There are some coaches on the proverbial hot seat, but the 800 lb gorilla is going to be michigan. If Dickrod continues to struggle their fatcat boosters may demand action. Losing a 3rd straight to OSU won't help his longevity, either. A lot of the coaches we'd consider might also be interested in the SCum job. And considering what a monkey-pooh fight michigan's last coaching search was, it might drag out for weeks.
Getting started early could definitely work in our favor, though. I'll give an analogy. Twelve years ago my wife and I were looking for a house in the Crocus Hill 'hood of St. Paul. 1998 was when the real estate market was starting to go crazy. But we hooked up with the best realtor for Summit Ave (search firm), knew exactly what type of house we were looking for (identified candidates), and we were preapproved for a non-contigent offer (had a salary in mind, with boosters lined up). Turned out we found out about our current house before it even went on the market, and had a firm offer in before the open house. The previous owners jumped on it and we had a house we had no business getting (hiring someone like a Peterson or Harbaugh). I was even out of the country on business when all this went down (having an administration that's often out to lunch).
That's the best case scenario for us by jumping the gun (to use your analogy). Lock down a blue chip candidate before it turns into a feeding frenzy with SCum, UGa, and whoever else kicks their coach to the curb in November. Not to mention the chance that a few college coaches might get wooed by the pros. The Vikes might be looking for a new coach if Favre continues to play his age!