Gophers athletic director Mark Coyle said he plans to move quickly hiring a new football coach.

A swift decision-making process could mean Coyle already has a candidate in mind and will not be swayed by the hiring trends seen throughout college football.

Recent hires favor younger candidates with a lot of energy and a great recruiting history. So naturally, this could be the makeup Coyle is looking for.

Major college football recent hires:

Willie Taggart
Age: 40
New job: Hired by Oregon on Dec. 7
Salary: $2.9 million
Taggart, a former quarterback at Western Kentucky, who spent 11 seasons coaching at his alma mater including three as head coach, is one of the rising stars in the college football coaching ranks. He most recently spent four seasons at South Florida, leading the Bulls to a 10-2 season before leaving for Oregon.

Tom Herman
Age: 41
New job: Hired by Texas on Dec. 27.
Salary: $5.25 million
Herman is another young rising star. He spent just two seasons as a head coach at Houston before being hired by Texas. He led the Cougars to a 13-1 record and finished ranked No. 8 in the nation in his first season. Houston was 9-3 this season. The offensive-minded coach has a strong track record of successfully recruiting the best players in Texas.

Lane Kiffin
Age: 41
New job: Hired by Florida Atlantic on Dec. 12
Salary: $1 million
Kiffin, a graduate of Bloomington Jefferson High School, has coaching experience at several of the most premiere college football programs in the country and at one-time was the youngest head coach in NFL history. He coached the Oakland Raiders, at Tennessee, Southern California and most recently the was the offensive coordinator at Alabama.

Major Applewhite
Age: 38
New job: Hired/promoted to head coach by Houston on Dec. 9
Salary: $1.5 million
Applewhite was promoted to head coach after two seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He has been among the young rising stars in the college football ranks since starting in 2005 as quarterbacks coach at Syracuse. Applewhite has spent time at Rice, Alabama and three seasons Texas, two as the offensive coordinator.

Matt Rhule
Age: 41
New job: Hired by Baylor on Dec. 6
Salary: Baylor, a private school, does not release salary details
Rhule is known for his work as a defensive coach, but has a well-rounded background coaching offense and special teams. His high-energy coaching style is credited for leading Temple to back-to-back 10-win seasons for the first time in program history. Rhule played college football at Penn State.

Luke Fickell
Age: 43
New job: Hired by Cincinnati on Dec. 10
Salary: $2.3 million
Fickell has spent most of his adult life at Ohio State and is known for his defensive expertise. After playing for the Buckeyes in the mid-90s, he has spent 16 seasons on the coaching staff including a stint as interim head coach in 2011. He was the co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach and responsible for much of the team's recruiting under head coach Urban Meyer.

Jeff Brohm
Age: 45
New job: Hired by Purdue on Dec. 5
Salary: $3.3 million
Brohm, a former NFL quarterback, spent the past three seasons at Western Kentucky, leading the program to a 30-10 record, back-to-back conference championships, and three bowl game victories. His 14 years of coaching experience include two seasons in the Big Ten as the quarterbacks coach at Illinois from 2010-2011.

Tom Allen
Age: 46
New job: Hired/promoted by Indiana on Dec. 1
Salary: TBD
Allen was promoted to head coach after one season as the team's defensive coordinator. The Indiana native is a former high school football coach and is expected to have a strong pull in recruiting the best in-state talent. He was a nominee for the 2016 Broyles Award honoring the nation's top assistant coach.

Randy Edsall
Age: 58
New job: Hired by Connecticut on Dec. 28
Salary: $1 million
Edsall is returning to UConn for a second stint as the program's head coach. He led the Huskies for 12 seasons from 1999-2010 before leaving for the head coaching job at Maryland, where he was eventually fired in 2015. The veteran coach also has NFL experience, most recently with the Detroit Lions.

Jeff Tedford
Age: 55
New job: Hired by Fresno State on Nov. 10
Salary: $1.6 million
Tedford produced an 82-57 record over 11 seasons at California from 2002-2012. He was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator for a season in 2014, then a head coach in the Canadian League, and most recently an offensive consultant for the University of Washington. Tedford is a former Fresno State quarterback.

Ed Orgeron
Age: 55
New job: Hired/promoted by LSU on Nov. 26
Salary: $3.5 million
Orgeron assumed the interim head coaching title at LSU when Les Miles was fired four games into the 2016 season. The Tigers finished the season 6-2 under Orgeron and LSU announced days after the final game of the regular season the veteran leader would be their next head coach. During his 30-plus years in coaching, Orgeron spent three as the head coach at Mississippi and one as the defensive line coach for the New Orleans Saints. He was also briefly the interim head coach at USC.