One of the biggest sagas in college football wrapped up just over a week ago when Lane Kiffin announced he was leaving Ole Miss to take LSU's head coaching job amid the Rebels' historic playoff run. Before Kiffin accepted his new gig, he was strongly linked to Florida, who reportedly gave him a significant offer that he turned down.
In the wake of the Gators' failed pursuit of Kiffin, Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin opened up about the details surrounding the chase and when he realized Kiffin wasn't coming to Gainesville.
Stricklin confirmed that Florida was very "interested" in Kiffin during the talking stages, but that feeling wasn't necessarily mutual.
"To see the success that he had at Ole Miss, that's appealing, right? ... It wasn't just that we were being pushed at him, we were interested in him as a possibility, and I'd say strongly interested," Stricklin said in an interview with On3's Andy Staples. "But at the same time, we knew we couldn't just count on that. We were doing our due diligence on a number of candidates, ended up talking to nearly a dozen when it was all said and done.
“There was a flurry of initial engagement, I would say. Really positive conversations. And then the communication became a little more erratic. And the timing of when that began to occur, kind of just reading the tea leaves, gave me the impression that it's a good thing we talked to other people."
NEW: Florida AD Scott Stricklin detailed the Gators' pursuit of Lane Kiffin with @AndyStaples👀
— On3 (@On3sports) December 8, 2025
“There was a flurry of initial engagement, I would say. Really positive conversations. Then the communication became a little more erratic...
Just reading the tea leaves gave me the… pic.twitter.com/UEvBfSTzXy
Kiffin ended up picking LSU, while Florida brought in Tulane's Jon Sumrall to lead its program instead.
There were likely several factors why a Kiffin-Florida pairing didn't work out, as Florida reportedly wanted a general manager with an NFL background who wouldn't report directly to Kiffin, per CBS Sports' John Talty. That was a "non-starter" for Kiffin, who is set to bring Ole Miss GM Billy Glasscock to Baton Rouge next season.
It seems safe to say that both Kiffin and Florida have since moved on from their years-long dalliance, with the former putting down new roots at LSU while the latter hopes Sumrall can deliver on his promises in the post-Billy Napier era.
More College Football on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Florida AD Explains What Happened During Gators’ ‘Erratic’ Lane Kiffin Pursuit.