- Tony Hernandez: Hernandez worked his way up the athletic department when Paul Dee was the athletic director. People around the UM program respect Hernandez for being highly intelligent and he knows what a successful football program is supposed to look like. He is currently the Deputy Director of Athletics at Texas Tech under former UM athletic director Kirby Hocutt. He served as Miami’s interim athletic director when Hocutt left for Texas Tech.
- Tom Jurich: You won’t find a potential candidate with a better resume of success than Jurich, who pushed Louisville’s athletic department to new heights. Jurich was Louisville’s athletic director from 1997-2017 and during his time he hired Rick Pitino as the basketball coach and played a big part in the football program getting to the ACC and making hires like Bobby Petrino and Charlie Strong. Louisville’s baseball program also took a step forward with his leadership. Jurich also vastly improved Louisville’s facilities during his time there. Jurich was placed on unpaid leave in 2017 after the Louisville basketball program was implicated in a FBI investigation. On May 18, 2018 the board of trustees agreed to a $4.5 million settlement with Jurich that cleared him of any wrong doing and phrased his termination as "retirement".
- Pat Chun: Chun hired Lane Kiffin as the athletic director at FAU, which is an interesting connection point. He is now the athletic director at Washington State. Chun worked his way up the ranks in the Ohio State athletic department, working 15 yards in Columbus, Ohio. He understands what a successful athletic department is supposed to look like.
- Jeff Purinton: Currently the Executive Deputy Athletics Director at Alabama. He is essentially No. 2 man to athletic director Greg Byrne. Purinton currently serves as the sports administrator for Alabama’s football team as well as men’s and women’s golf. He previously oversaw Alabama basketball. At one point, Purinton was believed to be in the mix for the FSU athletic director job.
- Alonzo Highsmith: The former UM running back has worked in NFL front offices and understands the business side of sports in addition to how to run athletics. Highsmith would understand what a winning football program looks like. Whether or not Highsmith is hired as the athletic director, there is a belief that he should be working within the UM athletic department as someone that oversees the football program.
- Gino Torretta: The former Heisman Trophy winner would check two boxes for the athletic director position: 1.) He understands the athletics side of leading an athletic department and specifically what a winning football program is supposed to look like. 2.) He understands the financial side of running an operation. Torretta’s post football career has centered around finances and asset management.
- It is hard to ignore the potential Columbus High School connection to the program moving forward…Jose Mas is a Board of Trustees member that deeply cares about UM athletics. He also attended Columbus with Mario Cristobal. Marcus Lemonis is a booster that also attended Columbus. Alonzo Highsmith is a Columbus alum. Cristobal’s right hand man, offensive line coach Alex Mirabal, also attended Columbus. These connection points are interesting.
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