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So, this is a pure what-if scenario.

What if Kyle Whittingham were to leave Utah for, say, Michigan? What if Bronco Mendenhall left BYU for someplace, anyplace other than Oregon State? What if Matt Wells were to leave Utah State for, say, Wisconsin? What if all the speculation about the head football coaches in this state became reality? What would Utah, BYU, Utah State do? What would you want them to do? What would be possible for them to do?

Let's start with the Utes.

If Whittingham were to leave, would Chris Hill reach out for the next Urban Meyer? Would he look for a rising coaching talent out of Bowling Green or Western Kentucky or Toledo? Would he hit the bushes for an ambitious up-and-comer eager to make a bigger name for himself at Utah so he could, from here, bounce to a higher-profile job at a school in the SEC or some other more famous football program?

Or has Utah become a big enough deal to be a destination job for an established coach, a guy already with a name who is looking to finish off his career at a Pac-12 school continuing on an escalating arc toward yet-unattained heights? Would he attempt what Oregon State did and pilfer a coach who seemed settled in at a top-drawer program but who really wanted to move for whatever reasons motivated Gary Andersen to get out of Madison? Don't think for one moment that Andersen didn't at least check in to see what Whittingham's intentions were before he agreed to take over in Corvallis.

Or would he promote from within, turning the reins over to rising star Kalani Sitake, a coordinator looking to run his own deal for the first time, or to a guy like Dennis Erickson, who is a decade or two or three removed from winning national championships at Miami and being a head coach in the NFL?

Do you think any of those possibilities would bump the Utes up a notch, would fast track them from a fifth-place finish in the Pac-12 South toward a conference championship and a shot at a playoff spot?

If Whittingham were to leave, promoting Sitake is a smart move, seeing what the most influential, most important assistant on the staff could do in the captain's chair. It makes too much sense not to do it.

What about BYU?

If Bronco were to head to a P5 school, to some school that really did have a chance to win a national championship, to a school whose fans' criticism wasn't in direct proportion to their ignorance, or to one of the military academies to prove that honor and tradition and spirit really are pillars in shaping the lives of young men, or to become an LDS church mission president, who would get the nod?

One thing's for sure: It wouldn't be Andy Reid.

The Cougars would scour this terrestrial globe — or at least the far reaches of Utah County — for a temple-recommend-carrying coach who would move along the same path established by Mendenhall, putting faith, family, friends, firesides, freedom, fundamentals, fanaticism, fun fruits, Fritos, fedoras first, and then football.

Just kidding.

They might promote offensive coordinator Robert Anae, which would be an error. Anae is an intelligent man, a coach who knows football. But is he the kind of genuine communicator/motivator who can get the most out of his players by gaining their trust and inspiring them? Is he the guy BYU wants as its football front man? Can he wrap his arms around a staff and a team and a fan base, choosing and striking the right strategies, the right words, the right stance and posture to keep Cougar football afloat through a trying time?

BYU might reach out to Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo, who snugly fits some of the criteria the school would be looking for, except for one little snag: He does little else but run the football. He runs on first down, on second down and on third down. Good luck with that at LaVell's Place.

A pie-in-the-sky choice is Darrell Bevell, the former Wisconsin quarterback and current offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks. Bevell is LDS and a bright football mind who has been mentioned as a candidate for NFL head coaching jobs. On Wednesday, when the Badger job opened, he was asked about doing the college thing.

"Well, becoming a head coach some day is of interest to me," he said. "I would say I have thought about college. I don't know exactly at this point where it would be or what it would be, but I do feel like I want to be a head coach some day."

Not likely at BYU.

If you're Tom Holmoe, and Bronco Mendenhall decided to exit, who you gonna call? You're gonna call … Kalani Sitake. You're gonna call Sitake and offer him money, elbow room to run the program the way he sees fit, a boatload of cash for his staff, and eternal salvation for his soul. That's what you're gonna do.

If Wells left Utah State …

Todd Orlando, the Aggies' defensive coordinator, is the safe choice. The full-of-fire, punch-you-in-the-mug, no-nonsense coach would provide the same consistency with schemes and philosophies and recruiting that USU favored when Andersen left and Wells took the wheel. That worked out all smooth.

The other alternative is … hiring You-Know-Who. And you know why. The Ags have always had their eye on Kalani Sitake, but there is one concern in leaning that way: If something opened up eventually at Utah or BYU, would Sitake bolt for one of those jobs at Utah State's expense? It's one thing for the Aggies to lose Andersen to Wisconsin, it's another for them to endure losing their leader to one of the schools down the road.

GORDON MONSON hosts "The Big Show" with Spence Checketts weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 97.5 FM and 1280 AM The Zone. Twitter: @GordonMonson.