Despite having a 22-12 record and winning the SEC East Division in both of his full seasons as head coach, Jim McElwain won’t make it through a third year with the Florida Gators. He reportedly has been released from his duties and is negotiating buyout terms after a tumultuous season that started with nearly a dozen players suspended and criminally charged for fraudulent credit card usage and ended in a week where he claimed death threats and suffered a 42-7 blowout loss to rival Georgia.

McElwain won some games and did some things right. There were exciting moments in his tenure, including the Gators’ goal-line stand against LSU in a 16-10 victory in 2016 and the Hail Mary finish in a 26-20 win against Tennessee this year.

And it wasn’t necessarily that McElwain didn’t win enough … but he didn’t win with flair. And that’s the thing about the Florida job: The fans like to win a certain way – they like lots of offense and points and big numbers and Heisman contenders. Winning is nice, but winning like Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer is preferred. Will Muschamp had an 11-2 season at Florida and the Gators struggled to sell out games because he was boring.

So the Gators’ next coach has to get the program back to a competitive, elite status and do it the way Gators fans like.

Drum roll please  … here are your candidates, starting with the top of the wish list:

Dan Mullen, Mississippi State head coach

There are a lot of ties here. Mullen was the Gators’ offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach for their BCS championship teams in 2006 and 2008. He’s a quarterbacks guy with Tim Tebow, Dak Prescott and eventually draft pick Nick Fitzgerald to his name. He’s familiar with the conference. Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin was his AD at Mississippi State. He’s still very young, 45, and would likely have a long-term commitment to Florida if he accepted the job.

On the flip side, the expectations at Florida are much different from Mississippi State. The media eye is much sharper. Whereas Mullen could get away with suspending Jeffery Simmons for just one game after film emerged of him beating up a woman at Mississippi State, he wouldn’t get off so easy at Florida given the program’s sensitivity to numerous disturbing off-field incidents under Meyer and McElwain.

The fans will nitpick at everything he does from recruiting rankings to uniform selection. This isn’t saying that Mississippi State’s fan base doesn’t have its own unreal expectations or demands, but it’s Disneyland compared to Florida.

He makes a lot of money right now without the pressure of winning every game and might not want to deal with it. Florida is a program set up to win championships (plural), but the fans are never happy. It’s a lot for Mullen to think about. But if he’s offered the job, I’d be shocked if he said no.

Scott Frost, UCF head coach

A lot of Florida fans are interested in Frost, and for good reason. He’s taken a UCF team that was 0-12 in 2015 and has them undefeated and hunting a New Year’s Six Bowl.

He’s a former quarterback and a coach who likes to put points on the board and do it at a maddening pace. To be honest, Frost might be the kick in the pants the SEC needs to get off hiring from the Nick Saban coaching tree of clones who want to do it like Saban but don’t have Saban’s ability.

Frost will have a lot of coaching options from Power 5 schools, including Tennessee and his alma mater at Nebraska. Frost already has a recruiting base in Florida and a staff of young, aggressive coaches who would likely jump at the opportunity to fill the Gators roster with speed and talent.

Some Florida fans would probably question if the Gators should go after another “rising” coach from the mid-majors, but Frost might be more Meyer than McElwain and they don’t want to miss out on the next big thing.

Mike Norvell, Memphis head coach

A few outlets reported that Norvell is the top name for the job; that is a possibility. Norvell is another young guy, 36, who has had a lot of stops and a good resume in a short period of time. He is a quarterbacks guy and he’s got Memphis at 7-1, ranked in the Top 25 and in contention for a New Year’s Six Bowl.

Norvell, who was born outside Dallas, went to school at Central Arkansas and is coaching in Memphis, so he has an idea of the landscape that surrounds him, but he’s not a native SEC guy, per say.

Norvell will have other options and likely other options in the SEC (Ole Miss, Tennessee and Arkansas, especially) so this might not come without some serious negotiations and competition.

Chip Kelly, ESPN analyst

Kelly’s name should be on the short list, but there’s a feeling that he’d be a better fit for another job because of personal preference. Texas A&M, Tennessee, Ole Miss or a Big 12 or Pac-12 job seem more like his style. Kelly’s personality leads itself more to building winners than trying to inherit winning situations and dealing with the comparisons.

The first time he would be compared to Spurrier or Meyer would be tough for his ego to deal with. Will Florida show some interest? Possibly. Would he deal with it for the right price? Absolutely. But it doesn’t seem like the best personality match. On the field, Chip Kelly with Florida athletes would be must-see TV.

Willie Taggart, Oregon head coach

Would it be one and done for Taggart at Oregon? Sure. Florida is his home state — he played football at Manatee High School in Bradenton. It took a couple of years to turn around South Florida, but once he did the “Gulf Coast offense” was as explosive as any in the league. Where better to continue the Gulf Coast offense than back on the Gulf Coast and with the Gators? There’s little doubt that if Taggart was offered the job he’d quickly agree to it.

Secondary candidates

Bob Stoops, former Oklahoma coach

Stoops was the Gators’ defensive coordinator from 1996-1998 and turned down the Florida job in 2002, 2005, 2011 and 2014. Some Gators fans are hoping a fifth time is a charm, but it appears like Stoops is happy in retirement and continuing to do promotional work for Oklahoma football in his spare time. He told ESPN last month he was never coaching again. Take that for what it’s worth. He will get a phone call and probably say “thanks, but no thanks” for a fifth time.

Chad Morris, SMU head coach

Morris has held one college job outside of Texas and that was his stint as offensive coordinator at Clemson. He will be in a Power 5 job sooner than later but Texas A&M and Arkansas seem more likely for where he wants to be and where he wants to have roots at.

Matt Campbell, Iowa State head coach

Went 35-15 at Toledo and has Iowa State on the cusp of a New Year’s Six bowl game after upset wins over two top-10 programs. If Florida doesn’t like what they get from their first list, Campbell would be a serious possibility.

Mike Bobo, Colorado State head coach

Doesn’t seem likely that Florida will shake the Colorado State coaching tree again, but stranger things have happened and the former Georgia quarterback is heading for bigger and better things.

Charlie Strong, USF head coach

Strong has coached at Florida on four occasions totaling 12 years. He has a lot of fans within the fan base and some detractors.

Joe Moorhead, Penn State offensive coordinator

Surprisingly this name was tossed around amongst a crowd of pretty knowledgable people a few days ago and the response was positive. If the top list doesn’t work out there could be some momentum for Moorhead.