Rampant speculation season has taken the place of actual action for the moment, so let’s take a roll in the muck and mire of the Colorado coaching search.

First, there’s the usual suspects. The perpetually insecure Glen Mason has been mentioned, if only briefly, which has got to make Minnesota feel a bit like the soon-to-jilt husband to Mason’s chronically insecure diva of a coach: he takes the program, makes it what it is, and yet consistently flirts with other jobs, including an all-out campaign for the Ohio State job pre-Tressel. A faint lead compared to…

…Dan Hawkins, who has already interviewed for the job, according to The Daily Camera… and now ESPN.com. Hawkins is already in the neighborhood and knows how to coach up talent. Irresponsible armchair psychology would suggest that Hawkins, a young, high-energy coach who’s pushed Boise to the limits of its potential, would suit this job description:

Bohn said he is looking for the Kathy McConnell-Miller of football coaches, a high-energy, people person who will embrace the job and the city of Boulder for years to come.

Ahh, to be the Kathy McConnell-Miller of football coaches.

With a rebel yell, he cried more–more more more more more.

Hawkins seems like the likeliest pick, but two others are already getting sniffs: former Colorado tight end Jon Embree, now assistant head coach at UCLA, and Butch Davis, former Miami head coach and renowned NFL draft expert.