In today's Cover 3, I'm preoccupied with the developing coaching searches in Florida and possibly Texas as well as what the latest Florida State disaster tells us about that staff and roster.

1. The obvious solution for Florida

For coaches in search of skill athletes in the sport of football, there is no place in America -- nowhere in the entire world or the known universe -- more heavily stocked with a robust supply than the 65,000 square miles inside the state of Florida.

With that kind of habitat at its disposal, the big three programs in the state would appear to be at a huge advantage given their location, and yet, neither Florida, Florida State nor Miami have turned to the most skill-friendly offensive system in college football to leverage the stacked deck: the spread.

At this point in the evolution of college football, even the term "spread," feels cliched. Almost everyone incorporates some spread elements. This is no longer Chip Kelly innovating Oregon into national contention while the rest of college football stands flat-footed. But since Urban Meyer's departure from Florida, the big three in the state have been the pillars to a bastion for pro-style offenses.

Will Muschamp left the Nick Saban coaching tree and turned to Charlie Weis followed by Brent Pease. They tried to transform Meyer's skill players into a physical pro-style system to complement the defense Muschamp was building. By the time he hired Kurt Roper to modernize things, it was too late. Any spread element was scaled back with the hire of McElwain and his offensive coordinator, Doug Nussmeier. Like Muschamp, McElwain and Nussmeier brought the Saban blueprint to Gainesville, and like so many others before them, it didn't translate offensively.

Under Al Golden, Miami trotted out Jedd Fisch and James Coley, both guys with NFL roots and pro-style mentalities. The offense was never dynamic despite the access to the most dynamic players in the country. With Mark Richt's arrival in Coral Gables, successful though he's been, the pro-style lives on.

At Florida State under Jimbo Fisher, another Sabanite did find success with the pro-style mentality by riding Jameis Winston to a national title and emerging as the dominant team in the state, reasserting the Seminoles as national powers. But even Fisher has stumbled this year with a system that hasn't aged well amid injuries and fresh faces and is currently ranked No. 123 nationally in scoring.

So now, with Florida looking for its next coach, I'm not just alerting Gainesville to the obvious opportunity here, I'm pleading with athletic director Scott Stricklin: Give us a fast-paced, skill-centric product and let's have some fun.

Among the in-state programs, Scott Frost hasn't had the pick of the litter in the state of Florida. He gets fourth pick -- at best -- to lure speedy playmakers to his offense at UCF and inherited a ton of players when he took over the Knights. But with that fourth pick, he's assembled the most explosive offense in college football, the No. 1 scoring unit, the No. 2 team in yards per play and an undefeated record after taking over a winless team.

What if you gave Frost the first pick in the state at a program like Florida? What could his pace, tempo and play calling accomplish? But let's not even limit this to his style, which is quarterback-run-friendly and maintains some land-air balance. What would Mike Leach do with a Florida roster? Nobody seemed to mind pass-happy Florida with an eccentric head coach when Steve Spurrier was at the helm. Why would there be any hesitation of resurrecting that kind of fun?

Roll the ball out and let the athletes be athletes. We've been overthinking this thing for too long.

2. The complicated Kevin Sumlin situation

It was surprising to me when everyone began anointing Kevin Sumlin's 2017 season some rebirth after a 5-2 start. A close win over Nicholls State, an overtime win over what has become a bad Arkansas team, a close win over an average South Carolina out of the East, and a close win over a bad Florida team that keeps getting worse were hardly confidence-inspiring. In fact, the most impressive showing over the first seven games may have been A&M's close loss to Alabama, a feat no one has sniffed before or after.

Give credit where it's due. Sumlin got a true freshman quarterback ready, the defense has been stout, and the offense evolved over the course of that early season stretch. But the knock on Sumlin has never been an inability to start. It's been an inability to finish. Excluding his first season in College Station, Texas, Sumlin's record over the first seven games of the season collectively has been 26-8. His record for the rest of the regular season, including Saturday's loss to Mississippi State, is 10-11. That back end of the schedule is when the Aggies get into the meat of the SEC West, and that's where A&M is anxious to be competitive.

As things stand today, A&M is a 15-point underdog to Auburn this weekend. It's likely an underdog at LSU to close the season. Ole Miss has found a second wind and looks like a dangerous opponent as well. If Sumlin wins two of his final four games, he's looking at a 7-5 regular season at a program that made it very clear prior to the season that 8-4 wasn't going to cut it.

We're in for a familiar refrain in College Station, and if all that pre-season bluster was valid, things seem to be trending towards a coaching change. But with Florida open, Tennessee on the brink and even Arkansas suddenly a possible option, where does A&M fall in the food chain? And after a season that saw PJ Fleck, Willie Taggart and Matt Rhule all climb in ranks, this is a reload year in the Group of Five coaching ranks. There isn't quite the inventory of appealing coaches. Does A&M have the appeal to lure a sitting Power Five coach? Are Mike Norvell at Memphis or Chad Morris at SMU big enough names? If so, would Norvell, who played at Central Arkansas, choose College Station instead of waiting out Fayetteville, Arkansas?

If Sumlin upsets Auburn this weekend, he can save his administration a tough coaching search this season even if he has to face a 9-3 ultimatum once again next year.

3. A troubling difference between Florida State, Notre Dame

This has been a redemption season for Brian Kelly in a lot of ways. All of his new coaching hires have been home runs. He's taken a step back and let his coaches coach. His teams have performed well on the biggest stages and he's in playoff contention one year after a 4-8 season. This has been a disheartening season for Jimbo Fisher in a lot of ways. Despite a talented roster, Florida State is sitting at 2-5 due to a rash of injuries, a stagnant coaching staff, an inability to finish in close games and a sluggish offense.

Fisher could take solace in Kelly's 2016 season through the first six games. With close losses at every turn, Fisher's team was a few plays from 5-1, and even if the light at the end of the tunnel was dimming for this season, he could build on next season and point to Notre Dame's turnaround and playoff push as the inevitable next step. Then Friday night happened and Florida State lost 35-3 to an average Boston College team, and we simultaneously earned a little more respect for Kelly and developed a lot more concern for Florida State.

Among Notre Dame's eight losses last year, only one came by more than a single score and that was at the end of the year against a peaking USC team. That team battled all season long. The defense was a mess, and the offense was inconsistent but there was never a no-show game. That's a credit to Kelly and makes this year's turnaround that much less surprising.

On Friday, Florida State no-showed. There are plenty of excuses for that roster to be disengaged, and they exercised them all. Boston College was more physical, more engaged, more disciplined, just better. That's not something that ever happened with Kelly's squad. I consider it more of a credit to him and that Notre Dame roster than a discredit to Fisher and his roster. That's hard. Playing hard amid that kind of disappointment is a challenge. But it's a failure of leadership that it didn't take place, and it's a further testament to the necessary and inevitable shake-up within that Seminoles coaching staff.