When Florida fired Billy Napier Sunday, it instantly became the most attractive vacancy in already expanding pool. 

Who makes sense to lead the Gators back to glory? 

Virtually every conversation the FootballScoop staff has had in recent weeks — even pre-dating the formal, inevitable dismissal Sunday of Napier as first reported by FootballScoop — features college coaches around the country, as well as agents in all corners of these United States, saying this Gator crawl begins and ends with Lane Kiffin.

Now, even the Ol’ Ball Coach himself, Steve Spurrier, is beginning to make the media rounds to weigh in.

And for all of Dan Mullen’s offensive moxie, Kiffin represents Florida’s best chance to recreate Spurrier.

Verbally, Kiffin is Spurrier — if not his superior. As much as Spurrier ridiculed and taunted Peyton Manning, Phillip Fulmer and the Tennessee Vols … it’s hard to recall him ever cracking about Fulmer burning calories on the sideline.

That’s Kiffin, needling Georgia’s Kirby Smart last week in advance of those two teams’ instant-classic matchup between the hedges won by Smart’s Bulldogs.

It’s Kiffin asking in the preseason who’s going to call plays for Auburn on fourth down, since the Tigers’ coaching staff headed by Hugh Freeze admitted an unorthodox if not wholly nonsensical approach to calling plays on first, second and third downs.

But who makes sense if Kiffin stays put in quaint, little Oxford, Mississippi?

It’s Drinkwitz who also is an offensive-minded coach who’s changed narratives, not to mention the entire football program at Missouri and, oh, by the way, worked with the Missouri State Legislature to also usher in user-friendly Name, Image and Likeness legislation.

This stuff matters more than ever in this era of college football.

Beyond Drinkwitz? Team FootballScoop dives into Louisville’s Jeff Brohm, Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman, Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck and Tulane’s Jon Sumrall.

Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck is going to be a major factor in multiple coaching searches in this cycle. Florida? Penn State? UCLA?

Fleck is going to get a look or looks, and he’s earned them. The dude wins with less, regardless if he’s viewed as polarizing or gimmicky with his ‘Row the Boat’ mantra. Fleck owns six-straight bowl wins, as well as an 11-win season at Minnesota and an 13-win season at Western Michigan.

He makes smart hires, which is why he’s lost coordinators in recent years to college football’s so-called blue bloods, including defensive coordinator Corey Heatherman, the architect of the Miami Hurricanes’s stingy unit. 

Another offensive mind to consider? Louisville coach Jeff Brohm. Don’t assume Brohm want leave the comfort and hero-worship he’s deservedly garnered in his native Louisville. He’s an elite ball coach who’s never had a truly elite platform.

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