First call has to be to Flip. There's a chance he's looking to already get out that sour situation in Washington. He just might take it. If not, then, there are "power conference" guys who have succeeded that would take this job. I think those are who we look at. The list should include:
1) Scott Drew - Baylor...tireless recruiter who isn't afraid to ruffle feathers to get the job done. Pushes the envelope which could scare some. I frankly think we need that here. Minnesota could pay more than Baylor and is a better job than Baylor. It'd get him back to his midwestern roots, which includes recruiting hotbed Indiana.
2) Tony Bennett - Virginia...young, go-getter, excellent recruiter, great Xs and Os, plays a much faster style than his dad, total Big Ten guy. Would likely settle down and stay put here.
3) Mark Turgeon - Texas A&M...excellent coach, has done well at A&M. Big 8/Big 12 guy, though.
4) Craig Robinson - Oregon State...Obama's brother-in-law; late-bloomer coach, excellent recruiter with big ties to Chicago, wants to return to the midwest.
5) Kevin Stallings - Vanderbilt...a one-time Gopher commit as a player who instead went to Purdue. Would he now come to Minnesota? He's was a winner at his previous stop (Illinois State) and was an assistant at Kansas and Purdue.
Wild Card candidates (unlikely to happen):
1) Billy Gillespie (if he's on the wagon and clean, he can flat out coach)
2) Rich Majerus (will have St. Louis into the Big Dance next year)
3) Steve Lavin (big name, Big Ten ties, KNOWS the Big Ten, having basically gotten all the scoop from every coach for the past seven years as a TV guy)
4) Kevin McHale (was an NBA head coach, likable guy, may want to rebuild his image)
For whatever reason, I'm opposed to mid-major guys at this point. It is basically a 50-50 proposition with them...a coin flip as to whether they succeed or not. For those thinking Brad Stevens would be the guy, look up Barry Collier at Nebraska and Todd Lickliter at Iowa - the two long-term Butler coaches prior to Stevens. Thad Matta was there one year. He took the Xavier job then won the lottery and got the OSU job.
Rip away