The latest: Florida finalizing a deal with Mullen

------

* Alley: What a Florida coaching staff member is saying

* Alley: What ITG has been given as far as a timeline

* Have the players and commits been notified of a hire?

* 30 DAY FREE TRIAL OFFER (PROMO CODE Gators30)

* Landry Q&A breakdown on the candidates I

* Landry Q&A breakdown on the candidates II

* Coaching Candidates Hotboard 2.0

-----

ESPN's Chris Low reports that Florida is finalizing a deal with Mullen.

Scott LaPeer of TV20 and the Gainesville Sun reports that Mullen could become the second-highest paid coach in the SEC.

The chatter around Mullen is picking up steam Sunday. Yahoo! Sports' Pete Thamel expects a decision by the end of the day.

The interest appears to be mutual. In a report about the Tennessee coaching search, USA Today's Dan Wolken noted that Mullen wants to see what happens with Florida's search.

With his SEC experience and time at Florida as an assistant, Mullen has been mentioned as a potential candidate from the start of the search. Many latched onto comments from Mullen's wife about living in Gainesville and rumors of the coach's relationship with Stricklin to dismiss his candidacy for the job. If Wolken's reporting is accurate, it appears he wants the job. According to FootballScoop.com, Stricklin has always considered his former colleague a viable candidate for the job.

The biggest news of Saturday was that UCLA made it official with Kelly. The former Oregon and NFL coach agreed to a reported five-year, $23.3million deal.

With Kelly officially off the board, Florida's attention turns to Frost. Look no further than ESPN to see that opinions vary greatly on where Frost will end up.

College GameDay host Kirk Herbstreit said he would be "shocked" if Frost did not become the Gators' next head coach.

“One thing, as I’m just sitting here listening, watching UCF yesterday — Scott Frost,” Herbstreit said during the broadcast. “Remember that Scott Frost working with Chip Kelly, and that offense that he’s running right now. Can you image that in Gainesville or wherever he might end up? Because it’s very similar."

His primetime broadcast partner Chris Fowler had a different Frost prediction.

The Nebraska job officially came open on Saturday when Cornhuskers coach Mike Riley was fired. In the same press conference, Nebraska athletic director Bill Moos did not shy away from talking about Frost, who played at Nebraska from 1995-97.

“Scott Frost, and I’ve said this to the media, is a very good football coach,” Moos said, per the Lincoln Journal Star. “He’s in the heat of trying to win a conference championship. He’s obviously a Nebraskan, and he’s getting a lot of attention from several other schools. Scott is someone that I am considering, but I’m being very sensitive to the fact that he’s still coaching a team and he’s having a heck of a run. I saw the very end of his game (Friday) night from my suite here, and that kickoff return, that was pretty special. But I’ve never said I was going after Scott Frost. A lot of other people have. And I can let you read my emails sometimes, that I should be going after Scott Frost.

“But you know what? That’s a tribute to Nebraskans. He’s one of ours, played for us and has gone on and paid his dues. He’s got a good job that I believe he really likes, but he’s got a lot of interest in him right now.”

Fowler isn't alone on Frost to Nebraska. Bleacher Report senior writer Lars Anderson, formerly of Sports Illustrated for 20 years, tweeted Friday night that Frost to the Cornhuskers was a "done deal."

Anderson, from Lincoln, Neb., boasts of knowing Frost personally.

Following UCF's 49-42 win over USF, Frost was asked about the reports that he will be meeting with Florida on Sunday.

Stricklin returned to Gainesville Friday evening from a trip to Mississippi to spend Thanksgiving with family, according to SEC Country's Ryan Young.

Yahoo! Sports Pat Forde reports that Florida is out of the race for Kelly. According to Forde, Florida officials were in contact with Kelly after meeting him Sunday, but a deal was not made.

Forde reports that UCF coach Scott Frost will likely be the top target. The full article can be read here.

Prior to Forde's report, FootballScoop.com also posted that they expected Kelly to choose UCLA, citing sources in the coaching. Football Scoop's report included a disclaimer that their sources were not tied to Kelly, agents or Florida/UCLA administrators.

At 4:04 p.m. ET, ESPN published a report from Mark Schlabach and Edward Aschoff stating Florida will meet with Frost this weekend. The report also listed Mississippi State's Dan Mullen, West Virginia's Dana Holgorsen, Washington State's Mike Leach and Oregon's Willie Taggart as candidates.

A source told CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd that Kelly is expected to decide by Sunday. The CBS report states that Kelly and Florida are currently in a non-binding agreement, as was reported by Heitner earlier in the day.

Dodd reports that Florida and Kelly are going back on forth on which coaches from the current staff would be kept if Kelly comes to UF. Interim coach Randy Shannon is reportedly one of the coaches being discussed.

