It was doomed from the start. <\/p>\n
Long before Lane Kiffin\u2019s dramatic Ole Miss exit Sunday for LSU<\/a>, the 50-year-old coach was also courted by Florida, an ill-fated pursuit that began with an initial conversation with athletic director Scott Stricklin, which, according to a CBS Sports report published Monday, \u201cdid not go well.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAt the time, Florida was the biggest job available and had the leverage to dictate some of its terms. That included wanting a general manager with an\u00a0NFL\u00a0background who wouldn\u2019t report directly to Kiffin,\u201d the report stated<\/a>, citing sources with intel on Kiffin\u2019s perception of the conversation.<\/p>\n Lane Kiffin had been courted by Florida before he linked up with LSU. Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images<\/p>\n Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin AP<\/p>\n \u201cThis was a non-starter for Kiffin, who strongly believes in the abilities of Ole Miss general manager Billy Glasscock, and it got the weeks-long pursuit off to an awkward start from Kiffin\u2019s perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n Kiffin, who had long eyed the Florida job, has ties to the university. His ex-wife, Layla, went to Florida, the same institution her father, famed Gators QB John Reaves, played for. Kiffin also has sported a visor in honor of former Florida coach Steve Spurrier.<\/p>\n Stricklin, considered to have a \u201cmore button-up personality\u201d in contrast to Kiffin\u2019s \u201cpenchant for stirring up drama,\u201d began assessing the Rebels coach before the Oct. 19 firing of Billy Napier,<\/a> according to the report.<\/p>\n Although Stricklin was \u201ccomfortable\u201d continuing the process with Kiffin after gauging those in the coach\u2019s circle about his maturation, the underlying issue remained: \u201cKiffin was well aware that he wasn\u2019t Stricklin\u2019s cup of tea, and the feeling was mutual.\u201d<\/p>\n Lane Kiffin touched down in Baton Rouge on Nov. 30, 2025, after announcing his intentions to coach at LSU. AP<\/p>\n Kiffin, who had guided the Rebels since 2020, had a great deal of authority at Ole Miss and worried a personality clash was inevitable.<\/p>\n \u201cOle Miss all but allowed him to do whatever he wanted in Oxford and kept giving him more and more resources to push the program forward,\u201d the report stated. \u201c\u2026 Kiffin was concerned about Stricklin\u2019s meddling and how they would mesh, later telling confidants he had a \u2018weird vibe\u2019 about the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n LSU would enter the picture a short while later with the Oct. 26 firing of Brian Kelly,<\/a> a move that ignited an onslaught of coaching rumors before this weekend\u2019s resolution.<\/p>\n Florida officially took itself out of the Kiffin sweepstakes Friday and pivoted to Tulane\u2019s Jon Sumrall<\/a>, with the parties making things official Sunday.<\/p>\n The Gators also set their sights on former Jaguars GM David Caldwell to serve the same post in the program.<\/p>\n As for Kiffin, his turbulent departure from Oxford <\/a>to Baton Rouge unfolded over a multi-day span following what would be his final game with the Rebels, Friday\u2019s 38-19 Egg Bowl win over Mississippi State.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter a lot of prayer and time spent with family, I made the difficult decision to accept the head coaching position at LSU,\u201d Kiffin wrote in a statement shared on X.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026 While I am looking forward to a new start with a unique opportunity at LSU, I will forever cherish the incredible six years I spent at Ole Miss and will be rooting hard for the team to complete their mission and bring a championship to Oxford.\u201d<\/p>\n Former defensive coordinator Pete Golding was elevated to permanent head coach<\/a> in Kiffin\u2019s place.<\/p>\n Kiffin is expected to make $91 million<\/a> across seven years at LSU, according to Nola.com. which noted<\/a> the deal boasts performance-based bonuses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was doomed from the start. Long before Lane Kiffin\u2019s dramatic Ole Miss exit Sunday for LSU, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67670,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[143,28,2530,30,29,10713,4657,10006,110],"class_list":{"0":"post-67669","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-college-football","9":"tag-florida","10":"tag-florida-gators","11":"tag-florida-headlines","12":"tag-florida-news","13":"tag-lane-kiffin","14":"tag-lsu-tigers","15":"tag-mississippi-rebels","16":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67669\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}