Will Muschamp went 28-20 during his four-year stint in Gainesville, which isn’t a bad record on the surface, but when you’re the head coach of the Florida Gators, expectations tend to be a bit higher.

As the Gators head into their season finale against undefeated rival Florida State, the program will likely be looking for a new head coach soon.

Most people feel the Gators have to hit a home run with this hire, so let’s take a look at their top candidates.

Jim Harbaugh – The San Francisco 49ers head coach isn’t expected to stay in with his team past this season. There’s been multiple reports of Harbaugh not being liked in the locker room and so forth. If those reports are true, Florida must pounce on Harbaugh immediately. During his four-year stay at Stanford, Harbaugh led the Cardinal to an Orange Bowl victory, which came during his final season at the collegiate level.

With Harbaugh’s NFL ties, he would surely attract top-notch recruits, and he’s a proven winner at this level.

Art Briles – Want offense? Well, Art Briles just might be the Gators’ guy in Gainesville. Briles has helped Baylor emerge as the most explosive offense in the country. The Bears average 50 points a game, which leads the country, and they’re third in total yards.

The fascinating thing about Briles’ offense is that it came about during his high school coaching career. He realized the traditional ground and pound game wasn’t working, so he decided to implement a spread attack.

“I wanted to have a chance to win,” Briles said. “There wasn’t a lot of people doing it back then.”

With the struggles Florida has endured offensively over the past few seasons, adding Briles wouldn’t be a bad decision at all.

Brian Kelly – Before Kelly bolted Cincinnati for South Bend, he led the Bearcats to the 2008 Orange Bowl. Now, Kelly is in his fifth season as the Notre Dame head coach. There have been a lot of ups and downs during Kelly’s tenure. In 2012, Kelly led the Irish to the BCS National Championship Game against Alabama, where they got stomped 42-14.

Kelly’s time at Notre Dame may not be over, but if you’re Florida, he’s definitely one of the coaches who should be near the top of their list.

When asked about the Florida possibility, Kelly had an interesting response.

“I’m going to Florida — in about two weeks to get some sun,” Kelly said. “I’m getting out of here with this weather — are you kidding me? So you can write that down. I’m going to Florida. Write it down now, get it out there get it on the news waves.”

Dan Mullen – In his sixth year at Mississippi State, Dan Mullen has put the Bulldogs onto the national scene. The Bulldogs are currently ranked fourth, which would put them into the playoff.

But just like any hot coach who turns a small program around, you can expect bigger schools with steeper pockets to come calling. Mullen is a former Gators assistant coach.

Despite Mullen’s Gator ties, he doesn’t feel the program will go after him.

“I think people know that I am happy where I’m at,” Mullen said. “We have great leadership here (at Mississippi State) and I don’t expect to really hear from anyone because they know I’m happy here.”

Kirby Smart – Being the defensive coordinator at Alabama is one of the better coaching gigs in college football, aside from being a head coach. Kirby Smart has been a part of the Alabama program since 2007.

During his first season in Tuscaloosa, Smart served as the defensive backs coach and he was then promoted to the defensive coordinator position.

Smart doesn’t deny the fact that he’d like to be a head coach one day, but he’s not desperate. 

“I could finish my career being a defensive coordinator,” Smart said. “I’d be happy knowing that I had success doing it and I was the best I could be at my job. If the opportunity knocks, then so be it.”

This wouldn’t be the home run hire Florida fans are looking for, but that’s not to say he wouldn’t be successful.

Chad Morris – This offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach has helped guide Clemson to one of the best offenses in the nation. From 2011 to 2013, Clemson along with Baylor are the only FBS schools to have a 3,000-yard passer, 1,000-yard receiver and 1,000-yard rusher every year.

Morris has been inked to SMU and Wake Forest among others over the past year, but Florida would be the big name school that could possibly lure him in. It wouldn’t be a big-name hire, but at least Morris has a pulse, unlike Muschamp.

Clemson has an overall record of 32-8 with Morris on the staff.

At the end of the day, no matter who the Gators hire, all the people want is a winner again in Gainesville.