How much Florida would have to pay Lane Kiffin to get him to leave Ole Miss

Lane Kiffin has had one of the most remarkable coaching makeovers in college football history.

After being famously chased out of USC on the LAX runway and leaving Tennessee in a breakup never forgotten, not to mention failing at the NFL level with the Oakland Raiders, the 50-year-old Ole Miss Rebels head coach and social media troll king is the hottest name any time a big-time program vacancy opens up, or frustrated fanbases want their head coach fired with some insane buyout looming.

The biggest name on that list right now for open vacancies is the Florida Gators.

But for Kiffin, who has a happy daughter, Landry, going to school at Ole Miss, plus now his teenage son Knox playing quarterback locally at Oxford High after moving from USC-one percenters bliss in beautiful Manhattan Beach, California, with his reconciled wife Layla, it would take a contract at levels never seen before for him to make that leap to Gainesville.

Buddy Kirby Smart is the current bar for highest paid CFB coach

Lane Kiffin, Kirby Smart — Nov. 11, 2023; Athens, Georgia, USA; Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin talks to Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart before a game at Sanford Stadium. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Kiffin doesn't need to look farther than Georgia Bulldogs bestie Kirby Smart, 49, to see what it would take to join another SEC blue blood.

Smart is the highest paid college football coach at about $13 million annually on a 10-year, $130 million contract that goes until 2033.

Even though Ole Miss lost to Georgia this week between the hedges, Kiffin's Rebels are still well positioned to make the College Football Playoff, so given the extra $2.6 million in incentives baked into his Mississippi contract, he wouldn't be far off with his $9 million base, putting him already at $11.6 million if all of those bonuses paid out, good for No. 3 behind Ohio State's Ryan Dy at about $12.5 million annually.

So how much are we really talking for the Florida Gators?

Florida head coach Billy Napier calls time out during the second half an NCAA football game in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, October 4, 2025. | Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Curt Cignetti, the other hot name, just signed an extension with Indiana for about eight years for $92.8 million, so roughly that $11.6 million annually, good for No. 3.

It would only be a pride thing at this point for Kiffin to come to the Swamp, given he has all the leverage, so it feels like anything less than $15 million annually for a ridiculously long time, most of it fully guaranteed, would be a non-starter.

Happy wife, happy daughter, happy life for Kiffin

Lane Kiffin, Landry Kiffin — Sept. 27, 2025; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin poses for a photo with his daughter Landry Kiffin prior to the game against the LSU Tigers at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Let's not underestimate the personal side for Kiffin. Proudly sober, Kiffin might still talk a lot of smack, but it's obvious he has also conquered a lot of demons.

One of Kiffin's go-to words now is "embrace," and when he's not being the troll king, he admits that he was way too cocky when he was the youngest coach in college football.

His oldest child, Landry, now dating LSU star Whit Weeks, is one of the main reasons Kiffin didn't take the Auburn job. Now after reconciling with his wife Layla, convincing her to move to Oxford, why would he take on a much bigger challenge with ridiculously higher expectations when he's already a hero in Mississippi?

Lane Kiffin and Layla Kiffin — Lane Kiffin with his reconciled wife Laya at Ole Miss. | Lane Kiffin/Instagram

Heck, if he keeps this up at The Grove, they'll build a statue for him in front of Lane Kiffin Stadium at The Grove.

It would only be for ego and to feel like it would afford him a better opportunity to win a national championship.

For that to happen, though, Florida will have to pay him a contract that is truly unprecedented.

Layla Kiffin and Knox Kiffin — Layla and Knox at his high school game for Oxford High. | Layla Kiffin/Instagram

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