New Report Reveals Why Lane Kiffin to Florida Didn't Work Out

Kiffin reportedly declined a significant offer from Florida before deciding between Ole Miss and LSU.

Lane Kiffin was in the running for the Florida job | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

After an extremely long weekend of college football news, Lane Kiffin is the coach of LSU, Pete Golding will lead Ole Miss through the College Football Playoff and ESPN’s Marty Smith can finally go home.

Before Kiffin’s decision came down to staying at Ole Miss or leaping for LSU, though, there was the Florida job. The Gators hired Tulane’s Jon Sumrall Sunday, but Kiffin was in the running for the job not too long ago, declining a significant offer to head to Florida.

According to a new report from CBS Sports’ John Talty, an initial conversation between Kiffin and Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin did not go well, citing sources with knowledge of how Kiffin perceived the call.

Ole Miss defeated Florida two weeks ago after the Gators parted ways with Billy Napier in October. Talty reported that Kiffin had long been interested in the Florida job, even trying to get in the mix when the Gators hired Napier four years ago. This time, Florida wanted a general manager with an NFL background who wouldn’t report directly to Kiffin. That was a non-starter for him, per CBS Sports. Kiffin is bringing Ole Miss GM Billy Glasscock with him to LSU.

Still, Florida presented a massive offer to Kiffin, according to Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde and Bryan Fischer. The now-former Rebels coach said no thanks, pushing all eyes toward Ole Miss and LSU as Florida moved on to other candidates, eventually landing on Sumrall.

LSU’s surprise firing of Brian Kelly certainly changed things for Kiffin. If the road didn’t lead him to Baton Rouge, there was a real chance he could have ended up at Florida, although CBS Sports mentioned there were doubts on Stricklin’s true desire to ever hire Kiffin. Apparently, the disconnect between Stricklin and Kiffin gave the new LSU coach a “weird vibe” about the situation.

All’s well that ends well, as Kiffin turns his attention to the Tigers while Golding prepares to lead Ole Miss through a postseason run. For the Gators, it appears Stricklin got his guy, too.

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