is a no-brainer to continue that trend.

