Fair or not, I get the feeling ageism should come into play in determining who to offer next. As much as a young, enthusiastic coach could (although it's not a given, i.e. Grant) excite the fans and relate better to players, it would take someone with precocious confidence and an abnormal amount of charisma to go up against what the SEC has fairly recently turned in to.
Imagine being a 30-something with a mid to low-major resume trying to elbow in on a table that seats Calipari, Donovan, Anderson, Pearl, Barnes, Martin and Howland at the SEC coaches meetings or even more following them in a blue-chipper's home. It's a simple fact that most any coach now on our list would take a back seat to that group. It's not a definite even Marshall could've commanded his own space at all times, but to throw Prohm, Drew, White, maybe even Miller or some to these other guys I'm afraid wouldn't stack up too well, potential withstanding. This is why the Crean, Avery Johnson, etc. approach may not need to be overlooked so quickly.
People are saying we may have to do a trial over the next 2-3 years and then gear up again once the fallacies of this search fade. The SEC coaching club has turned into a decidedly more veteran dichotomy, and unless one of those guys above can command a room unnaturally well, I feel we may need to put a more golden tint to such a "trial".