Gators miss out on Kiffin. The coaching search heats up, targeting new prospects as Florida pivots from its top target.
Nothing is more chaotic than the head coaching carousel in college football, and the one that has centered around current Ole Miss Rebels coach Lane Kiffin has been supremely dramatic. The question of will Lane stay or will Lane go seems to finally be put to rest after the Rebels’ 38-19 routing of the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the Egg Bowl rivalry.
It was said that Kiffin was going to make his decision following that game, but reports came out ahead of the matchup that at least one suitor was out of the running: the Florida Gators. It was down to LSU and Ole Miss for Kiffin, with the Tigers reportedly offering Kiffin the highest-paid opportunity in college football. It appears that those two will be the focus, as Kiffin commented following the Rebels’ win that he still hadn’t made a decision on his future, with that expected to come Sunday.
Here is the full story from Gators Roundtable writer Kevin on the Gators losing out on Kiffin, and who they may turn to next in their coaching search.
Florida Gators reportedly out of running for Lane Kiffin
In a competitive market, the Gators now must identify another savior to revive their football program.
As McGeever breaks down, that short list seems to be on Tulane’s Jon Sumrall and Washington’s Jeff Fisch. But the courtship of Kiffin, despite being undecided as of Friday afternoon, seems to have come to a close. That times up with reports that the Gators’ pursuit of Sumrall has heated up, who would, optics-wise, be a bit of an odd successor to fired former Group of Five coach Billy Napier.
Pete Thamel of ESPN reported on X that the school has interviewed around a dozen candidates throughout this search, and remain “optimistic” about their head coach search.