Who Will Be the Florida Gators Next Hire?
This season has been abysmal to say the least for the Florida Gators and their fans. Between Billy Napier being relieved of duties mid-season and DJ Lagway leading the SEC in interceptions thrown, it's safe to say this will be a year to forget for many. Looking ahead, Florida does have many options as to who they can hire to be their next head coach, and there have been a lot of names being thrown around so far. Florida’s athletic director, Scott Stricklin, has a big decision to make, and with pressure from the media to maintain recruits, this is not going to be a walk in the park.
As of right now, current Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin is the frontrunner for the Florida job, which is not surprising considering the fact that he’s bounced around several teams before. Lane would be a splash of a hire for the Gators, but he is far too embedded in Ole Miss’ culture and program to jump ship. However, it would not be crazy if he were to accept an offer from Florida that would make him one of, if not the highest-paid coach in college football. Lane’s track record speaks for itself, as Ole Miss has had continued success over the past six years, with five of those having eight or more wins. Kiffin also knows how to develop his guys to be draft-ready, as we saw last year with Jaxson Dart, and now with Trinidad Chambliss. While Lane is the flashy, high-energy hire, it may be safer if Stricklin were to look towards the mid-majors, similar to what Indiana did when hiring Curt Cignetti.
One name that hasn’t been mentioned as much as Lane’s is Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall, who, in just two seasons with the Green Wave, has an 18-7 record along with some dominant victories over opponents in the much-overlooked American Conference. Sumrall would be a very cost-effective hire, along with being a voice to bring the Gators program back to being what it once was. Before he was at Tulane, Sumrall coached the Troy Trojans, and in just two years, he had a 23-4 record, after they had won just five games each of the previous three seasons. Florida is going to have a tough decision to make, and whether or not they want to save for now and develop later or pull out the wallet and throw it at whoever, Stricklin will have to figure it out one way or another.
