Fuente is the guy that makes the most sense from that list, based on our recent history.
We can afford him. He's use to coaching in a regular city, not a college town. And he also coached at TCU, which is similar to Miami.
I know Hudspeth gets a ton of love on this site. But I actually heard him use "the wind" as a factor in one of his loses on their website. Huge jump coming from ULL to Miami, IMO. Definitley bigger than coming from Memphis.
IMO, we should just pay Dan Mullen $4.5MM to leave Miss State, and let Hudspeth replace him. Both seem like they would be better fits for the universities in that scenario.
But short us paying big money, pay Fuente $2.5MM, and hope he's the next "up and comer". And if he is, pay whatever it takes to keep him ... Knowing that we saved about $2MM per year on his first deal.
Of current head coaches, my guess at likely candidates (not necessarily my preference) would be:
1. Gundy (Oklahoma St)
2. Tubberville (Cincinnati)
3. Rodriguez (Arizona)
4. Holgerson (West Virginia)
5. Kingsbury (Texas Tech)
6. Pinkel (Missouri)
7. Hudspeth (UL-Lafayette)
8. Malzahn (Auburn)
9. Mullen (Mississippi State)
10. Stoops (Kentucky)
11. McNeill (East Carolina)
12. Fuente (Memphis)