KU will likely go with some young, unproven coach and bank on his upside. They aren't going to beat out a bunch of other schools going for some known quantity.
If I were them I would say eff it and bring in a triple option coach. Accept that you won't be Big 12 champs but you will be a pain in the ass team that gets to bowls and isn't completely embarrassing.
Ken Niumatololo out of Navy seems like somebody who could (maybe) mold them into this kind of team. He's used to having to recruit nationally, including out of Texas. Hiring him would limit their overall upside, but he'd likely to be good enough to at least lift them out of the dumpster.
Willie Fritz out of Georgia Southern also runs a kind of triple option but isn't as limited as Navy's system is. He's done a fantastic job at Sam Houston State and now Georgia Southern and would likely turn them into a pain in the ass team to play within a couple of years, but his FBS resume is pretty thin.