Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin, armed with a new contract, gets the rare opportunity to hire a third football coach after he fired Billy Napier on Sunday, less than 24 hours after the Gators’ 23-21 win over Mississippi State.
Stricklin whiffed on Dan Mullen and Napier, who departs with a 22-23 record.
My two no-doubt conditions on who the next hire should be:
1. The hire must be a sitting Power 4 coach (SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 or ACC). This can’t be a situation where UF goes to the Mountain West like Colorado State’s Jim McElwain or the Sun Belt like Napier (Louisiana).
2. The hire must have extensive experience as an offensive play-caller or present Stricklin with a plan to go after a big-money coordinator.
Here is our list:
The top candidate
Lane Kiffin
Current job: Mississippi coach (sixth year).
Age: 50.
Head-coaching experience: Oakland Raiders (2007-08), Tennessee (2009), USC (2010-13), Florida Atlantic (2017-19) and Ole Miss (2020-current). He has a 111-53 career college record, including 50-19 at Ole Miss (23-17 SEC).
Why he makes sense for UF: Too many reasons to count, starting with being an innovative offensive mind, quarterback developer, great recruiter and somebody who would be comfortable as the face of the football program and one of the faces of the entire university.
Why he doesn’t make sense for UF: Can’t think of one reason.
Comment: The search should start with Kiffin. Period. If he wants the job, this should be a quick hire.
If Lane says no …
Kenny Dillingham
Current job: Arizona State coach (third year).
Age: 35.
Head-coaching experience: Arizona State (2023-current). He has a 19-14 record, but 16-5 in the last two years after ASU upset Texas Tech on Saturday. The Sun Devils won the Big 12 championship last year.
Why he makes sense for UF: Dillingham would bring a required fire and edge the UF program needs. He has extensive experience coaching quarterbacks and running an offense, including two years at Florida State (2020-21).
Why he doesn’t make sense for UF: If Stricklin wants a more seasoned head-coaching candidate, Dillingham may not have enough experience.
Comment: Dillingham tops my list of non-Kiffin candidates. As stated, this is a program in desperate need for energy and offensive acumen.
Eli Drinkwitz
Current job: Missouri coach (sixth year).
Age: 42.
Head-coaching experience: Appalachian State (2019) and Missouri (2020-current). He has a 56-26 career record, including 44-25 at Missouri (24-21 conference play).
Why he makes sense for UF: Like Kiffin, he has SEC head-coaching experience, which worked at UF for a few years when Stricklin brought Dan Mullen with him from Mississippi State. I also like his experience coaching quarterbacks at Boise State and North Carolina State and how he has taken on a CEO role with Missouri; he’ll make sure he hires the right offensive coordinator. Drinkwitz would also be a charismatic leader off the field to generate buzz with fans.
Why he doesn’t make sense for UF: Entering Saturday, Missouri was only 23-21 in SEC play, which isn’t great.
Comment: Drinkwitz would be the safest hire for Stricklin.
Jeff Brohm
Current job: Louisville coach (third season).
Age: 54.
Head-coaching experience: Western Kentucky (2014-16), Purdue (2017-22) and Louisville (2023-current). He has a combined 89-53 record, including 36-34 at Purdue (26-25 in the Big Ten) and 24-9 at Louisville (14-5 in the ACC).
Why he makes sense for UF: Quarterback development and big-game success. Brohm never broke through in the NFL, but was a part of six organizations, which exposed him to countless coaches and teammates. And after Friday night’s win at No. 2 Miami, Brohm is 4-0 all-time against top five opponents.
Why he doesn’t make sense for UF: Brohm was born in Louisville, played at Louisville, was an assistant coach at Louisville and left a Big Ten job to be the coach at Louisville. Could he be swayed to leave all that history for a shot in the SEC?
Comment: Whew, that 4-0 record against top five teams jumps off the page doesn’t it? The guy has won everywhere he’s been and knows how to get production from his offense.
Marcus Freeman
Current job: Notre Dame coach (fourth season).
Age: 39.
Head-coaching experience: Notre Dame (2022-current). He has a 38-12 record, including a berth in last year’s College Football Playoff national championship game (lost to Ohio State).
Why he makes sense for UF: A former player at Ohio State who was drafted in the NFL, he knows what it takes to win as a player at the highest college level and also get to the NFL. His age would allow him to connect with recruits and he has a natural aura that would help with boosters.
Why he doesn’t make sense for UF: Would Freeman have an eventual eye toward the NFL? Also, his background is on defense. What would be his plan for the offense?
Comment: If Stricklin can convince the coach at Notre Dang Dame to leave the Golden Dome and Touchdown Jesus and NBC-televises-every-game, that would be impressive. Freeman is an up-and-coming coach.
An NFL assistant option
Joe Brady
Current job: Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator (second full year).
Age: 36.
Head-coaching experience: None. Brady was the passing game coordinator/receivers coach for LSU’s 2019 national championship team, which he parlayed into a move to the NFL. He was the Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator (2020 and part of 2021 before being fired) and went to Buffalo as the quarterbacks coach for 2022 and part of 2023 before being promoted to offensive coordinator.
Why he makes sense for UF: The Gators need a B12 shot of offense and play-calling and Brady checks that. Imagine UF recruiting quarterbacks in high school or the transfer portal and Brady enlists NFL MVP Josh Allen to make a call to close the deal.
Why he doesn’t make sense for UF: No previous head-coaching experience.
Comment: This would be an off-the-radar hire, but Brady would be able to recruit offensive skill players.
If the search falls apart …
South Florida coach Alex Golesh: Golesh brought the Bulls into The Swamp and started Napier’s demise with a Week 2 win, but doesn’t make sense for a jump from the American Conference to the SEC.
Recently-fired Penn State coach James Franklin: No thanks. Notice during his ESPN exclusive interview on Saturday, he didn’t take blame for anything that got him fired like coordinator hires and a terrible record against top-10 competition?
FOX Sports commentator Urban Meyer: Just kidding.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Who’s the next Florida football coach? Lane Kiffin leads our list of candidates
Reporting by Ryan O’Halloran, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
