In this week’s Swampcast, the Sun’s Kevin Brockway, Andrew Abadie and Noah Ram discuss the aftermath of Florida football firing coach Billy Napier and the seach for his replacement.
Brockway said strong indications are that Lane Kiffin is the lead candidate for the Florida Gators job if he wants it.
“I think he wants to feel wanted, too, and by wanting to be wanted, I mean, it’s going to have to be something financial,” Brockway said.
Abadie wonders if hiring the 50-year old Kiffin, who has yet to win a power four conference title in his career, is worth a monster payday.
“I don’t know if Kiffin is the best candidate out there,” Abadie said. “He’s a good one, don’t get me wrong, but I always get that James Franklin feeling, he never wins the big game.”
Ram said Missour’s Eli Drinkwitz is a solid second choice if UF can’t land Kiffin.
“You could say (SMU’s) Rhett Lashlee, you could say (Georgia Tech’s) Brent Key, you can say all these names, but (Drinkwitz) is someone who is in the conference, who has been winning in the conference,” Ram said. “Has he been winning at the level Lane has, no, but they are consistently a Top 25 team, and they’ve lost some talent over the years, and they are still putting up good performances.”
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1. Read his coverage of the Gators’ national championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” — a hardcover coffee-table collector’s book from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Lane or bust? Swampcast discusses Florida football coaching search
Reporting by Kevin Brockway, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
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