We’ve heard the names. We’ve heard the reasons. We’ve heard the restrictions.

Florida AD Scott Stricklin has laid out his vision. If you don’t know the quickest path to the end zone, don’t bother texting him.

Who will the Gators hire as their next head coach is an entirely different question from who should the Gators hire? The Gators’ search obviously is something we’ve been discussing all week.

Neil Blackmon, Florida beat writer: The safe hire is Dan Mullen, who knows the state of Florida, knows the SEC, and has won national championships as a coordinator with the Gators in 2006 and 2008.

Mullen, only 45, has a surprising number of detractors, who point to his quarterback-reliant system, perceived recruiting limitations and record against ranked opponents. His wife’s comments about Gainesville don’t help, either.

But these folks often ignore just how difficult it is to win consistently at Mississippi State, which has the perception, fair or no, of being the toughest place to win big in the SEC. Mullen has won almost 8 games a year, led the school to a No. 1 ranking and an Orange Bowl, coached Dak Prescott, found Nick Fitzgerald and beaten his rival five of eight years. That’s a good resume before you factor in his lengthy list of successful quarterbacks.

Florida would do fine with Mullen, but after seven years in the mud under Muschamp and McElwain, is this the time for Florida to be safe?

I don’t think so, and it is why I think you hire Scott Frost away from Central Florida.

He’s turned an 0-12 team into a New Year’s Six contender in a year and a half, all while playing a bunch of freshmen and sophomores he recruited and guiding the nation’s No. 2 S&P+ efficiency offense.

And it isn’t like UCF is doing it with smoke and mirrors. No one’s been close except Navy, who Frost’s team still beat by double digits. If Stricklin wants to win big quickly, this is the play. Frost will receive overtures from Nebraska, but he’s one of the rising stars in the profession and feels the most like Urban Meyer, who took the Florida job in 2005 in large part because he knew it was a better gig than traditional power Notre Dame. Frost might listen to his head over his heart.

Michael Bratton, news editor: Chip Kelly.

Florida’s AD said he wanted to make Florida football fun again and there’s no available coach who would make the Gators more fun to watch than the former Oregon coach. Kelly’s Oregon offenses excelled thanks to the select few high caliber athletes he was able to lure from states like California and Texas. If he took the Florida job, he’d have the ability to land a nearly infinite supply of great athletes from the Sunshine State — many of whom dream of playing in the Orange and Blue.

Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

If Florida is serious about contending for SEC and national titles immediately, there’s no better option than a coach who has proven he can achieve similar goals in the Pac-12 during his four years as head coach. Moving the Gators away from a pro-style offense and back toward a spread-based attack would also give Florida an edge on players interested in playing in a wide open offense, as opposed to the pro-style offenses employed at FSU and Miami.

This move makes too much sense not to make. As a Tennessee grad, no Florida hire would scare more than Chip Kelly.

Jon Cooper, director of operations: Scott Frost. You make him the No. 1 target, and you figure out what it takes to get him in Gainesville. Oh, but what about the Nebraska job, you ask? This is a business decision that parallels Urban Meyer’s decision.

When Florida hired Meyer away from Utah, he had a chance to go to Notre Dame — his dream job, too. But he knew he could get the top talent in the country at Florida, knew the roster was adequate to win now and made the business decision to come to Gainesville. That’s what Frost will do, too. He already has ties in the state recruiting-wise, and he’s only moving a couple hours up I-75.

Florida needs a young, hungry, energetic and offensive-minded coach. Dan Mullen is a nice hire, but it’s boring. It’s also safer. There’s obviously more risk with a Frost hire, but I also believe there is more upside, too. Frost could win at Florida for the next 20 years. The Nebraska job will also come open again a couple more times at some point, and he can always have that homecoming later in life.

For now, it’s a business decision.

Chris Wright, executive editor: Frost might be the guy Florida hires, but he isn’t the guy Florida should hire.

Stricklin wants fun. Stricklin wants points. Stricklin wants Spurrier 2.0.

Lane Kiffin is all of that and a Twitter master.

Frost or Chad Morris might score 40 on Georgia, but Kiffin is liable to pull a Spurrier and take a selfie with the scoreboard in the background, with a hashtag that insults Tennessee, too.

Nobody since Spurrier pokes the bear quite like Lane Kiffin.

The idea of Kiffin vs. Kirby Smart every year for the next decade? Sign me up. Now.