By: Mike Huesmann
The writing is on the wall. The slim chance Billy Napier had to save his job appears to be gone. He was always unlikely to mount a successful season against that gauntlet of a schedule. I’m not here to talk about how that could’ve happened or if there is salvation – I’m here to talk about the next guy and who it could be. I’ll break it down into five strong candidates and five to monitor who could be in the mix. We typically see teams hire the opposite of the guy they just fired, meaning I believe Florida does not initially look at G5 coaches. I think P4 success is a requirement to make the top five.
Lane Kiffin
Head Coach, Ole Miss
If there is a current coach with the attitude and persona of the Old Ball Coach, it’s Kiffin. His team, and this is a pattern we will see, is far better than Florida now, but the Gators are still probably a bigger job with a higher ceiling. Doubters will point to the Alabama job and say he didn’t leave last year. I don’t think he was offered that one. He will at least listen and have his agent field calls.