Book Excerpt Says Florida Led Lane Kiffin Search Before LSU Hire in 2025

1 articles · Updated · Hail Florida Hail · Sep 16

A new book excerpt says Florida was the early favorite to land Lane Kiffin after opening its job on Oct. 19, before LSU ultimately pulled him away.
One week after the opening, Kiffin reportedly told Ole Miss defensive coordinator Pete Golding after a win at Oklahoma, “Are you ready to go to Gainesville?”
That game came 1 day before Brian Kelly was fired at LSU, a move that the excerpt and prior reporting suggest reshaped the race and put LSU in front.
By mid-November, national and Ole Miss-linked reporting had framed the decision as LSU versus Ole Miss, even as people around Florida kept signaling the Gators still had a live chance.
Florida eventually hired Jon Sumrall from Tulane, leaving the excerpt to sharpen debate over how close Kiffin actually came to taking the Gators job.