The Florida Gators aren’t what they once were.
On Friday, ESPN college football insider Pete Thamel shared that Florida has pivoted in its coaching search from Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin to other candidates, a sign it no longer believes it’s a candidate.
That’s despite, as Thamel noted, the Gators having previously “offered [Kiffin] a deal to put him among the highest paid coaches in college football, which included significant incentives.”
Florida Gators whiff on Lane Kiffin after aggressive pursuit
Florida’s failed pursuit of the former Alabama assistant highlights just how far the program has fallen in the decade-plus since its last national championship in 2008. The Gators have more losing seasons (six) than 10-win seasons (five) in the 17 years since.
Thamel’s report suggests Kiffin whittled his decision on where to coach in 2026 down to Ole Miss and LSU, which have aggressively pursued him in the weeks since the firing of Brian Kelly.
It also forces Florida to settle on Plan B. Thamel described the Gators as “optimistic” about the search after interviewing “roughly a dozen” candidates, though from the outside it’s hard to view the process as a success after whiffing on their top candidate.