GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Florida is seeking a victory at No. 6 Ole Miss on Saturday that would potentially stave off its worst season since 1979. The fanbase would prefer to see the Gators bring back a head coach.
A visor-wearing guy who needles opponents as well as he designs plays, to be precise.
Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin is Florida’s presumed top target in its search to replace fired coach Billy Napier, creating an intriguing dynamic when the Rebels (9-1, 5-1 Southeastern Conference) host the reeling Gators (3-6, 2-4).
“Nothing is final yet, so we don’t know who is going to be our coach,” Florida receiver TJ Abrams said. “Regardless, we’ve got to go out there try to win.”
Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin has remained quiet in the three weeks since he fired Napier, but there’s a growing belief inside the program that Kiffin is at least considering a return to the Sunshine State.
It’s been THE topic in Oxford and Gainesville this week.
“We’re just ignoring it,” Ole Miss receiver Cayden Lee said. “We’re not listening to any outside noise. We’re just focused on what we have in the building.”
Added teammate and left tackle Diego Pounds: “Just keep the main thing the main thing. That’s just going 1-0 every week.”
The subplot to the matchup is the Gators have a chance to knock Ole Miss out of the College Football Playoff for a second consecutive season. If Florida does that, it might be able to land Kiffin before next month’s national signing day.
If not, the Gators might have to wait until Ole Miss’ season ends in the playoffs, which stretch into January — a risky move in a crowded coaching market that includes Auburn, LSU, Penn State and others.
Florida interim coach Billy Gonzales said he was “absolutely” aware of the buzz surrounding Kiffin's future. It’s impossible to miss. Key boosters have made it clear that Kiffin is Florida's No. 1 choice, and Kiffin’s name can be spotted across campus.
A lion statue outside the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house has “Kiffin to the Swamp” painted in orange on it, and a property just a few hundred feet from Florida’s practice fields has a huge sign in the front yard that reads, “Lane Train. Choo Choo.”
When asked how well Kiffin would fit at Florida, Gonzales paused.
“I probably shouldn’t even answer those questions, to be honest with you,” he said. “I think he’s a really good football coach. There’s a lot of really good football coaches. He is definitely one of them.”
Between his high-scoring offenses and his one-line jabs often directed at opponents, Kiffin is more similar to Florida great Steve Spurrier as anyone in college football. And he has Florida ties. Kiffin’s former father-in-law, John Reaves, played at Florida. His ex-wife Layla graduated from Florida. They even had their first date at Florida Field, better known as the Swamp.
So Kiffin has a good idea what the Gators have to offer beyond a lucrative contract and up to $30 million more annually that it would take to build a competitive roster in the powerhouse SEC.
He noted this week how job searches have changed in recent years, with prospective coaches who once asked about facilities now wanting to know how much name, image and likeness money programs have to spend on players.
“Some people sometimes think, ‘Well, OK, that’s not a big deal,’” said Kiffin, who is 53-19 in his six years in Oxford after three years at Florida Atlantic. “But just look at professional sports when it’s not the same, like baseball and the payrolls. And over time, who wins and who doesn’t win? Somebody may have outlier years once in a while.”
Although parity is on the rise in college football, Kiffin said some schools are going to continue to struggle to beat tradition-rich programs because “kids are still recruited.”
“They see size of stadiums and tradition and Heismans and national championships, and then your location to talent,” he said. “I think all those are in there, but it’s slid a little over time. I think that question probably early was, ‘What is your assistant coaches (salary) pool?’ Now it’s, ‘What is your player pool?’”
At Florida, it’s probably whatever it takes to land Kiffin. The Gators are 28-35 over the last five years, the program’s least-productive stretch since the late 1940s. Things started to slide under former coach Dan Mullen and never got back on track under Napier.
It now feels like it’s Kiffin or bust for a school that boasts three national championships and three Heisman Trophy winners.
“Personally, I feel like he’s done a great job over there at Ole Miss,” Florida running back Jadan Baugh said. “But I’m worried about what we have going on.”
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