A UCLA website on the 247Sports network reported that sources in the coaching and agent communities indicated that Kelly has chosen UCLA, but the report was taken down.

Wednesday offered a flurry of updates on Kelly. USA Today's George Schroeder published a report with a slew of new details.

According to Schroeder, Kelly is reportedly being offered in the $6 million range and has already turned down interest from Tennessee and Nebraska. The former Pac-12 coach is, however, interested in what happens at Arizona State.

Schroeder says brand rivalry could also play a role in Kelly's decision. Kelly is close to Nike founder and Oregon megabooster Phil Knight. UCLA is an Under Armour school, a "bitter rival" of Nike.

ESPN.com reported Kelly with UCLA in Los Angeles on Tuesday. The article, with a byline of "ESPN news services" states Kelly is not expected to consider any other jobs and will decide within the next few days.

Former UCLA and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman is a member of UCLA's search committee and said to be "putting on a full-court press" for Kelly.

FOX Sports/Sports Illustrated reporter Bruce Feldman, reports that the meeting was not in Los Angeles.

ESPN.com also spoke to Kelly's former boss, Mike Bellotti. In 2007, Kelly became Oregon's offensive coordinator when Bellotti was the head coach. In 2009, Bellotti took over as athletic director and Kelly was promoted to head coach.

The latest from sports attorney and UF alumnus Darren Heitner may answer why Florida media and insiders were confident that an agreement with Kelly was reached on Sunday, but the coach met with UCLA this week.

FootballScoop.com is reporting that a UCLA contingent has met with Kelly. The site also reports that another unnamed school has alerted Kelly about a potential opening. All three parties have let Kelly know that "time is of the essence."

As with Forde's earlier report, Football Scoop says Florida has not moved on from Kelly and is still waiting for the coach to make a decision on the offer.

Pat Forde of Yahoo! Sports reports that Florida is preparing to widen its search if an agreement with Kelly is not reached soon. Similar to SB Nation's reporting, Forde's source says that UF and Kelly did not reach an agreement at their Sunday meeting. Forde reports that if an agreement is not reached by Thanksgiving, Florida may begin to target other candidates such as UCF coach Scott Frost and Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen.

SB Nation is reporting from multiple sources that no offer has been made to Kelly. The article is written by Richard Johnson, a UF alumnus who has previously worked the Gator beat.

Johnson's article examines Kelly's past timelines in making big decisions as well as why Florida took multiple administrators, including school president Dr. Kent Fuchs to meet Kelly.

During the workday, there were little updates on the prospects of Kelly going to Florida. The media conversation centered around the newest Power 5 opening: UCLA.

UCLA fired coach Jim Mora on Sunday. Kelly's geographic ties vary as he is both a native and current resident of New Hampshire. The last NFL coaching jobs were with San Francisco and Philadelphia. There is going to be speculation in Kelly's potential interest in returning to the Pac-12 after going 46-7 at Oregon.

Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke told Paul Finebaum he doesn't see it happening.

Plaschke is not alone in thinking Kelly and UCLA make an unlikely union. So if not, UCLA, why wasn't Kelly announced Monday in Gainesville?

Martin isn't the only Florida reporter who thinks Kelly's NFL contacts could be the holdup. If Florida considers its season over upon the completion of the FSU game, it may protect Kelly from potentially having to give up a portion of his buyout. Kelly was fired from his last two NFL coaching gigs in Philadelphia and San Francisco.

Ryan Young of SEC Country reported from Ocala, where Florida's plane to New Hampshire to meet with Kelly landed on Sunday night.

Later reports state that a deal has yet to be reached.

Fawbush also stated that his information did not come from his father, Andy Fawbush, the president of the UAA.

Inside the Gators has also heard that a deal had been reached, but that Kelly will not be flying to Gainesville on Sunday evening. An official announcement is expected soon, but Kelly may not officially meet with the media until later in the week.

On Sunday evening, numerous Florida players began tweeting the exact same emoji, as seen below, indicating the team may have been alerted of a development, or were trolling an anxious fan base.

On Sunday, FootballScoop.com reported that Florida was "advancing discussions" with former Oregon and NFL coach Chip Kelly.

The current ESPN analyst has been the reported top target in UF's search to fill the vacancy at head coach left by former coach Jim McElwain. Rumors swirled in the past few days that Florida was close to announcing Kelly as its new head coach.

Football Scoop was one of the first outlets to report that Florida had parted with McElwain.

Tyler Fawbush, the son of UAA president Andy Fawbush, tweeted that a deal had been reached.

------

Thank you for reading this Inside the Gators article. To discuss it, please visit the Alligator Alley Forum.