By Wednesday, an SEC coach told FootballScoop, “I don’t know what Lane (Kiffin) is going to do, but it ain’t going to be Florida.”
An NFL assistant coach and multiple agents shared the same with FootballScoop.
Because Florida and athletics director Scott Stricklin already had moved forward in their search for the Gators’ next head coach to replace the fired Billy Napier.
The focus is and has been for several days on Tulane coach Jon Sumrall, who’s also spoken with Auburn representatives as the Tigers seek a replacement for the fired Hugh Freeze.
Should Ole Miss lose Kiffin, sources told FootballScoop that Sumrall was expected to be a top candidate with the Rebels as well.
But Florida is furthest down the road with Sumrall, the former University of Kentucky linebacker who’s risen to coaching acclaim as both a defensive coordinator and most recently the head coach at Troy University and the past two seasons at Tulane.
Florida’s so dialed in on Sumrall that sources told FootballScoop this week that the Gators had tabbed former two-time Florida national championship-winning coach Urban Meyer to speak with Sumrall about the opening, among other Florida dignitaries.
The Florida contingent speaking with Sumrall, sources shared, also have made clear that Sumrall would have full control of the Gators’ program and autonomy on staffing decisions.
That’s in contrast with what multiple sources have shared with FootballScoop across the past two weeks in regards to the Auburn Tigers’s quest to replace Freeze.
Those sources, including multiple people with direct connections to candidates who have spoken with the Auburn group, have shared that Auburn leadership has discussed at length the possibility of retaining some of Freeze’s final staff members, from defensive coordinator and interim head coach DJ Durkin to off-the-field staff.
After pursuing Kiffin at length in recent weeks, to include bringing in multiple members of Kiffin’s family for a Gainesville, Florida-area visit and making clear its contract offer would be in the $13 to $15 million range, per sources, the Gators now still are positioning themselves to pay their next head coach an average annual salary in the $10 million range with additional bonuses and escalators.
Sumrall needs his Tulane Green Wave to win Saturday at Charlotte to clinch a spot in the American Athletic Conference Championship, a win that would mark an unprecedented fourth-straight conference title-game appearance in his first four years as a head coach for Sumrall.
Florida reps, sources shared with FootballScoop, also have spoken in recent weeks with Washington head coach Jedd Fisch, a Florida grad and former assistant.
The Gators, under interim coach Billy Gonzales, host rival Florida State Saturday in their regular-season finale. Florida State officials revealed earlier this week that they will retain embattled head coach Mike Norvell, who’s assured of a fourth losing seasons in six years atop the program without a win against the Gators.
