Mike Leach, June Jones or Gus Malzahn: Who's Going to Land at Maryland?

Mike Leach looked like a slam dunk a week or so ago.

Leach looked like "the guy" in the University of Maryland football search.

Leach looked the part to replace Ralph Friedgen, who will coach his last game for the Terps today against East Carolina in the Military Bowl.

It looked and sounded like Under Armour founder Kevin Plank was pulling the appropriate strings to land Leach in College Park.

But now we have one of those Lee Corso "not so fast, my friend" moments.

Maryland AD Kevin Anderson has spoken with June Jones, who recently signed an extension and pledged his allegiance to SMU. Perhaps that was Jones seeking leverage to get SMU to up the ante. There is talk that Maryland is willing to break the bank and pay their new guy as much as $3.5 million.

Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn is in the picture as well.

If there's a choice in the hopper, then Anderson must be keeping his cards face down until after his team's bowl game today.

If, for some reason, he's not convinced that Leach is his guy or that Jones is staying at SMU, then he might wait longer if the tea leaves are pointing to Malzahn, who still has work to do in the BCS title game and doesn't need any distractions.

So which of these pieces is going to fit into Maryland's puzzle?

Fan support is growing for Leach, and Anderson would not have to fork out as much money. Leach is desperate for a return to football, and he's been after anyone who will let him in the AD's office. His game is offense, and with the proper defensive coordinator, he could bring some excitement to College Park.

If Anderson doesn't care about head-coaching experience, then Malzahn makes a lot of sense. The University of Florida set the precedent by hiring a hot coordinator, Will Muschamp from Texas. The lack of experience at the top didn't matter; he was from another elite program.

Auburn's offense speaks for itself, although Heisman winner Cam Newton made Malzahn's job a lot easier this season. Malzahn knows that Gene Chizik is a young guy, so he's not going anywhere anytime soon. Maryland is a great opportunity to immediately compete in a BCS conference.

Those three we know about. Perhaps there's a door No. 4, if you will, one of those Cliff Lee to Philly moments that no one saw coming. Does Anderson have a trick, or in this case, another candidate up his sleeve who is still busy prepping his team for a bowl game?

Leach fits the bill if he's willing to behave himself and make his team more available to the DC media. That's not been his deal. He's not press-friendly, but will have to change those ways at Maryland.

Malzahn fits the bill, and should Auburn win the national title, then Anderson has himself a high-profile coordinator, a footprint from Florida.

Jones? Who knows what's on his mind?

The fact is, time's a-wastin', and once the final gun sounds at the Military Bowl, Anderson's on the clock.