imHo, schools like UF and Nebraska are in a position to gamble- they could take a shot at a possible 'up and comer' and not lose too much foothold if they flop... UF is in a better position that Nebraska in this regard, but neither are in a 'do or die' situation. A Frost or a Norvell type coach would be who i'd believe they'd most likely target.
all the talk about Kelly is confusing to me... yeah, he did very well at Oregon, but he had little to no real competition out there during that stint. other than that, what has he done? If it's between UF and UCLA who get's him, I hope it's UF... i'd honestly add Kelly to the list of 'gamble' coaches.
Mullen is the only real sure shot coach- his ceiling is 'competitive' and not 'championship certainty', but with him competitiveness is a certainty... which places a team in the eight year cycle most top tier teams are in, but NOT in the four year cycle only a handful of teams enjoy..... certainly not the two year cycle only one team enjoys... but- he would make anyone with any decent resources competitive.
my personal opinion is there is going to be a LOT of poaching really really soon... teams like UF, UT, aTm, UCLA, ect, are going to poach coaches from lower tiered schools- who in turn are going to poach 'up and comers' from the tier below them, who will poach assistants and coordinators from both tiers above them- which will displace the power once again throughout the conferences--- some teams 'lucking out' with their 'discovery' and becoming powers, just to have them poached the following season when top tiers have coaches that don't pan out.
