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Florida part of ‘The Lane Kiffin Show,’ says Pete Thamel

IMG_6615by: Blake Alderman18 hours agoBlake_Alderman
lane kiffin (4)
Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

The college football coaching carousel continues to turn with another job opening up this past weekend. The LSU Tigers became the latest opening around the country, creating more competition in the coaching market for the Florida Gators. The Gators parted ways with former head coach Billy Napier on October 19, giving UF brass the rest of the season, and however long it takes after that to find new leadership over the football program.

Thamel says Florida won’t be alone in pursuing their top target

ESPN college football insider Pete Thamel appeared on Monday’s edition of SportsCenter to talk about the recent firing of Brian Kelly at LSU and other openings in the industry. Current Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin seems to have plenty of options ahead of him. The Rebels are obviously working to keep Kiffin in Oxford. However, Kiffin is also by all accounts a person of interest for Florida and LSU. The coaching carousel has only started to turn, and Thamel thinks this year is likely ‘the most robust carousel in the history of college football’. Thamel also believes that Lane Kiffin will be at the center of many searches this year.

“It’s going to be The Lane Kiffin Show from here on in until a decision is made,” said Thamel. “He’s a target at LSU. He’s a target at Florida. The competition between those two athletic departments for Lane Kiffin is going to be one of the things that hangs over the rest of this season.”

The timing of the CFP will make coaching searches interesting

Kiffin has the Rebels rolling this season. Ole Miss is currently 7-1 this season and is ranked No. 7 ahead of their next game against South Carolina. Their latest win this past weekend has the Rebels sitting in a strong position to make the College Football Playoffs. With Florida and others already searching for their next head coach, Thamel believes the dynamics surrounding Kiffin and Ole Miss’s season should make for an interesting storyline to track this year. However, the same could be said for any head coach in contention for a playoff spot.

“A fascinating wrinkle to all this is that Ole Miss is headed to the playoff,” Thamel said. “They have a high percentage chance of going there. Especially after beating Oklahoma on Saturday on the road like they did. The regular season in college football ends in late November. The playoff starts on December 19th. It is going to be a high-wire act. It’s possible, but if you are a playoff coach and you are going to take a job? It is going to be a high-wire act to do that. Especially if you win games in the playoffs and it extends. How that unfolds will be a fascinating facet of this playoff, for coaches like Lane Kiffin, maybe Brent Key, maybe Jon Sumrall, or Alex Golesh. The timing does not line up for an easy transition.”

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